Last week of January! Does this mean the gym will empty out soon?

Good morning! It's another cold, soon to be snowy day in Pittsburgh. This has been a long winter and there's no end in sight. I'm about to jump into my gym clothes and head out but wanted to get us started first.

How's everyone doing today?

Already??? I've lost a big chunk of time.

Good morning all! I'm going to be busy at work this week (as will DH) so you probably won't hear much from me.

I'm going to try to drink my cold remedy (ginger, lemon, honey and water simmered for 20 minutes) every night rather than eating to relieve stress, It seems to have a real calming effect on me.

Have a great week all!

Dagmar

Good morning! I am getting the kids ready for school and hitting the gym, too. One of my FB friends (a guy I had a crush on in high school) said that I look "lean and buff" in my profile picture. Gotta love that!

Let's all have a great week!

Good morning everyone.

We too are in for another frigid week. I've definitely had enough and can't wait for the return or even the near return of spring. But I suppose I will have to wait, now won't I?

I'm in heavy re-organizing mode. And heavy planning a party mode. My parents 50th anniversary is Valentine's Day and I'm making them a surprise party here in my house the following day. I am praying we don't have snow near or on the party day itself so that my guests can travel here safely.

In preparation for the party, I've been doing lots of straightening up (hence the re-organizing), lots of shopping, for paper goods and food and the such. Yesterday I bought a bride and groom cake topper. It's so cute. I'm trying to think up some more ideas to make the party - wedding/anniversary-ish.

I've also been doing lots of cooking and baking and freezing. This has always been a HUGE problem for me. I'm trying to work it out so that I make the "dangerous" stuff as close to the actual party day as possible. I did make 48 beautiful crumb topped mini blueberry cupcakes Saturday night. Amanda acutally popped into my head as I was making them. I know she would love them. Oh and I did cave in and eat one. Oh well. I'm actually quite pleased with that. The rest of the weekend was perfectly on plan.

There will be quite a few people attending who haven't seen me since the weight loss. I am greatly looking forward to their reaction. I think they will be in shock. May not be a bad idea to have some smelling salts to keep on hand.

I've got a great outfit picked out. Will have to stay POP prior to the party to fit into it nicely. So no nibbling for me. That is going to be my mantra for the next few weeks. No BLT's. No BLT's. No BLT's.

Have a great day and week everyone.

Good morning everyone!

Robin-- that sounds so exciting to be planning your parents 50th anniversary party-- and a surprise as well! That is great planning to have an awesome outfit so that you will stay OP.

Good morning Meg, WardHog and Mudpie-- hope you have great weeks!

My weekend was pretty good. Some OP meals but lots of exercise and my weight is just where I want it this morning-- that is a success in my books for a Monday.

My dd has no school today but it is a teacher workday so I'm off to work. I have a busy week planned with more doctor visits but I'm hoping this week will be the end of the doctor visits.

I may have to do some more clothes shopping as my pants are almost all too big. I need to quit changing sizes. My weight is staying the same but the working out must be changing my overall size.

Good morning everyone. (It's already the end of the month? Oh well, I haven't been here since, uh, last year, so I guess this makes it even longer for me.)

Maybe the gyms will empty soon, and then it'll be time for me to fill them again, because some of my classes stop in February, and if everything goes as planned, I'll be able to resume serious weight-lifting. Sure I can do push-ups in my room, but it gets old quickly. :/

And now, ladies and gents, for your laughing pleasure...

I have a new roommate. His name is Murphy, he's being a nag, and on top of this, he doesn't even pay his share of the rent. Among other things that I can give him credit for:
- We haven't had decent heating at work since December 14th, and had to resort to huddle at 7 in an office meant for 3, around a tiny tiny electric heater. "There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize"... oh wait, no, that's the Steinbeck quote I'm supposed to learn.
- For some time, we also didn't have water at work. Which meant no tea to warm us, and worst of all no flushing the toilet. Gah. It is a grand sight when 12 people from the same company go all together to the nearest fast-food joint just because it's the nearest place with working toilets.
- Two days ago, while going to class, I fell on a patch of black ice while biking. There would've been no damage taken, if my heavy old bike hadn't proceeded to fall as well, landing on my legs. So it happened that the fall itself did no harm, but the bike was the source of all my bruises. Huhuh.
- I almost managed to lose four websites last week, three of which I host for friends. Just because doggone Paypal apparently didn't understand that adding my new Visa and removing the old one meant the new CC had to be used for all current subscriptions as well.

I nominate myself for Millstone of the Year.

On the other hand, I won't complain about the weight thing, since it's still going alright. Even though a Subway opened in our city last week. (But I wasn't impressed with them when I was in London, so staying clear from that one won't be too hard, I think.)

And now I hope everybody's having/will have a good week.

Michele, maybe we should go clothes shopping together. I wore my favorite red blazer to church , even tho I realize it is too big and my slacks drooped in the butt. This is a problem I don't mind having !!!

I had a "good news bad news" type of thing this morning. The bad news is that my weight is still right there at 154.5--it's been there a full week except for the weekend. The good news is that I wear two rings--my wedding ring and an anniversary ring. The anniversary ring is a half size or more larger than my wedding ring. Usually I grab both rings without looking and place one on my right hand--because ONLY the anniversary ring will go on that ring finger. Not today--my wedding ring easily slipped onto my right hand! Well that means my anniversary ring is extra loose now (it's always been a bit loose--long story made short: don't have your ring sized after walking 5 miles in hot humid weather).

Oooh, and I'm going to get new golf clubs!!! My set is over 20 years old and everyone thinks the new technology will certainly help my game. I think I'll get them Friday and then go for 18 holes at a new course on Sunday. I'm excited!!

