Good morning! We're waiting for the next snowstorm here -- another 6" due this afternoon and tonight. I can't remember a winter with this much snow! Our gutters are completely iced up (there's about 9" of ice sticking up above the gutter!) and we have water leaking in many places in the house. There's no way to fix it, so we just have to wait for all the ice to melt. Which it isn't doing anytime soon!

How was Valentine's Day? I made a special dinner of seared scallops over angel hair and a salad with baby greens, pears and toasted pecans. Of course, the scale is up a ridiculous amount but I'm hoping a good workout and lots of water takes care of that quickly. DH and I only exchange cards, and I found one in the coffeemaker, one with the cats' food bowls, and one with the oatmeal container. I think he knows my morning routine!

I'm going to get out to the gym and do some errands before the snow, plus one of the cats needs to get to the vet this morning. She has a recurrent urinary tract infection that's back after three weeks of antibiotics. Because the cat has a serious heart condition, the vet's been reluctant to do any additional testing (the cat stops breathing when she gets stressed), but I think something else is going on here that we need to figure out.

Be sure to check out Lori/Fiberlover's post: Dr. Oz Show and read her blog for the whole story. It sounds like a great show and we're all so proud of Lori for being our 3FC representative! It seems like the message that yes, we CAN lose weight and keep it off sometimes gets drowned out, so I for one just can't wait to see all the losers in one place!

Let's have a great week and dream of beaches, hot sand between our toes, palm trees, sunshine, and coconut margaritas (SF, of course )

We have the new statuatory holiday here but both DH and I are working . It's no fun being broke!

Meg It sounds like you're having the winter we've had up here in Toronto for the last two years. I have a photo of DH standing beside our front lawn, which is piled at least 9 ft. high with snow from the driveway.

I am so happy we're not having the huge snow this year. It was soo fatiguing trying to drive, park, walk, and do everything else I do with the dogs in deep snow.

My weekend wasn't too great re food, wine, and desserts. I had hope to get back on track yesterday but DH (who doens't believe in Valentine's Day) brought me chocolates, jellybeans, a sweet card and wine! He's totally broke so this was a really big gesture on his part.

After a glass of wine I just went for the candy . Gave DH half the chocolate (I had given him a Belgian chocolate heart that morning) and ate all the jelly beans myself.

The silly thing is that the beans were pretty awful, even though they came from an expensive candy store. I couldn't tell DH that so I just gulped them down. 1 glass of wine= no self control for me.

Before the wine DH and I discussed a plan for him getting healthier and for me getting back on track to get to my goal weight and stay there.

We're starting with reducing the amount of caffeine we both drink. I'm abstaining from alcohol (see above re candy) and DH is going to have 2 beers 2 times a week at his band practices. We're going to do that until the end of February and then see what additional small steps we'll take from there.

I think DH just couldn't face that "I have to change everything all at once" mentality he used and so has been failing miserably at getting healthier. I think the "baby steps" approach will work much better for both of us.

Have a great Monday all!

Dagmar (back on track )

Good Monday morning! Our snow has melted, but more is predicted for today. It's been raining all night, and the temps are supposed to fall below freezing today. I really hope we don't have an ice storm. ugh. The worst!

Anyway, I am headed to the gym this morning for a good NRLW workout. DH is off today and the kids are in school so we're probably going to Home Depot to check out bathroom stuff. It's next on the list to be remodeled.

No snow here - in fact is was T-shirt weather yesterday
Luckily - it doesn't seem to hampering the Olympic events too much.

Went to check out all the hype on the weekend - i have never seen downtown Vancouver so vibrant, the streets are filled with people. It was very fun - although i used my calories up on beer instead of healthy food.

Things are going pretty well on weight watchers - must stay focused though, I know how easy it is to derail..but so far - so good.

Have a great Monday everyone.

