Hello everyone.

I'm back from a week in Japan and a week in San Diego. Yikes. The scale is not being good to me. Good thing I saw a friend at the Farmer's Market who noted my absence at the early Saturday meeting.

I hate that I have easily put on 4.5 lbs from just travel. Even with all the walking, sushi and running around I've done in the last few weeks, the discipline is gone.

So, I've recommitted myself, again .

If anyone peruses cookbooks I suggest looking at Deborah Madison's new farmer's market cookbook - Local Flavors. I just got it out of the library and I really like it. Its a bit too precious at times, but it has some excellent recipes.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'll start journalling today and if I have time, catch up on posts.

lala

Welcome back Lala. I had lost track of your travels and was wondering where the heck you were.

well, friends, this afternoon i'm off to a job interview!!! To be honest I haven't been on a real interview for about 15 years (was temping for a long time). Oddly, not nervous.

Have been eating like a pig all weekend long. really really bad...

Welcome back Lala! We were wondering where you were! Glad to hear you're back safe & sound. Thanks for getting the weekly thread up and running!

Laurel: Good luck with your interview! Weekends are tough for me...I'm not on a good schedule and I tend to eat more than I need to!

Well, the continuing saga of things that have to be fixed...while driving up to my cousin's in New York state my muffler decided to disconnect from the pipe...grrr We took it to a muffler place and they quoted me $300 to have it fixed...it's not loud so I opted to not get it fixed up there and have it checked here in town. It was a very expensive week in repairs/purchases!

Work is really busy...we're in the home stretch now with our summer orientations after today there's only 1 more to go and then I'm off on vacation for a week! Temps here are on the rise and so is the humidity.

Good luck Laurel!

Melissa- you and I have the same car? A 1990 244DL Station wagon .... I have an appointment this week to have the muffler lifted and reattached. Its looking pretty saggy.

If I get with it and get some film developed I'll link to some Japan pics. I hope some of them turned out.

lala

Lalala, I've missed you! Glad you're back!

Laurel, Good luck with the interview. What kind of job is it for? How did you think you did?

I'm struggling a bit. My life has turned topsy turvey, but I'm trying my hardest to stay OP anyhow.

Hi everyone.

Its gorgeous here and making it sooo very hard to be at work. Guess I'll take a short putter at lunch to check on the status of the blackberries.

Raspberry season is crazy here. I picked a half pint this am and most went into the little container. I should start through the freezer and clean out what we haven't eaten and get new raspberries frozen - those that don't go on DP's ice cream.

I have about 10 lbs of pie cherries coming my way this week too. Yikes.

Nothing else going on, getting back into the regular work grind and being at home. Our dear Jacques didn't kick his UTI and spent Saturday at the emergency vet. He's back on antibiotics for another 2 months and looks pretty punky. Poor guy.

We're picking lots of spinach, greens and carrots. Mmm. Next it'll be the squash and cukes. I wish I could send you cyber zukes. I'll have a few to give away soon.

Laurel- how did it go?

Melissa, kt, seesaw and myra and everyone else - hiya !

okay, back to the infernal computer.

lala

Good morning all...we're experiencing the 3 H's (hazy, hot, humid). It was 79 this morning at 7 a.m. and the air is close. Can I again say how much I hate this type of weather?? We're supposed to have thunderstorms tomorrow but so far each time they've forecasted rain it hasn't happened. We could really use some!

Our garden is coming along nicely...we have a few red peppers that are nice size and the cucumbers are almost ready to be picked. We did plant basil and I was able to cultivate some for my salad last evening. I can't wait for tomatoes!

Hi to Janet, Myra, Seasaw, KT, Laurel, Domina...and anyone else out there I missed.

Melissa

Hi everyone. I hear it's very hot outside today. inside here at work i'm wearing a jacket and wish I had a little pair of gloves. So cold in here!

anyhoo, the interview was okay. no feedback yet. i'm a little unsure about how well i like the sound of the position. TBD...Part of my trepidition is that it might involve a bit of travel and not being Ms. Lala, I'm not that thrilled by the prospect!

Wow, i'm so jealous of all you garden bountiful people. Though i did have lots o'lettuce, the tomatoes are as green as can be and the zukes are about 1/4" long...

Lala, many pats to dear Jacques. Hope he's back on his 4 paws very soon.

A quick hello to everyone. Busy here in the office so no time for anything but work Vacation can't come soon enough - eight more work days!!