My in-laws left this morning to drive to Idaho. My MIL's father has been in ill health for many years and is failing fast. It's kind of sad, but they're quite obstinate and refuse to go into an assisted living center and both have bad histories of falling repeatedly. The family up there has come to the conclusion that they need to be moved, but no one there can convince them, thus my in-laws have to go up to take care of the situation (either that or a funeral--they are going prepared with appropriate clothes just in case). But then, my MIL has been saying for the past three years that a funeral is immanent, so who knows? Isn't it weird that DH's grandparents are two years YOUNGER than MY parents?

Hi everyone,

A big whew that my play is over and went well. It's sad, too - we joked backstage that we finally learned all of our lines by Sunday's perf. and now we don't need them anymore. My BF had been out of town for a week (working), was supposed to be gone until Wednesday and miss the show, but he surprised me and came back early to see yesterday's show and come to the cast party with me, etc. It meant a lot to me that he made it!

All of my costumes had short sleeved tops, mostly skirts, and for one scene I had to wear a one-piece bathing suit on top with gym pants on the bottom (my character was supposed to be an Olympic swimmer). Aside from comments on the show and my acting, I was told by several people that I looked "really buff", "had nice legs" and that I really looked like a swimmer. While part of me wanted to be outraged by the sexism of the "nice legs" comment, mostly it was just nice to hear the complements - obviously my workouts are doing their job.

Food was inconsistent Thursday-Sunday. I was on a good track for quite a while so I'm trying to get right back on that. Of course I leave Thursday-Sunday for Boston for my friend's wedding, but will get in as many veggies and workouts as I can until them.

Meg, yes, I'm ready for the gym to clear out. In good news, though, last week my gym got 2 new treadmills, so there are a few more cardio machines (which lately have always been packed full) to go around. Around New Years a cable machine, some new yoga balls, and a few smaller items showed up, and a "would you be interested?" sheet for some cardio and sculpting classes. It does seem the new owner is more interested than the previous in getting new equipment - a definite plus!

bargoo, I'm so happy that you got positive results from your doctor! How wonderful!!! My thoughts are with you for even more progress.

Allison, WTG on the rings! Great NSV! My BF's older friend who passed away in the fall sounds much like that - he had a terrible history of falling amongst many other health programs but absolutely refused to go into assisted living. It got to be a terribly sad situation. I hope your in-laws and grand-in-laws come to some positive resolution.

Kery, sounds like you're having a rough winter! Hang in there. I hope spring comes soon! I'm sending thoughts your way.

Michele, smaller pants size shopping trips are the best kind! (Of course, smaller pants size + super sales are the ultimate best!)

Robin, GL w/ all of your party planning and baking! You can do it w/o BLTs, I know you can!

Wardhog, lean and buff?! Awesome!

Dagmar, I've been told that cold remedy too - only tried it once though, not sure if it worked for me. I hope it calms you down though. Don't stress!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Megan,
Sounds like your play went wonderfully. I would love to be a thespian but I am too chicken. Thus, I am a school librarian and I can "act out" the books I read to the kiddos. That is probably the closest I'll ever come after the trauma of not getting a part for the middle school play I tried out for!
I haven't seen any new equipment in my gym but they are moving things around so something is up....

Allison,
I've also had problems with my rings. At first I was happy because I could finally get my wedding ring off after twenty years (I thought it would have to be cut off of my finger) but now all of my rings are too big even though I've had them sized down once. My knuckles are still pretty large so in order to fit the rings over my knuckles, they slide all over my finger.
I am sorry to hear about your in-laws parents. My parents were much older than my dh's parents as they had me very late in life. I've already had to bury both of them and dealt with declining health, assisted living, etc., while dh's parents are still working and independent.

Bargoo-- I'd love to go clothes shopping with you! I don't know exactly where you are (I'm not a native Californian) but I am in the East Bay. Are you anywhere close??

Hi Kery... nice to "meet" you as I wouldn't have been around last year this time....

I better get back to work before I get caught....

Hi everyone, I'm making a quick post before going to buy groceries. We're forecasted for snow and ice starting tomorrow. It's below freezing now and I'm cold.

Allison, what kind of golf clubs are you getting? I'm getting my new ones in March for my birthday. They are ladies Adams clubs with all the hybrid clubs. I can't wait, I'm gonna play on the ladies league this year and the couples league.

Robin, sounds like you are having a fun anniversary party for your parents.

Kery, good to see you posting again.

Michele, WTG on the smaller sizes.

Wardhog, WTG on the "lean and buff" comment.

Meg, I find that since my workout is early morning that I'm not waiting on machines. If I put off my workout til late evening, I always find a reason to skip it.

I went to STEP CLASS this morning! Haven't done that in years, years!

Jay

Lily~I just started looking at clubs, but I'm pretty sure I want hybrids, too. My DS just got a set of Powerbilt hybrids and I hit them a couple times this weekend and I like them. The ones I've seen first are Taylormade hybrids. I'll probably get men's clubs as I need the extra length. What I can't decide on is the type of hybrids. Some hybrid irons look more like normal irons and some hybrid irons all look like little woods. Very strange looking if you ask me and it makes me wonder how they'd work in, say a bunker.

Hi all! I'm way behind, work is going wild and I'm swamped all week. My weight finally went down Friday and Saturday, but of course back up 2lbs Sunday. Fridays are my official weigh-ins though, so I am still claiming myself officially at my pre-xmas weight. Next goal: pre-thanksgiving weight.

I am in South Bay, San Jose, not far from you probably.