Hi, Turtle Buddies,

Here it is - my "official" version of the fable:

The Hare and the Tortoise

A hare met a tortoise one day and made fun of him for the slow and clumsy way in which he walked.

The tortoise laughed and said, "I will run a race with you any time that you choose."

"Very well," replied the hare, "we will start at once."

The tortoise immediately set off in his slow and steady way without waiting a moment or looking back. The hare, on the other hand, treated the matter as a joke and decided to take a little nap before starting, for she thought that it would be an easy matter to overtake her rival.

The tortoise plodded on, and meanwhile the hare overslept herself, with the result that she arrived at the winning-post only to see that the tortoise had got in before her.

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

This comes from a book handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. The book is so old it doesn't have a copyright date or an author/editor's credit.

That fable has been the motivation for us turtles for about two years. Someone on the ancient WW forum mentioned the fable and I discovered it was very motivational for me. I talked about it in posts and other people said that the tortoise philosophy worked for them, too. So, I started a thread for us turtle types.

We work toward accepting that our bodies have a natural speed of weight loss when we choose to live a healthy life, instead of "going on a diet". Many of us have experienced "the diets" as go on/lose weight-- go off/ gain the weight plus more back.

We choose to perservere with each choice we make throughout the day. We believe that choosing to be slow, steady turtles helps us to learn the skills we need to learn in order to not only lose the weight, but keep it off and become the healthiest people we can be.

So, welcome to all who realize that losing and maintaining a weight loss is a lifestyle change. And who want support as we all learn the skills we need to successfully make the changes that will allow us to reach our goals.

Happy turtlin', everyone!

Lin

Hey Guys!
I went shopping to buy a blouse for the holidays yesterday. I was hoping a 16W would fit, and it does! Isn't that great? when I joined WW, I had just gone into a 22-24 t-shirt at Target because the 18-20 that I usually wore was much too tight. So, although I haven't reached my goal of 199# by Christmas, I am at 108# which is wonderful. I am also down a size and that's terrific. So--onward and downward we go!!!
Judy
234/208/199#soon

Congratulations, Judy! Smaller sizes are soooo rewarding!

I liked your ending of my memory better than MY ending. Grandpa never was one to do that "indulgent smile" thing--none of my grandparents were, really. Not to badmouth them! But I like my parents much better than my grandparents.

Miserably sick yesterday. The flu I've been fighting all week finally got me. I've gotta perform tomorrow morning, can you imagine? "Sorry everyone, can we pause while I sneeze? Promise I'll wipe off the keys..." That would be disastrous!

DH and I got a late start yesterday morning. I wanted pancakes (I love going to breakfast on weekend mornings, it's something that makes me really happy) and we finally ended up at IHOP at about 11:30. I had about half of a veggie omelette and a short stack of pancakes--YUM! Then through various forgotten tasks and appointments and getting sick, I managed to not eat for the rest of the day. I was at a friend's housewarming party and turned around to say something to her, and almost fell over (lightheaded). I decided I was done for the day, came home and crashed. So last night I slept 6:30 to 6:30 this morning! Think I got enough sleep?

Today should be practice, practice, practice. Wish me luck!

Mousie,
Feel better and good luck!
Judy

Hi, tortoises.

Judy, a 16W!! Woo-hoo! That's great! What a nice Christmas present to yourself. I hear you about the Wendie Plan variations. I almost always lose weight better when I shake things up like that, too. I haven't eaten at the lowest end of my new range yet, and I'm sure that's partly what's stalling me out at the moment; I always do better when I eat at least one day a week at the bottom end of my range or below. Interesting that you're just doing that naturally; that must feel terrific.

Mousie, how did the concert go? I'm sorry you're feeling so rotten. About your grandfather, isn't that something how those old memories return to us and shape who we become? I can see how hard that would've been for you, especially since you say you hate it when people are upset with you. I'm like that myself. One of the benefits of aging has been that with each passing year, I'm a little less concerned with whether others are upset with me. I doubt I'll ever completely be able to let it roll off my back, though.

In defense of your grandfather's generation, they were the folks who came out of the depression years and then the war years (I imagine -- I don't know how old you are, but I'm assuming your grandfather would've been born in the teens or 20s or so). That generation by and large believed that waste was one of the worst possible things a person could do. You can see why, when you see what life was like then. So he probably just wanted to teach you a lesson about waste, and why it was so important to just take what you needed. Unfortunately, it ended up being mostly just a traumatic memory for you.

