Good morning everyone!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine wasn't too bad although I have to admit that my points were up on the higher end rather than in the low to mid range that I had hoped. I went to a wedding on Friday evening and came away pretty well unscathed in terms of food so that was a good feeling.

Temps are still cool here and the forecast is calling for much of the same. The temps are more like November rather than October.

Anyone do anything special over the weekend?

It's still warm in Florida, but the nights are cooler (60's).

I went to a local Arts and Crafts show. It was all right, not as large as I had hoped, but the weather was beautiful for walking around.

DH and I went to a play on Sunday. It was entertaining.

Did a lot of reading; that was good. Our town finally got a library and, believe me, I will be there a lot. I love books!

Melissa, good for you. I go to weddings and get caught up in the festivities and before I know it, I've drunk and eatern a lot.

Hi everyone,
Busy here. Mom went home and left us with way more food that we could eat. I am happily giving it to those we work with who have hearty appetites. We did have a nice time with her. She and I spent Saturday night at a hotel on a matress run and she enjoyed the upgraded suite and little amenities.

I'm off to Denver/Boulder for the week. I am so not excited. We already have plans for next weekend. A friend that I travelled to Japan with is coming to Seattle and I'll see her and we have some dinner guests too. Yikes.

I was remarkably down about 4 lbs on the home scale on Saturday. Some of the clean living must be working.

Lets see if it holds.

Hope everyone has a very nice week. My goal is to exercise, learn lots about what ever it is I'm having to leave my home for and
to try and journal three days this week.

Take care,

lala

Hi everybody.

The weekend was dismal. By now you all must think I'm some sort of hypochondriac, but here's my latest - I have either a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle or something in my lower back and have been out of commission since Friday (my day off). Of course, I was thrilled to spend the weekend with a heating pad and a book instead of running around the brilliantlyu-coloured countryside.

On a brighter note, the new car is really nice. I keep running out to the garage to make sure it's real. After driving a 1989 Corolla for what seems like forever, this is a treat!

I see Patch is back and has the challenge up and running. Anyone else up for it?

Gotta run. Will check back later.

Susan, so sorry about your back. Sounds painful. Get better soon, okay?

Lala, I see why you've lost weight. You're always on the go. Denver is not so bad--there are worse places.

Everyone, here's a question for you. I'm considered to be the baker in the family. Christmas will soon be upon us (yes, it's true) and I don't know what to do about the baking. I usually make 7 or 8 different types of cookies. Now that I've lost my weight, I don't want to blow it. The family will be so disappointed.
Any ideas? Should I just say, "This is the new me, no more cookies??"

Domina,
I think I lost because I actually monitored what went in my mouth.

If anyone want to go in my place this week, I have a ticket and three nights at a nice hotel.... Just take really good notes.

As for the cookies- I still make them, I just don't sample them and I hate cookie exchanges.

I have some really nice lf biscotti recipes that I make and send off pronto after making them. I also make lots of chutneys and spreads and send those off. Those are not such a temptation.

If you don't want to make cookies, send your friends and family things they can use - movie gift certs, force hyacinths and paperwhites, dog bisquit mix w/ a nice bone cookie cutter.

Yikes, I'm giving away all the gack I collected on our trips this year. Other than chutney and biscotti, if we don't have it in our house already or I have targetted it in our upcoming trip, its not getting purchased. We have an amazing number of things we have collected that we keep on forgetting.

Okay, gotta send a couple things off and I'm off.

susan- nice car

everyone else -see ya.
lala

Good morning! It's a dreary day here--rainy and dark, which signals to me a good day to be home reading!

Susan: No, I don't think you're a hypochondriac, you've just had a bad stretch with injuries. There's nothing worse than having a day off and being laid up! That happened to me a couple of years ago around Christmas. I had taken off a day to do some baking and ended up on the couch with a pinched back nerve. It was not fun at all!

Domina: I know where you're coming from on the cookies. My mom used to make a ton of different cookies and in large batches. I've finally convinced her to only make as much as we absolutely need. It's hard to pare down but in the long run it works out. Maybe you could just make the number of cookies you need and box them up right away to give to family/friends. Cookies aren't a problem for me so I've not had a problem with having them around. You could bake them but not sample (chew gum while you're baking).

Lala: Have a good trip!

Hi to Myra, Laurel, Patch!

I'll be posting on the Patch's Challenge as well...it's just what I need to stay focused with the upcoming holidays.

Went to my meeting but didn't WI there today. Accordng to my home scale I gained about 4 lbs. in the past two weeks. Wanted the motivation today but couldn't bear to see the numbers. But it didn't go the way I hoped. The leader wasn't there. One of the weighers led the meeting without any directions on what to do. It was abolutely terrible. A total waste of time. At least I have you guys to motivate me, along with Patch's 12 week challenge.

lala: Thanks for the info. I would love to have your lowfat biscotti recipe if you could post it upon your return. I make biscotti too, but they're not low fat.

Melissa: I know I just need to cut down, but the family depends one me to take the cookies to all the family gatherings. I wish I didn't like cookies.

Myra: You can lose it again--hang in there. It's a bummer when your favorite leader is not at the WW meeting.

Well, gotta go.

Hi everyone. Any big plans for the weekend?

Domina: You're in a tough position. Don't know what I would do. I might try to find someone else to take over til I was sure I could resist the temptation. It's easy when you don't have kids and don't live near family. If I don't make 'em, then I don't have to worry about eating 'em.

Myra: Bummer about the gain, but if you gained it that quickly, you can lose it quickly too. It's the fat that's been around a while that's the most stubborn...

Melissa: I appreciate the re-assurance. I think my back is slowly getting better, but I still don't feel good enough to run, and that really has me upset. Maybe this weekend.

lala: I can sympathize with your preference for staying home. Business travel's not enjoyable, but it's hard to convince people who hasn't done it. One boardroom/hotel/workshop is like another, and you never get to see any of the interesting things in the place you're visiting. Hope you have some fun.

Have a good one.

TGIF!!! It's been a busy week here but yet the days seem to be dragging, does that make sense?

My weekend will be a little busy although not as crazy as some I've had in the past. My DS #1 is going to Homecoming tonight with a "friend" he's known since grade school. She attends another school and asked him to go with her. She's also bowls with him on Saturday mornings. Anyway, I'm happy he's going with someone he knows and hopefully it will take off the nervousness of going out. Saturday will be spent running to the bowling alley and then in the evening we are going to a 50th wedding anniversary for my aunt & uncle. It should be fun since I don't get to see all my cousins and aunts that much.

Myra: Hope things are going better for you. It's always a downer when you're leader isn't there and you need the motivation.

Domina: I totally understand about the pressure of being the one who does things...I'm the one in the family that makes the homemade nutrolls and pierogies for Christmas.

Susan: Hope the back is getting better. I'd take it easy on the running--could you just go out and walk? I hear your frustration about missing the running.

We turn our clocks back Saturday so we'll be getting an extra hour of sleep...woohoo! The only downside is that it'll be dark when we get up in the morning and dark early in the evening.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Melissa: Thanks for the reminder about the clocks--almost forgot. You make pierogies?? They're great. I love the potato ones and the cabbage ones.

Susan: You sound just like my DH who runs. When he can't run, look out.

DH and I aren't doing too much this weekend. We'll see a play on Sunday. I want to go to the local flea market on Saturday. Otherwise, it should be just doing stuff around the house. Housework is always there.

Enjoy the weekend everyone.