-S

Hi all,

I had a busy & productive weekend but not very restful, and I think my cold is coming back b/c I was foolish and didn't continue getting extra rest, and drank some wine on top of that. Last night I put my foot down and told BF we're getting to bed earlier. Trying to balance the normal weekend stuff w/ having friends in town and hanging out w them in the evenings, not good. I had a good training session Sat AM at the gym and managed to eek out a single 120# benchpress, which is my highest weight right now. Went home, cleaned bathroom, worked on my taxes for 2009, cleaned & cooked until we went to happy hour with our friends. Sunday most of my day was taken by driving to the city w/ friends to see "Rent" at the university, which was a lot of fun. I managed some bulk cooking in there so I have some good chili, curried brown rice & chicken, etc. for my lunches & dinners this week, and watched a little Olympic coverage while cooking & doing house chores. I will function better with my clean house but I've got to get some extra sleep in there. I'm still drinking my coffee.

BF got me a bottle of this chocolate wine for Valentine's Day, and I had a small glass last night. It's strong stuff! It tastes a lot more like the chocolate - like really thick chocolate milk that has a kick you know says alcohol - than wine. He heard about it on some TV show, the Today show or something, where he said it was "all the rage" and he knows I like a) wine and b) chocolate. It was good, but not great (though I told him I really liked it, b/c it was thoughtful of him).

Suzanne, ooh, enjoy the Olympics for all of us! I would love to attend the Olympics one day (summer or winter). I'm not normally a huge sports fan but I'm a sucker for all the "human interest" stories they play about the athletes and really get into the Olympic competitions.

Dagmar, why does wine taste so good but make you feel so bad? I've become a super lightweight since my college days, too. I might not feel drunk after 1-2 glasses, but the next day feel so blah.

Meg, aww, I hope the vet can figure out what's wrong with your kitty w/o much trauma.

I checked out Lori's blog about the Dr. Oz show. How fun!

I hope everyone has a good week.

Good morning! Sunny and clear outside my window, so I'm hoping the threat of more snow and ice has passed. I'm at work today, not a holiday for me. DH has the day off, so he is at home, hopefully getting some rest. We had DSS this weekend and he was more 'on' than he has been in a while. He pretty much ran non-stop from Friday afternoon until time to go back to his mom's last night. DH is worn out - lots of 'daddy, play with me...' this weekend. Good Valentine's Day - went out for Chinese food. Shrimp & Chinese Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce. Yummy. Never had Chinese eggplant before.

Meg - hope they figure out what is wrong with your kitty.

Dagmar - small steps work well for some people, others need the 'cold turkey' approach. Your DH was trying to make a lot of changes all at once, smaller changes might work better.

Ward - I'm hoping that we don't get more rain & ice!

Sznn- t-shirt weather? Wow. Watched some of the events last night. Fun.

Megan - I got some of that chocolate wine at Christmas. Don't know if you chilled yours, but it is much better cold than it is warm. I liked it, but I like the chocolate-y drinks a lot anyway. It was a little think.

TOM coming any minute now for me, working today when every other job I've had gave President's Day as a holiday, about to have to call an employee for an unpleasant conversation, every muscle on my body aching and my nose running. I'm having a very irritable day. And, to top it off I just found out that I never mailed the gift cards I bought my brother & SIL for their birthdays. In October. Somehow they got shoved into the bottom of my gift wrap organizer. We didn't see them in person for our family vacation like we usually do, and then they didn't come when we took my dad out for his birthday at the beginning of November, so I didn't see them from July to December, and somehow I just missed it. I now feel pretty stupid. Rolls into the rest of the day! Ick.

Hope everyone has a better day than me!

Good morning!

Megan, I am cracking up at your post about the dress being something a teenager into anime would wear, because I was really into anime when I was a teenager, and I totally would have worn it then (well, except for the part where I was fat then). I started dating DH my freshman year of college, so MIL's first impression of me was exactly that. Somehow she hasn't managed to realize that (a) I'm not 18 anymore, and (b) I haven't been into anime for about 8 years. In any case I exchanged it for a dress I like much better (solid purple on top, with an abstract patterned skirt).