I think that's wonderful you managed to resist the toffee, and then had the opportunity to get rid of it! Good for you. And good for you for taking your husband's words at face value, and just going out and having a good time with your friend.

I saw off MIL today; my mother arrives on Thursday. We're a revolving door this time of year, but I do enjoy it. It's especially easier with me not working right now. I have an interview tomorrow with a body shop (contract company that slots you into contract jobs); we'll see what comes of that. I've also decided to try to learn computer programming; my brother is going to help me. I really, really want to work for this startup company, and right now they only have jobs in programming. I told them I was going to start learning Java, so we'll see what comes of it.

I've been staying within my points and doing my workouts, but it sure has been tough lately. I think I'm suffering from the worst possible combination -- PMS during the holidays! I crave all the sugary stuff I see everywhere I go. Yesterday was an open house at a friend's, where I had a few M&Ms again and a couple cookies. Today I neurosed for an age at Barnes and Noble about whether I was going to have a dessert with my sugarless Italian soda. I finally decided against it, so I'm proud of that (I'd already had a skinny cow today). I guess some days are just tougher than others. I know it doesn't help that I have had a fair amount of sugary food over the past week or so, and that always makes me crave more.

I've still got a couple more parties to go to, and then when my mother is here she always likes to go to Domino's Farms (world headquarters for Domino's Pizza) to see the light show and have pizza. We're also taking her out one night to an 1800s tavern, where they put on a big holiday feast complete with minstrels, candlelight, etc. (There's no electricity.) DH and I did it once years ago, and it was a lot of fun. But it's a HUGE meal! Not much dessert, fortunately.

At this point, if I just maintain through New Year's, I'll be thrilled. I've beefed up my workouts -- I'm now attempting Paula Abdul's video, which is much tougher (and way beyond my dance skills at this point). And I'll just keep writing it all down. And eating soup.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/199.5/199 by Christmas

Lauren--even if it seems like the world is flying against you, I'd say that the way you're preparing and handling it still puts you ahead of the game! You know what your challenges are and how to deal with them. You're being realistic about your goals and still managing to record everything. I'd say you're waaaaaay ahead! Have great fun at the mistrel show, I miss Ren Fest so much, haven't been in two years, and my costume is getting mouldy from disuse!

I've also noticed sugar cravings like you describe--having "just one" makes them worse. If I wake up my sweet tooth in the morning I'm fighting it all day, but if I don't give in, I'm fine. Why is that?

You might want to try a Pilates or a yoga video, to add to your repetoire. They're not cardiovascular work, so you won't burn a lot of calories, but they are intensely muscular and both styles encourage your muscles to form long and flat--much like a dancer's. For Pilates try the Method series; for yoga, the Yoga Journal beginners video with Rodney Yee is worth your time (he is a yoga god). Plus, they're emotionally/mentally calming, too!

My grandfather was born in 1900. He flew some of the first planes and drove some of the first "car transport" trucks. He was thrown out of Ireland for being Protestant and lived in Canada for a bit before immigrating here. He was illiterate when he got here and immigration just spelled his name like it sounded--he couldn't spell it. So we're the Fox family (most likely we were some variation of Fawkes). He died when I was 10, in 1985. That tells you how old I am, too. I know his life was a struggle and I know that waste, to him, was a grevious sin. I also know he was a fascinating man that I wish I could talk to now, he had an amazing life. It just makes me sad that one of my primary memories of him was that unfortunate cafeteria incident.

Performing in two hours, help us all! I know the individual bits. They don't flow together nicely and I wish I could play it faster, but fortunately it's one of those pieces that sounds right at any speed--slower sounds mournful and regretful; faster sounds passionate and angry. Hopefully he'll put it all in the "I have the flu" context!

Hi, Terrific Turtles,

I am getting so frustrated! I seem to be unable to complete a post and get it posted before I lose my connection or something else goes wrong. I am calling AOL to discuss the issues I have with their service. I'd switch ISP providers, but no one else has even their level of service here. They think there aren't very many people with computers because it's an agricultural community. They haven't caught up with the number of commuters who have moved in.

