Meg remains on the road out West in her role as midwife, so we start the weekly thread.

My father's day dinner was gazpacho (cold cucumber soup) on the patio - no doubt my all time favorite summer meal. Weather was clear enough, in fact, to have all three meals on the patio yesterday. Yay for summer.

I'm on day 4/night 5 of the dog sit. We spent almost all of Sunday outside either walking (puppy) or on the front porch (all 5 of us).

I'm going to be going my 5th night tonite without watching TV or eating. Not only will I get caught up on all of my reading during this sit but I might also lose some of those last 5 lbs.

Great Monday all!

Dagmar

Good morning from New Mexico! My new granddaughter had some issues and had to stay in the hospital for a few extra days but all is well now and everyone is home. She has her days and nights mixed up, as most new babies do. So things are a little right now!

Congratulations, all!

and to the little girl. Glad she's home now.

Hey everyone,

I'm getting in "early" on the chat this week! Another busy week of field work ahead. I've only managed to get to the gym 3-4x the last few weeks. Either I work very late or I've been out in the sun all day, sweating, and am already exhausted by the time I'm done. I can't do much about that, and just need to be ready to go when I can get there, but I need. to. tighten. up. the. food. Dessert is not a human right. Oil is 1 mile offshore and BF has finally decided to go work for the oil company. The $ is too good to turn down, and his fishing industry is about to be shut down.

Meg, congrats on your grandbaby!!! Glad she's home now and everyone is well.

Dagmar, glad you're enjoying your TV-free time.

Bill, I love gazpacho! I got a really good crop of tomatoes last summer and made it several times. I hope I get enough maters this year to repeat the process.

Have a great week everyone!
Megan

My second go at posting to you, Megan, and to BF.

Meg, congrats on the granddaughter!

Bill, gazpacho sounds great! It's been relatively clear here too (except for some thunderstorms) but roasting hot, so we have not been outside too much.

Dagmar, have fun with the puppy!

Megan, I'm sure all that work out in the field is burning enough calories to make up for missing your gym time. Is BF working on the cleanup effort? I know they were talking on the news about recruiting fishermen with boats to help clean up...

Hi Silver!

Still waiting on my desk to be lowered. I called the facilities folks this morning to ask since they were supposed to do it last week, and they said they should be coming at 1:00 this afternoon to do it. Fingers crossed!

Pretty good weekend here. DH and I got in some good workouts (he overdid it again -- didn't follow exactly the route he mapped out, and ended up going 9.6 miles instead of 6 miles!). We had been sharing my watch, which broke , but we went out and bought a new one for DH so now I'm borrowing his until I decide what to get myself. I'm really really tempted by the Garmin GPS watch with heart rate monitor and all sorts of bell and whistles, but I don't know if I really want to spend $300 on a watch. We picked up a Timex Ironman watch for DH for $30, and it does splits and laps which is handy.

We took Carter over to a nearby park so he could go swim in the creek. He had fun! Washed him in the kiddy pool in the backyard afterward. Yesterday was a father's day dinner at the in-laws' house. I made a sour cream gooseberry pie with the gooseberries from our yard, and ate too much of it, but at least I didn't overeat on anything else.

This coming weekend is a baby shower for DH's cousin. I've never been to a baby shower before. I'm guessing it's similar to a bridal shower? We went and bought stuff off her registry this weekend so at least that is taken care of.

Meg, congratulations on the new granddaughter! How exciting! I'm glad she's finally arrived and is doing well.

Bill, cold cucumber soup sounds like a great summer meal. Summer officially arrived, but our weather hasn't caught up. Since it's supposed to go from not even 70 to 90 in just a few days, I guess that's about to change.

Dagmar, congrats on doing so well on the dog sit. Lots of exercise and getting caught up on your reading is a great way to spend the days. And a tired puppy is a good puppy.

Jessica, I don't even know what a gooseberry is, but a fruit pie with sour cream sounds delicious. Yup, a baby shower is like a bridal shower without the alcohol usually. Hopefully the other women with kids won't sit around and tell the expectant mother stories about their labor and delivery.

Megan, sounds like the oil is within sight. *Sigh* I feel for all those people whose living depended on the sea--many generations of families.

We had a plethora of papas yesterday at breakfast. My son's GF had her father visiting so there were three Dad's. We went to the same place we'd gone for Mother's Day and at the same time, but the place was totally packed. My theory was that mothers get brunches and Dads get more regular breakfast places.

No formal exercise for me, but we walked in the pride parade on Saturday with our church members (first we park at the end of the parade route, then walk up to the start really fast, then walk in the parade so it was quite a bit of walking), then painted for several hours at our new townhome. After breakfast on Sunday, we did the same. Not quite the relaxing day for my DH, but we need to get the work done before my son's GF moves in. I promised him a more relaxing day some other time. It turns out if he gets his project done by the end of the month, he gets to take the first week in August off. Plus he already had five extra days for working Memorial Day weekend. That's two extra weeks of vacation over and above what he's entitled to normally. Yay!

Have a good Monday! Off to finish my crossword puzzle.

DH got my bicycle resistance trainer up and running yesterday, so I hope to start using it this evening. I don't feel like getting up early for exercise in the morning.

We golfed yesterday and then went out for breakfast. We were going to take in a movie but DH was getting hungry and we didn't want to have to purchase overpriced popcorn at the theater so we stayed home and had an early dinner (steaks with grilled vegetable ratatouille--yum!). Both DH and DS didn't like the grilled tomatoes, but I sure did!