Melissa and lala: How strange is it that I had to have my muffler replaced this week too? That and a new fuel pump put a dent in my financial plans, but why should this week be any different? There's always something.

Laurel: Any word on the job? Regular business travel isn't so bad once you (1) accept that it's part of the job and (2) decide it's not a license to eat badly.

Myra: How's it going? Hope things even out for you soon.

I too am jealous of all the talk of bountiful gardens. I have one tomato plant on the back deck; it had one rotten piece of fruit which I turfed weeks ago. Our weather continues to be yucky for the most part, but at least we're not getting the humid heat wave that the rest of the continent seems to be enduring.

On the flip side, am enjoying strawberries, mangos and cherries, albeit from the gorcery store. Still a treat and a nice change from applies, oranges and bananas.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'm off tomorrow.

Things are still pretty rough. Stress is a killer and it just doesn't want to let up. I gained .4 this week, which actually isn't that bad considering everything. Hopefully this week will be better.

Susan, I was gonna say, Hey I didn't know they grew mangoes in Canada!!!

Myra, our WW thoughts are with you. Okay here's the cute WW poem some one sent me today:

10 little Weight Watchers joining in a line,
one hated vegetables, then there were nine...
9 little Weight Watchers say, "This is great."
One said "I don't have time to exercise,"
then there were eight...
8 little Weight Watchers say, "This is heaven."
One had a birthday, then there were seven...
7 little Weight Watchers, getting thin for kicks.
One said, "Programs and fun just don't mix,"
then there were six...
6 little Weight Watchers, see how they thrive.
One said, "Just once won't hurt,"
then there were five...
5 little Weight Watchers beating at a door.
One weighed and left each week,
then there were four...
4 little Weight Watchers from fat getting free.
One heard, "Dear you're getting too thin,"
then there were three...
3 little Weight Watchers see how they do.
One went on vacation, then there were two...
2 little Weight Watchers, life has just begun.
One got off the program, then there was one...
1 little weight watcher standing all alone,
the body's gotten little, how the pride has grown...
1 little Weight Watcher,
at goal she (he) looks divine...
We, each one of us, can be that one
and not the other nine!!!

Happy Friday everyone!

This week has flown by and hopefully next week will do the same. I'm off on vacation the week of the 29th and am looking forward to a break after all our summer programs. I need my batteries re-charged. I was up 1# at my weigh in on Wednesday (which I kind of figured with the heat/humidity along with over eating on some salty stuff) but I know I can pull it back off. I am/was hoping to hit my personal goal before I leave for vacation but if I don't it'll keep me focused to stay on track while I'm away.

Seasaw/Lala: It's like a dominoe effect...now my driver's side front tire keeps losing air....probably a broken seal but geesh it's been one thing after another! Must be the time of year.

Myra: You did well considering the stress you're under. You've got the right attitude and you know that you'll be able to pull off that .4 plus some

Laurel: Thanks for sharing the poem! We've been experiencing the 3H's here (hazy, hot, humid) and it's supposed to break today...my luck the storms will most likely hit at noon when I have to go out for my hair cut! I'd much rather have cooler temps. I'm lucky that I can control the a/c in my office, we just have window units. The tricky part is getting a happy medium--I'm constantly turning it up/down because it doesn't keep a constant temp for us. I'm not going to complain though because for years we didn't have a/c in our office.

Have to get moving and get my lists run this morning. I'm walking in the Relay for Life this weekend so while you're sleeping I'll be walking the track from Midnight-2 a.m. I've done this before and it's a nice time to be out. I'm not a sun person so evening walking is nice. Have a great weekend everyone!

Hi everyone.

Melissa- I love the idea of a midnight walk and for a good cause. You go girl!

Nothing interesting going on here. DP is off for a weekend of listening to music that I don't care for and I get to stay home with our troop of four leggeds. Maybe next weekend I'll escape .

I'm going to weigh in tomorrow and I think it won't be lovely, but it'll be good to get back on track. All I know is that I'm really off kilter with my eating. I don't know why, but it seems that I am allowing an amazing amount of my points to be used for truly empty calories - 8 or 10 a day and that isn't right.

So, I'm going to figure out what worked in the past and get it going again.

Maybe not grocery shopping on a empty stomach with a bad day at work behind me?

Talk to youse all later.

Have a great and cooler weekend.

lala

Lala,

Sounds like you have a good plan. Don't fret what the scale has to say. Next week will be much better.