Anyway, congratulation to all of you who posted successes on the last thread. Judy, size 16! WOW! Slinky lady! Lauren, you've made your main goal--under 200 by Christmas. Maintaining that is a terrific goal, especially considering your current schedule of visitors and activities. Mousie, you're doing a terrific job working through issues you need to address as you move toward your permanent goal.

Mousie, I hope your piano piece went well. Wish I could have posted before you played. I'd give you the two best pieces of performance advice I ever got. First, the audience (including your teacher) is on your side. They want to like you and to enjoy what you do and to enjoy themselves. Second, have fun. When you're having fun, you're not as nervous and the piece flows better. And the audience picks up on that and their energy helps you do better.

Hope you're feeling better. The flu at the holidays is the pits!

Thanks for posting about the Pilates and yoga videos. I've been thinking about adding those to my exercise after the first of the year, when our finances should improve. I was wondering which tapes might be good ones to look for.

About the sugar cravings--can't help you with PMS, other than to recommend calcium supplements and a bit of extra magnesium. The mangesium helps with the food cravings. Calcium helps with PMS and weight loss.

However, I did learn that when I eat sugary things by themselves, I crave more of them. But when I combine them with a small amount of protein or my soup with beans or eat them as dessert with a complete meal, I'm satisfied with smaller portions and I don't crave more than I chose to eat.

This week has been really interesting. I've been extra hungry and I've ended up eating over points. I don't know how much because I had some things that I couldn't figure out the points for with any degree of accuracy. Most of my meals have been my normal ones. There have just been a few times when I've eaten more or extra food. I've also exercised more on some days, but less on others. I wish I could figure out how to reapeat this, though, because I lost 2 pounds. I think TOM water retention was masking some actual weight loss, though.

Anyway, I reached a little goal of mine. I now have exactly 100 pounds to lose to reach my (tentative) goal. It's been a long time since I've been able to say that I have 100 (or fewer) pounds to lose. It's a great feeling to have less than a whole person left to go. (A whole person my size, I mean.)

So, it's been a good week, as far as my weight-loss efforts go. The rest is pretty much the same. One exception: my brother could use some more prayers and good vibes. His MRI shows that the brain tumor is still active. They're starting another roung of chemo and all we can do is pray and hope for the best. And that next year brings solutions to all of the things we've been dealing with.

One bit of good news that I can't remember if I shared with you all. Our landlord is giving us back some of the extra deposit we had to pay in order to rent the apartment in the form of paying most of February's rent. So, it looks like we can get our car fixed around the end of January. Woohoo!

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/235 /135 or so

Lin,
I'm praying for your brother. Glad the rest of your news was good. I think it's terrific that you've lost more weight and put yourself in such a good position. That's great that you only have to lose 100 pounds.
I'd love to get to 160#, but will need a doctor to give me a letter at that weight. We'll see as I get closer what happens. Right now I'm aiming for 205, then 204, etc. I can't wait to break 200 pounds and then I'll worry about the next goal.

Mousie,
Hope your piano piece went well. We're all e-mailing up a storm right now and the extra support is terrific. I think the holidays are a good time to be introspective. So many times the things our elders say to us set up a sad memory when they meant nothing of the kind. I remember my grandfather commenting on how I wasn't on TV like the kids on the Amateur Hour. What a dopey thing to say! I didn't know what to do with that information, but I sure did feel like a failure without a talent or gift that I could perform on TV. He's the same grandpa who, when I was 10 and not feeling all that ugly, said, "Don't worry Judy. You're just going through an awkward stage." How's that?
I really did to learn to laugh those comments off at a later age. I wonder about the underlying negativity that's there that I haven't recognized yet.
So--right now I'm working on eating at the low end of points and banking some for Christmas. This seems to work for me. I'm still stubbornly refusing to exercise, but I will in the New year.

Everyone take care.
Judy
234/207.5/199soon

I'm so...I'm over being upset. I was crying heartbroken tears at the time, but I'm over upset. I'm on to disappointed with myself, I think.

I completely blew my final. I started it, got two bars in, lost my place. He told me to take a moment and resettle myself, then start again (he knows about my injuries, and he knows how nervous I get). I tried to start again, and all my fingers were thumbs. I played a final chord and got up and walked out. I walked to the other side of the building and cried my tears--shame, and anger at myself, and frustration, and disappointment--and then came back in to support and clap for my other classmates.