On last week's thread, there was a ? about the oldest lady I've taken care of. 44 or 45 I would guess.

Jessica, you'll LOVE a baby shower! If you're lucky they'll play games, like "guess what kind of baby food it is by tasting", passing out folded diapers and the one with mustard in it "wins" a prize, and if you get caught sitting with your legs folded, you have to turn in your safety pin (that was previously given to you) to the person who "caught" you with your legs crossed and whoever has the most safety pins at the end, wins a prize! Woohoo!!! [/sarcasm]

Meg, I'm glad everyone's home and healthy.

Megan, what will your BF be doing?

That was me! Thanks, midwife, and to all your sisters!

Good morning everyone! I'm attempting to get caught up on the thread earlier this week so I'm not impossibly behind.

Bill-- glad you had a nice Father's Day. I don't know if I've ever had gazpacho soup as I usually like hot soup but I would be up to trying it.

Dagmar-- sounds like a great sit! Enjoy your TV and food free evenings.

Meg-- congrats on your new granddaughter! How exciting! What is her name? How long will you be staying? Enjoy your baby time!!

Megan-- sounds like you are getting plenty of exercise even if it isn't all formal exercise. I also wonder what your BF will be doing. Will he be working for BP then?

Hi Jessica! Enjoy the baby shower. Sounds like you had a nice weekend with dh and Carter. I ran on the treadmill yesterday. Hadn't done that in a long time but I'm going to be running in Houston and wanted to see if I was still up to it. At least I can't get lost on a treadmill-- I have the WORST sense of direction-- if I could get lost on a treadmill I would!!

Sheila-- that would be exciting if your dh gets extra vacation! So your son's gf is moving in with you? How do you feel about that change?

Allison-- I was going to ask what movie you saw but you didn't. I am dying to see Toy Story 3! Dd saw it on Friday but she said she'll go with me in Houston as she didn't see it in 3D.

Hi to Silverbirch, midwife and everyone else!!

I leave tomorrow for Houston with dd. Stressing about packing, planning, etc. We'll be there almost 2 weeks. Going to stay with the in-laws (never stayed more than about 5 days-- what was I thinking?!), go to my high school reunion, visit some colleges, and see my best friend's new little baby! I'm trying to drag my friend to our HS reunion (25th) as we've been friends since high school but she is overwhelmed with the new baby-- we may bring him along! I can't believe she has a new baby and my girls are almost grown (19 and 15)-- so weird to me.....

Still frustrated about my weight. It's funny because I'm trying to analyze what is going on. When I think about the possibilities they are almost endless and very varied:
1. my thyroid is out of whack
2. portions are bigger than I think or dh is sneaking more stuff into his cooking than he says.
3. I'm not eating enough and my body is used to too few calories
4. my workouts aren't as strenuous as they were or my body is used to too much exercise? I'm working out 7 days a week.
5. I'm working out so much that I've built more muscle

This has been going on since my cruise the beginning of April. I put on 6.5 pounds and have been struggling to take it off. I was really hoping to have it off before my trip as Houston poses tons of food challenges for me (and exercise challenges as I don't have access to a gym). My weight has fluctuated up and down and up and down and I can't figure it out. I've been almost angelic with a few not so angelic days but very few and never deviating much from my food plan. I'm trying to remain patient but I can really see the few extra pounds. I maintained my weight pretty easily for about 1.5 years and am wondering why I would start having issues now.

I'll see how things go in Houston. The plan is to run each morning-- my inlaws live in a community with lakes and I'll run around them. They just put in a pool so I'll dive in after my runs and do a few laps. Pretty sure I'm going to have to confess my tattoo this time even though I didn't the last two visits.

Not sure how much I'll be on the next two weeks. Hopefully I'll be around. Wishing everyone a great week and a great first day of summer!

Bill, I have patio eating envy. I’m glad you had a great father’s day dinner.

Dagmar, I think 5 pounds in one night might be a little too hopeful. I bet the dog-sat pups are going to miss you.

Meg, congrats grandma! I’m glad baby girl is home and doing well.

Megan, dessert isn’t a human right? That’s just too sad. to your BF on his work choice. But on the positive, at least he has $$$ coming in.

Jessica, I understand the results of a mapped out workout getting a deviation then exhaustion. DH and I did that on Saturday’s bike ride. It does sound, though, like DH could use the Garmin GPS watch for his runs.

Shelia, ditto on our weather here. 59 as a high yesterday mid 80’s tomorrow. I won’t have patio eating envy for long.

Allison, I hope you like your bike trainer. I love ours.

Michele, have a great time on your Houston trip. 2 weeks with in-laws sounds stressful. Good luck with the food challenges.

I forgot about father’s day until DH and I were halfway through cleaning my garage. I was “oops, I’m so sorry” but I must say my garage looks great. We had a nice relaxing day after the LONG bike ride that wasn’t supposed to be so long on Saturday. DH started day shift today for 3 months. It’s like I’m married again. We took the huskies out for their walk at 5 this morning so elliptical and treadmill workouts will now be after work. I like that so much better. There is nothing more peaceful than the mountains on a crisp summer morning before the sun rises. What a perfect way to start the day.
Marie

Meg Congratulations on your new granddaugther!!

Rabbit

to all Meg.

Ye Gods I'm looking after a baby seal. The pup starts to "yarp" if I'm upstairs for more than an hour without getting him out of the crate.

I'm going home tonite for dinner. I need to say some words other than good boy and no to someone who does not have fur on their face (although DH probably hasn't shaved today )

Have a great night all!

Dagmar