Happy Monday morning folks, oxymoron that that is.

This week starts out with dinner out for the first two nights. My resolve away from my kitchen is slipping more easily these days. Gotta remember that I'll get another chance to eat whatever is tempting me.

Rainy Monday here but it's finally starting to feel like spring . My lone robin has been joined by several others and they have taken away all the nest building twigs, grass, etc that I put out on my fence.

I maintained my weight from last week :, rather than gaining over the weekend. Even with a brunch yesterday that basically provided most of my day's cals.

I went to see "Black Ice", the David Blackwood exhibit at our art gallery (AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario). Amazing! But so bleak. Even a lithograph of a wedding looked like a funeral. His images evoke a sense of loss of an entire culture. Sad subject matter but executed in a stunning visual way.

http://www.davidblackwood.com/

Great Monday all!

Dagmar

Good morning! I'm feeling proud of myself as I didn't talk myself out of exercise this morning. And the grocery store had berries buy one get one free this weekend so I have a plan for a big bowl of fresh berries with a little yogurt for my weekday breakfasts. Yum.

I went shopping yesterday for a shawl or cover up for a dress I have. I didn't buy anything but was convinced the dress was navy blue. We came home and I showed the dress to my MIL who I was shopping with and she said the dress is black. I think I'll have an easier time matching that color! DH and I are going to San Diego for a wedding in May and this dress will be perfect but I think I'll freeze (it's sleeveless) without some sort of a wrap. I'll have to go back today (darn!) and look some more.

I was looking at art this past weekend, too, Dagmar. The Whitney had an exhibit of Hopper paintings (including "Sunday Morning" and "Mobil Gas") that was very interesting because it placed him in the context of other artists working at the same time (It's here: http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/ModernLife). It reminds me that art is not lonely, not really (though the working conditions can be) and not a monologue, created in isolation; it is a dialogue, a long, continuing conversation, with artists talking to one another through their work about what they're thinking, replying to other artists & remembering previous works. It accrues, rather than coming completely out of nowhere.

I've got a luncheon today, Bill, so I can relate to your sentiments. I look forward to the one-on-one conversation, with a friendly woman in another dept with whom I share a lot of interests, I'm not really looking for something "interesting" to eat. I want controlled & predictable here.

And I have a job interview on Thursday. It would entail continuing doing writing projects but also managing seven of my current coworkers. I know I'm a strong candidate. But I've got a rival over in England, at our Egham office, and it would make perfect sense to put a sub-manager over there. I'm going to try not to second-guess my manager on this one.

Also, I want to keep my meals & exercise going smoothly this week. I'm attending a wedding Saturday night & want to look good in a sleeveless black sheath dress. Allison, my solution with this dress was to get a black lace shrug (or bolero) to go over the dress. I sent my measurements over to China (they wanted bust, breadth of shoulders & diameter of upper arm) and they custom-made it for much, much less than it would cost here. If I need something warmer, I've got a velvet Victorian cape from the 1890s that works well with this dress.

Saef - I'm fascinated by you ordering a bolero from China. How did it work? Good luck with your job interview!

Dagmar - high five on maintaining your weight!

Allison - good job with the exercise this weekend, and the food! Much easier to match a black dress.

Bill - there is always another chance to eat whatever it is. Absolutely.

Busy week coming up... At least it is sunny outside today. Pollen is everywhere...

Bill I too can relate this week. My grandparents are in town and even though I offered to host 3 of the week's dinners I still have to make something everyone will eat and that will involve things I normally wouldn't eat. Tonight it's turkey tacos. Becaues it's Monday though, a typically lighter fare day for me, and because I overate a little over the weekend, I'm not looking forward to it. I plan to make my "taco" a salad and hope to get no judgement from my mom. I swear sometimes I feel like I'm hiding an eating disorder.

Alinnell, I wish I could say I didn't talk myself into exercise this weekend! I sprained my ankle three weeks ago, but didn't really stop running to let it heal because it didn't really hurt when I run. Well Saturday I tripped and reaggravated it and then ran anyway Sunday...well this morning, no run for me. I smacked myself in the face and said - your ankle needs rest stupid! I wanted to sleep anyway. There is still a little twinge of guilt though for missing a workout...oh well.

Saef, good luck on your interview! I also think we deserve some pictures of you in that dress, sounds amazing!

Dagmar, yay for maintaining! Like I said, I overate a bit this weekend, but I didn't binge (3 weeks now) so I'm just going with it, it is what it is. It wasn't my worst weekend ever, but it wasn't my best either. I learned though that it's not any better to eat more of any food, I don't get any more satification out of eating more, so why bother. It was actually a pretty huge realization and a great way to turn a negative into a positive. My weight though is back up to my "red line" but I know it's just water and will probably be gone as soon as tomorrow.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Dagmar, I love the stuff in the "etchings" section of the David Blackwood portfolio. I really enjoy art but I am so uneducated about it!

Saef, good luck on the interview =)

ncuneo, turkey tacos sound yummy (in a salad or regular taco-style!). Hope your family enjoys the cooking this week.

Hello to Allison, Shannon, and Bill!

Hope this is a great week for all.

saef~I have a bolero, in black, but it's more of a heavy knit and I don't think it would look right with the dress. But now that I've really looked at the dress, I think it'll be quite easy to go back to Macy's and find something. I did see a lot in black, but had dismissed them for the color. Silly me--I should have looked at the dress before I went! But one good thing did come out of this--when I pulled the dress out, it had something spilled down the front (why I had stored it this way I have no idea). But I have plenty of time to get it to the cleaners before we go to San Diego.

Speaking of San Diego, this resort we're staying at (where the wedding is) has a Tom Fazio golf course. DH and I are trying to get our heads around the $230 greens fee before we decide to golf there. If we don't golf, I don't know how we'd spend the majority of Saturday (any suggestions?).