We each had a conference afterward, and he told me that he know I can play the piece--he's heard me before--and he's going to give me an A in the class for taking something that is hard in general but is especially hard for me and making something of it. I was humbled. And then he asked me how I was feeling about it and said he hoped I wasn't put off the piano, because often this "sort of thing" makes people better musicians. I was humbled. And he said he hoped I could take this with me into a rehab/therapy setting, and use it as encouragement--"I once broke my left hand, and now I'm a pianist. You can get better too." I was more than humbled. And he'll help me with any piece I'm working on in the future, and he'll be around next semester if I have any questions.

People actually come that nice? Some of us can only aspire.

I wanted to eat out all my emotions, I was itching to, but I was thankfully distracted by two acquaintances and had to go into a second test before I had the chance. Then other events of the day, and here I sit waiting for DH to get home so we can have dinner. It's been a hard, emotional day.

Wow, Mousie. What a prince among men your teacher is. Wow. And wow again. So wise! I'm sorry that the test was not what you'd hoped for. I'll bet, though, that what you'll carry away from the experience will be far richer than what you would've gotten from a perfect performance. Easy for me to say, I know. I got emotional just reading about it, much less living through it!!! Here's a {{{HUG}}} from Michigan. Sorry it isn't more.

Judy, you're right -- all this posting really is helping me get through the holidays. I so appreciate each of you and your willingness to bare a little bit of your souls here, to share your lives with me. Words can't express how much this group has contributed to where I am today on this journey.

Lin, thanks for the reminder about your brother. I had stopped praying for him but will start again. I'm SO glad you got a break from your landlord and will be able to fix your car! I'll continue to pray for your finances, as we have been. Congratulations on the 2 pounds down! What an accomplishment, given the time of year and all its challenges, and also given the stress you've been under. Sounds like you just plain needed the extra fuel this week.

I went to WW early this week, tonight instead of tomorrow, because I've got a party tomorrow evening. WW had me 1 pound down, which is great. It's always nice when the the agony pays off in a tangible way like that. It also encourages me to stick with it through the holidays. I really do want to put some distance between me and 200! I won't change my numbers, though, until my personal WI, which is still tomorrow morning.

Due to office closings over the holidays, my next weigh-in will be the day after Christmas! How's that for incentive? And ditto for New Year's. While I do plan to eat a nice Christmas dinner, I also plan to stay OP that day.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/199.5/199 by Christmas

Yup; a pound down at home. So I've met my official Christmas goal, one week before Christmas.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/198.5/199 by Christmas -- done!

Woo HOO Lauren! You GO girl! You're just flying now. Go buy yourself something pretty to celebrate your svelte new figure. Or ask Santa!

Lin, my good vibes are going out to your brother. It sounds like you've really gotten some other news that's good, though. How wonderful that you're going to get your car fixed sooner than you thought! I've never heard of getting some of the deposit back before* moving out, so luck was in your favor!

Judy, yeah, usually comments just slide right off me--I have had my own idea of who I am for a long long time, and I just ignore any comments that don't mesh with that. But there is the occasional one that slips in!

I told my story to my DH last night, and then he coaxed me into playing for him. So I played and he recorded it, and we listened to it. And I realized that for all the mistakes I make, I can actually play. And I plan to practice and get better, then give a recording to my prof so that he can hear what he's taught me. I owe him a lot.

Day at home studying today, I have three more finals this week and then I'm done. If I don't even take the OChem final I've got enough points for a C, which isn't stellar but sure takes the pressure off! So I'll spend the day at home, studying and napping and generally taking care of myself. It'll be a great thing when friday gets here, then I'm done with the semester!

Hi, Amazing Turtles,

You all are so amazing, I just had to tell you. Thanks for all of your prayers. They are appreciated more than you could ever guess. The little icon is me singing with Christmas CD's, since I couldn't do my choir singing this year. Doesn't it look like one of those angels or choir singer statues they sell everywhere as Christmas decorations?

Woo Hoo! Lauren, you officially met your goal, a whole week early, and during the holidays at that. Congratulations! It's amazing how connected we get to people we've been rooting for. I feel as glad as if it were me who is below 200! Congrats!