I managed to avoid having to say anything about it to MIL since DH answered the phone when she called. He was very diplomatic about it and managed to convey that I appreciate the gesture AND that I don't dress the way I did when I was 18 anymore.

Meg, we're getting more snow today too. Will it ever be warm again??

Dagmar, good luck with the baby steps!

Hi to everyone else!

Meg, thanks for directing us to Lori's post It's great Got a kick out of her Richard Simmons comments. I have secretly wanted to adopt him for years. If you can't be motivated and enthused by Richard Simmons you are hopeless !

Uh oh . . . So I worked out at my usual time (11:30) and came back to my desk to find an email and 4 missed calls from DH. He was not feeling well so he drove himself home (we carpool). Unfortunately I missed his calls or else I would have taken him home then driven myself back to work, but now I am stranded without a car. I'll see if I can get a ride home from a coworker or else call up MIL and see if she can pick me up. I'm kind of kicking myself because he emailed me literally seconds after I left my desk to go work out. If I had just sat there another five minutes I could have taken him home.

Now I'm worried that he might be sick because of the expired cake mix that I cooked on Saturday! Food poisoning doesn't take two days to kick in, right? On the other hand one of his coworkers who he works closely with came down with a stomach flu last Friday so it's possible it was just incubating all weekend and that's what he has. I still feel okay for now (eating my lunch as I type).

Jessica-- I can't imagine expired cake doing anything to your dh. Sounds more likely that he caught his co-worker's stomach flu. Hopefully it's the 24 hour variety and you don't catch it. Don't feel guilty about working out though. You couldn't have known he wasn't feeling well.

Shannon-- sorry you are having a bleh day. I would go ahead and mail your relatives their late gift cards. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of them! I think I've had chinese eggplant and loved it.

Megan-- chocolate wine sounds very interesting but I am SUCH a lightweight now that I don't usually drink at all. Though I'm probably going to today (more on that later). I hope you take care of yourself and get over your cold. It does sound like you've been doing way too much!

Hi Bargoo! Let us know if you hear anything from Lily.

Sznn-- good job on keeping on your WW. Are you enjoying the meetings?

Hi Ward! Hope your weather isn't too awful. I won't mention that we are expecting sun and temps in the 60s all week.

Dagmar-- I think abstaining from alcohol sounds like a good idea! I rarely drink anymore as I lose all of my resolve around food when I do and I always feel terrible after-- even if I just have a small amount.

Meg--to your kitty. I hope she doesn't get too stressed at the vet. I worked as a vet tech for 15 years and the upset cats always scared me way more than any mean dog! Those cats could be sweeties at home and turn into the exorcist at the vet's office! Your dinner sounds delicious! I hope your weather lets up soon!!

After 10 days of being sick, I'm starting to feel better. I sure hate being sick-- not that anyone likes it!! The worst thing has been my lack of exercise!! And that I took off three days from work. I never call in sick. Saturday I tried to go back to the gym. I did 32 minutes on the elliptical and left exhausted. Yesterday, dh and I took the dogs on an hour hike. I was able to handle that (about 3 miles). Today, we are going to "the city" (San Francisco). It cracks me up that in my small town everyone says they are going to "the city" or "the snow" (Lake Tahoe). We are going to a place that pairs chocolate with wines so not the best idea calorie wise! I think I've talked dh into taking the BART there and then walking the 2 miles each way so I'll get some walking in. If we get back in time and I'm not too exhausted I'll try to get to boxing boot camp tonight. My weight was down due to my lack of appetite but my appetite has picked up and after our V-day dinner last night and the dinner the night before, my weight is up a few pounds. Dh goes out of town tomorrow and I always do much better with food when he's gone. He loves to cook and he gives me big portions which I feel guilty if I don't eat. We also have leftovers which I take to work so it extends the extra calories.

