Happy Monday ladies!

So in case you didn't read my last post from last week, I stepped on the scale Saturday and was 161! Back to my pre-being sick and pre-vacation weight! I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I woke up too late to go to WW. So I went Sunday. Now, at WW on Sunday I was 162 (since I had clothes on! ). This is actually my WW goal - 162. On 3fc I track my weight at home, on the WW site I track my weight from meetings. Mainly because I'm all over the place with when I go to meetings. I don't have a specific day I go anymore. I switch off a lot. I also switch from mornings to evenings, etc so it is not a stable reading, I don't think. My scale at home is very accurate (it is actually equal to the WW scale, I weigh myself before I go) anyway, so I'm not worried about that.

How were all your weekends??? Mine was great. Did a LOT of housework. Removed caulking above the window and vinyl from 1/3 of the back of the house and re-caulked. We were getting a leak in the bathroom from the caulking being so old and just not doing any good anymore. I was tempted to keep going, but the trim needs to be re-painted in the spring, and during that time we will have to remove all the old caulking and re-do it anyway. Also installed some new shampoo, etc holders in the bathtub. We had one that went from the top of the tub to the ceiling but it had rusted all through and looked disgusting! I did a lot of cleaning and cooking as well - Sweet and Sour Chicken Curry, Praline-Pumpkin Cake, and Turkey with Honey-Roasted Carrots (all recipes from the WW site). Before I went grocery shopping, I pulled out recipes to make for the week. This actually made my grocery bill smaller and I know I will have enough foog to last the whole week. I think I need to start doing this every week!

Lor, Thanks for getting us started this week. Woo-hoo, you go, girl! I'm glad you got back to your goal. I think you can accomplish your new goal by Christmas.

Just got back from lunch--went to Applebees and had the Chicken Tortilla Melt. Yum!

Had a busy weekend. Played golf with DH (beat him, too and that doesn't happen that often. Walked for breast cancer (3.1 miles). Went to hear a local jazz singer (like her a lot). Had the dress rehearsal for the show I'm in. It was all right, but I was so exhausted, I went to bed at 8 PM.

Lisa - Congrats on beating your husband How often do you play golf?

Busy busy here for me. Since I've taken on this new project at work, I've had absolutely NO free time! I'm cramming things in. And to start off, I'm only working on the project 1 day a week and the other project I had been working on for the other 4. I think what is happening is that I am trying to fit 5 days of work into those other 4 days I'm working on that other project!

Lori, We try to play once a week, especially in the summer because in the winter it's difficult to get a tee time (the snow birds descend on us).

It sounds like my job. I have several things going at once, but nothing seems to get done.

Where is everyone this week? Is Melissa still on vacation?

I'm doing alright. Work is crazy. I thought I would be starting on my new project full time, but I am only able to work on it 1 day a week and I need to work on my old project the other 4 days. I have way more work than time to do it and I'm starting to get overwhelmed with the management duties a bit. Hopefully things will get better as I transition onto the new project full time (hopefully right after Thanksgiving). Eating wise I've been ok at least

I have a friend and her family coming to visit this Saturday (the one who lives in NH and just had her third child in August). I'm psyched - it is the first time they will ever have come to visit us. Their oldest is 4 and I've lived in RI for 5 years, so I've always offered to go up there and visit them instead of them coming down here. I'm happy they are making the trip though!

Lori, I hope your work situation calms down a little. If you're moving off an old project, will they assign it to someone else? It's good that you're not overeating or anything. Sometimes when I have a lot of stress, I eat more. But sometimes when I'm very busy, I hardly eat. It's weird, I know.

The visit from your friend sounds nice. Is your home kid-proof?

Yes, I believe that Melissa is on vacation all week.

Hi Lori and Lisa.

It's slowing down a little here at work and I've finally found some time to post.

Work has been great. I like the people and I'm gradually getting up to speed on what I should be doing.

Weight? Ugh. Not good.