Mousie, wow! You are amazing! You dealt with your disappointment so well! And you didn't eat it out, you found a positive way of managing what happened. I love that you recorded yourself playing and heard the music that you made.

Billy Joel does talks at colleges and A&E broadcast one a few weeks ago. He said that everyone makes mistakes. All the time. No matter how good you are. That's true. And, he said, it doesn't matter.

I once heard a woman play The Entertainer, the ragtime piece that was made so popular in the movie, The Sting. Technically, she was marvelous. But there wasn't any soul to the music. It sounded like a student exercise. It was boring. She played it like there was a metronome ticking, but rag needs to swing.

You should hear my son play it. He was born with music in his soul. When he was about 14 and just starting to learn the piano, he listened and listened to the recording and memorized the piece. And when he plays, he puts that woman's performance to shame. She had years of lessons and performance coaching and all that stuff, but he has the music in his soul.

On the TV show, MASH, the character of Charles Winchester was talking with a pianist who had lost his right hand or arm. He was playing the concerto for left hand (I don't remember the composer) and Charles told him that he had more to give in his left hand than Charles had in his whole body. Charles said that no matter how much he practiced, he couldn't make it music.

That's what you did--made it music and the mistakes don't matter. You must have the music in your soul, too. Keep going. Do it because you love it. That's what I do, even though I'm far from a great musician. I do it for the love of it.

Congrats on doing well enough in OChem. You'll get through finals and be ready to celebrate Christmas. I always hated that finals and Christmas coincided. It made it hard to do justice to either one. Here's a {hug} from me, too.

Judy, it sounds like you were the victim of one of those people who mistakes hurtful comments for friendly banter. You need a {hug}, too.

My dad was like that and he taught it to my brothers. One of them doesn't act that way anymore, but the other has a vicious tongue. I ignore what he says and it doesn't hurt anymore because I know it's about him, not me. But it sure did hurt when I was a kid and a teen and was told I was "too sensitive and couldn't take a joke." It's really hard to have your feelings discounted because you end up stuffing them down and doing something else, overeating, in my case. Some people turn to alcohol or drugs.

Your plan to wait until the new year to start exercising is a good one. Right now, if you're like everyone else, you have enough going on in your life without adding something else. Don't beat yourself up for being 'stubborn' about exercise. We all start exercising when we're ready. It took me over three years to start a consistent exercise program. I think that's true about all aspects of the program. We add those steps as we can accomplish them.

Mousie, because of all of the layoffs my dh has faced over the past two years our credit isn't up to snuff. So, originally they charged us a higher deposit, just in case we left without paying the rent. But since we paid every month, on time, even when my dh had been laid off, they gave us back part of that extra deposit they had charged us. And it wil be enough to fix our car. YAY!

I'm cooking two Christmas dinners this year. One for my family at home on Christmas and the other for my mother, brother, other brother and his family. They are almost a full week apart, so I don't anticipate any food issues. Plus, I'm cooking and buying the food, so I have control over how the recipes are prepared.

It seems that the main issue with me cooking at my Mom's was her boyfriend, but he moved out. Plus, my mom will be very busy caring for my brother. So, she really had no choice but to let me take care of Christmas dinner. It's a load off my mind because I didn't see how she was going to take care of my brother and entertain a houseful of family on her own. It's always bothered me that I couldn't use my gift of preparing food to take some of her burden off, since she hates doing it and has so much else to do.

She's funny, though. I'm 48 and have been cooking for almost 40 years, but she still doesn't quite trust me to be able to pull it off. She is afraid I'll do something "wrong". She's right, because I don't cook her way (which is the 'right' way). I'm kicking her out of her own kitchen so she can't give me bad advice and get mad when I ignore it because I know what I'm doing. She actually told me not to put hot pots on her counter. (Well, duh, Mom. I haven't ruined any counters in 40 years, what makes you think I'm going to start now?)

This is the woman who used to monitor me very carefully when I was in charge of the (premade, store-bought) brown & serve dinner rolls. I was an adult with a family of my own and I got frustrated and told her if she had to keep that close of a watch on me, she could watch the darn rolls herself. And I stopped helping her. Then she got mad because I wouldn't help. Can't win. That's my mother for you.

Basically, she wants someone else to do the work, but do it as if you were a servant and she is in charge. Her way. Period. I won't do that because she's a mediocre cook, at best. So, she has to live with my great cooking, which the rest of the family is grateful for. Nowadays, I think the whole thing is hilarious. My dh says I should put my family in a book because they're so absurd. True.