Day 3 of my weekend and all is well. Not a lot of time to post much...

I did my exercise Saturday and this morning, so far I've gone over 54 miles this year!

Yesterday we went to the Greek Festival and had a yummy Gyro. We didn't get any baklava--it was just so crowded! We did buy a bottle of Ouzo, though.

Today I'm trying to get the music off of my desktop onto an external hard drive, but my computer (ancient!) isn't recognizing my external hard drive. I'm waiting until 11 AM to wake up DS to have him look at it...I just can't figure it out.

I was thinking about Meg's kitty and thought I'd mention my continuing kitty saga. My Wilbur has been getting sick for months. The vet thinks he has developed an allergy to commercial cat foods. We have tried many different (expensive!) foods but anytime we try anything, he immediately vomits and wheezes. So.... we keep feeding him plain cooked chicken (and his sister Charlotte as they share food) and that is the only thing that he doesn't get sick on. The vet said we are probably going to have to cook for him for the rest of his life. Unfortunately plain chicken doesn't have the minerals, vitamins, etc. that they need so I just ordered a $50 pet recipe cookbook! We'll have to add calcium, taurine, etc to make the diet something they can stay on permanently. Dh wasn't too happy about that as so far he has been the chicken cooker! It takes him half the day to boil the chicken in bulk, debone and deskin the chicken and cut it up into bite sized pieces. Oh, what we do for our pets!

Michele - I prepaid for 12 weeks - so i will be attending without fail until they are used up.
I do like the meetings - inspirational and I learn tips every time.

Got my first gold star
I am motivated to keep going!

s

Meg, sorry about your kitty--hopefully the vet visit helped. Sounds like you had a yummy dinner! Your DH is so sweet.

Dagmar, hope the babysteps work for you and DH. I, too, lose control with food when I drink.

Wardhog, are you remodeling it yourself or using pros? We're starting the process, too, but ours involves putting a bathroom where there is none.

Suzanne, what was up with the demonstrators?

Megan, I love chocolate and I love wine, but chocolate wine, hhmm.

Jessica, only four more weeks of the six more weeks of winter, right? Hope you were able to find a ride home.

Michele, did you make it to boot camp? My Mom was from northern CA, and they always called it "going to the city" when they'd go to SF. Even though I grew up in Seattle, we only used "the city" for San Francisco. Cooking for kitty--not even going to go there. I did, however, take my cat to the holistic vet. The food change, homeopathic, supplement and perhaps the acupuncture have all seemed to help her vomiting issues.

Allison, 54 miles--excellent!

Went to see a private trainer today. I've lost some motivation, plus I don't like the weight area of my gym, so I think training with this person will help. I can tell I've lost muscle.

Our neighbor came over to tell us that someone had called asking her about my son (she didn't know I had one) and if she'd seen more than one car at my house. He's late on his payments. The kicker is that he doesn't even live in the same state! I was so embarrassed that the debt collectors called my neighbor. They've called me twice, and I've given them his phone number, which he keeps changing, but he's been at the same address for two years now. I researched the fair practices act, and I believe that they violated one, if not two, of the rules I read.

Oh, saw a good movie yesterday--Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges. He was awesome!

Have a good Tuesday, everyone!

Hi!

I'm here, been keeping busy. It's so nice to be able to go to the gym in the daytime, and I have lots of time to cook good healthy meals! The drama at works conitinues, and makes me even glader that I'm out of there. Plus I think the job opening I sent my Admin Asst is going to work out for her. Still with the city, but in a totally different department.

Weather here has warmed up - in the 40's yesterday and 30's today. But still below freezing at night. Parking lots are trecherous with water on top of packed snow. Luckily I haven't fallen.

Whoops, time to get some dinner and watch the Olympics. So glad we got a new TV (32" on sale Yay!).