Exercise - better. I have been going to physio for the past several weeks for a knee problem and it is improving. Even tried a short (2 km) run on Sunday and again yesterday. No pain. I will speak to the therapist today about how quickly I can ramp up the distance (I know, I know, baby steps...but I miss running so much).

I rejoined the gym this week and had my first weight workout last nite. I can feel my muscles today -all of them!!

Did Melissa go away for vacation? I am hopelessly out of the loop.

Sisam

Good to hear from you, Susan. Sorry about the weight, but if you get really active again, it should come off. Watch that knee; DH had his operated on in June and he just did his first 5K last Saturday (24 minutes)--not too bad. I'm so glad you like your job, too.

Yes, Melissa went to Maine with her husband.

Tonight I'm headed to dinner. Some friends are taking us out for DH's birthday (to a nice place, too).

Susan - Good luck with getting active again! That is something I need to focus on this week. I don't think I've even gone for a walk in the past week and a half. I think I telling myself that when I went on vacation I did enough walking for a few weeks, but its been more than a few weeks now

Lisa - How was the restaurant you went to last night? Did they have good food choices? Our house is not baby-proof, but my friend knows that. I've also told her of two of the potential hazards. One she already knew about - our cats do not like children. They are just scared of them since they aren't used to short people running up to them and pulling their fur! The other is that we have no door leading down to our basement right now. We have it covered with a piece of fleece right now on a curtain rod (we're in the middle of ordering a door) but I told her I would take that down so the kids could clearly see it was a doorway, not solid, and that there are stairs there. The older two can go up and sown stairs OK, so they should be fine if we leave the view open and they can see it is there.

Past couple of days have been nuts. I've had some problems getting a blood test done and sent back to Oregon. I had a physical yesterday, and of course after I remembered there were two things I didn't mention that I should have. Of course, I had written down everything that I wanted to talk to the doc about but forgot to write these two things down. I don't think I want to wait 6 months, so I may call him and leave a message. He might want to see me again, but I'm going back in 2 weeks to that office to see my hematologist/oncologist so I'm hoping they can just fit me in again with him right after or before. He ordered physical therapy for my hip (finally!) and is changing my anti-inflammatory (I have a labral tear and a cyst in my right hip). He thinks the physical therapy will actually help more than the anti-inflammatory will. Its been 2 years since I've had this problem (which originally was thought to be associated with my leukemia which is why it took so long to properly diagnose) and I'm so happy that I might not be in pain soon

Other than that, my eating has been OK. Staying on track, starting to learn it is OK to eat at least half of my extra points for the week. In fact, I've seen that lately if I eat my target and nothing more I tend not to lose weight. So I need to eat a little more. I have about 16.5 left (today is the last day of my week) so I will probably eat 3-5 of them tonight.

Lori, One thing I don't have trouble with is staying active. I walk and do some type of weight bearing activity 6 days a week. I have a home gym and takes Pilates, Tai Chi at various times. I also do Pilates at home. If I didn't, I know that I would be a blimp. Plus I just feel so much better any way.

No, the restaurant was not point-friendly, but I wasn't worried. We had a lovely time. The food there is always so good.

Sorry about your doctor stuff and blood work. What is going on? I've never heard of so much trouble with blood tests. So glad your hip will be improving. IMHO, therapy, chiropractic are always better options than meds.

I was just wondering about cysts a few weeks ago. For some reason I've had problems with cysts for the past two years. I had ovarian cysts that would come and go (probably due to menopause). Then I had cyst on my arm that became infected--had minor surgery for that. Then I had a small cyst on my eyelid. Why do our bodies form these things?

Lisa - Who knows? I've heard cysts can be made up of some pretty nasty things if they are not fluid-filled cysts (like the one in my hip). As far as the blood, it requires them to not only draw it, but mix it with some other media. So apparently I will be hard pressed to find someone who will do that. I wish I had FL weather here, I would be walking every day. Its getting cold and has been overcast and rainy for the past couple of weeks. Its also darker earlier now. I used to go out around 7:30 or 8pm, but not anymore Can't wait to get a treadmill!