I've rambled on long enough. I ate really low in my range yesterday. I wasn't as hungry, probably because the rain forced me to skip my walk. It's cloudy today, but dry, so I may take a chance that I won't get drenched and walk later. I need to go to the store for bananas, anyway. So, I'm still on track and feeling good about things.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/235/135 or so

I'm really in a hurry, but you've all got too important stuff happening for me not to chime in for a minute:

Lauren:
You said you'd do it and you did! Yeah! No more 200 numbers on the scale. I'm so happy for you and I'm using you as a successful member I can follow and also achieve. I am so happy for you!

Mousie:
I'm sorry your final was so tough. Your professor really seems to know his students and I'm thrilled for you that he acted in such a human and humane manner. You deserved that A. I feel your prof just offered you a lovely act of kindness and wanted something much bigger than a piano recital piece to come out of your experience. I'm sure those feeling of humbleness will serve you well now and in the future. What an incredible lesson.

Lin:
I've heard you talk about your Mom before and she sure is a powerful person. Glad you're singing to CD's right now. Glad you are cooking for Christmas dinners~and I bet your family is too.
It's helpful to be the person in charge of the calories and I know you'll make good choices. I'll continue to pray for all of you and your brother.

Me:
I had a great day with my daughter. We had lots of shopping and errands to run for her and it was lovely. We had lunch out and I don't have many points left for dinner, but I'm also not very hungry. I was down a smidge on the scale again this morning and tomorrow is my WW WI.
I hope I'm down on their scale.

Onwards and downwards!
Love,
Judy
234/207.5/199soon

Hello, toroiseans. Boy, I like this group. But you knew that.

I just got back from a holiday party. I did pretty well in that I mostly drank water, just ate a few snacks and one piece of pizza. But you know what? Those few snacks (and I do mean few) plus the pizza probably total around 11 points. Actually, that's better than I thought it was going to be -- I just checked Domino's web site, and their pizza isn't nearly as high in points as I thought it was. (Just under 5 points for a medium piece of pepperoni pizza.)

Our WW meeting yesterday was about how to handle parties. I followed a few of the suggestions:

-- Always have a glass of water in your hand (or diet drink)
-- Don't hang around near the food table
-- Case out the food, pick a few things you really want, take small amounts, and then get away from the table
-- Focus on the fellowship rather than the food
-- Bank points ahead of time

There were other suggestions that unfortunately I didn't follow:

-- Eat before you go! (This would've been a big help.)
-- Get in some extra activity that day (Didn't get my workout in today; did some walking downtown, but that's it.)

Anyway, there are some suggestions for you all, in case you hadn't heard them (or could use the reminder).

Lin, I truly cannot imagine what your mom must be thinking. A gourmet cook in the family who actually WANTS to cook, and she has problems with that???? I can see why your DH thinks your family is nuts. The closest thing we have to a gourmet in our family is my cousin. She's very good and loves to cook. I don't see enough of her, that's for sure! When she came to visit a couple years ago, she brought food with her and prepared a marvelous feast for us. I still think about it. I wonder what it would cost to fly you to Michigan ...

Judy, you're doing so great these days. It's a delight to see. I'm envious that you get to spend so much time with your daughter. My mother lives in North Carolina now (she moved down there the same weekend we moved up to Michigan!), so I only see her once or twice a year. It's not enough, and I feel that more acutely now that she's no longer young. I now treasure the time we have together more than ever. That's not to say we don't irritate each other from time to time, but we do have a good relationship. She has taught me more about unconditional love than anyone.

Mousie, what a WONDERFUL idea, playing the piece for your DH and him recording it. He sounds like such a sweetie. I think that's a great idea to let your teacher hear it, too. What a creative response to what happened. I agree with Lin -- some of the best performances I've ever heard had flaws in them. The soul was there, and it made all the difference. Sounds like you've got that!

Got to clean the house tomorrow in preparation for Mom arriving Thursday. I may not be able to get online much through New Year's, especially if my brother (who will also be staying with us) sleeps in the office, where the computer is. He sleeps until noon most days. Anyway, I'll try to check in at least a couple more times.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/198.5/199 by Christmas -- done!