Did I mention that the wedding we're going to is on our own 23rd anniversary? It's one of the reasons we decided to splurge on the weekend (we don't know the girl getting married, but were invited by her father who is a local paint contractor).

I've been to San Diego for business trips, Allison, where I had a full day on either end of the trip.

I really, really loved the zoo, and I'm not particularly an animal person.

I really enjoyed myself at Balboa Park, also. It was a Saturday. I arrived by cab, so no worries about parking. The crowd-watching was almost as fun as the exhibits.

We ate well in the evenings in an old part of San Diego (the gaslight district, maybe?) on expense accounts.

The hotel backed up to a kind of esplanade or promenade along the water, and that was fun. We strolled there briefly in the evenings after working hours. I had morning coffee looking down at a big docked battleship.

saef I became a Hopper fan after seeing a work by Guy Peelaert (Rock Dreams) which referenced "Nighthawks at the Diner". I went to the Whitney the last time I was in NYC and quite liked this gallery. Very intimate when compared with the Met and MOMA. I loved being in NYC and going to a different gallery every day. I also spent a day touring the "art scene" in the West Village/Chelsea (?) area of Manhattan. Lots of really interesting stuff.

I went to the major gallery in Chicago last Sept. and they had quite a few very iconic American paintings (American Gothic springs to mind) and a killer photography exhibit by Cartier-Bresson.

My mother was a big fan of visual art and would take me to the AGO a couple of times a year. She also had many, many coffee table books about art - mostly from the Renaissance. We had original paintings (mostly from unknown estonian artists) on the walls in my childhood home.

I worked in graphic arts for about 20 years after I graduated from college and I still have a real fondness for visual art. I tend to prefer realism to abstraction and I tend to prefer more modern painters.

And I can't draw worth a damn. I guess that shows that you can appreciate and love something without being able to create it yourself. I do take great doggie snapshots!

Dagmar

Good morning! DH and I took the day off work yesterday and I feel like today is Monday.

So, DH's running group had their first 11 mile run Saturday. He made the 9 mile run a couple weeks ago okay, but his leg has always given out between 9 and 11 miles. Unfortunately the same thing happened this time, even though he's been carefully following the program and not running too hard. Upon careful examination, it looks like he has slightly bowed legs. His feet are not directly below his knees when his legs are straight, and we think this is why he has this problem. When he runs it looks kind of like he's criss crossing his feet even though from the hips he's moving straight. This is putting extra stress on the outside of his legs and probably causing the problem. Of course if the problem is that his legs are just shaped funny, there's really nothing we can do about it. Maybe if he worked really hard on strengthening those muscles it might help, but I think he is just going to give up on running anything farther than 10k. It's sad because he really wanted to do the half marathon or someday a marathon, but it just looks like it's not going to happen. He seems to be doing okay with it though and he has some other stuff to occupy him (P90X at work).

In other news, we took Carter to the vet yesterday for his vaccinations and they said they thought he was doing really well. He may not be back to the way he was before, and he may never get back there, but he is functional and that's what really counts. We did find out something surprising though -- apparently shepherd coats like his take an extremely long time to grow in. The bare patch on his back may not fill in for 6 months to a year!

Also saw the doctor for my tailbone problem yesterday. It got massively worse from Sunday-Monday. Much better today though so I'm thinking it was because of the weather, which really makes me feel like an old lady. I'm only 28, I shouldn't have things hurt whenever it starts to rain! In any case since my feet are also not getting better I think I am going to see an endocrinologist and see if they can figure out what's going on with all my joints and tendons. Maybe it will be something simple like adjusting my thyroid med dosage. I just want some kind of answer. As DH said, it's not normal for someone my age to have this many different places on the body have inflammation that doesn't heal. The rheumatologists couldn't find anything rheumatologically wrong with me so since we know my thyroid is screwy it makes sense to try an endo (the tailbone doctor agreed, and also suggested a hematologist as another type of doctor to try just in case). DH is convinced that I have some sort of heavy metals poisoning from the two years we lived in Rhode Island, but he's just being paranoid.

I jokingly mentioned to DH that I didn't have any of these problems when I weighed 185 lbs, so maybe I should just gain 50lbs and see if that fixes the problem. More likely I didn't have problems then because I never exercised! Although it's possible I don't get enough fat in my diet now so there is at least something to look at there.

Sorry for the book guys!

Hi to everyone!
I'm back from Vegas and I really need you guys.
I was having major withdrawals. I don't do well without my routine. I really felt out of control weightwise. I'm not sure why (I'm guessing sodium) but I blew up within a day of getting there. That didn't help me feel thin, nor did the fact that most of my clothes were then tight. Add to that some very off eating of plan (though no drinking), and I felt quite ill at ease.

Very happy to be back home and refocused. I am going to (try) to stay on plan 100% until my anniversary (August 1)-- I know I'm stretching it a bit but I saw the dreaded 130 on the scale this morning!

My dd just walked in to tell me about her New York trip-- I'll catch up here later as I have Spring Break!

DH is on his first day of "calorie restriction" aka dieting . So far so good, except for the salad dressing. We did a little bit of label reading and comparison at the table and he was shocked to learn that he's been using dressing that is 120 cals per tablespoon.

I am helping him with calorie counting (I count and he nods in agreement ) and he's starting to get the idea that he can actually read the labels himself and see how many cals he's eating.

I am "making funny" but it's good that he's a bit more serious now. He has looked up two things in the calorie book by himself and we have planned out our evening snack.

I'm no longer getting too excited by these attempts as the previous ones didn't last but we shall see. I am being totally supportive and getting all of my ironic commentary out here in my posts.

Dagmar

Good morning, everyone! Oh, wait, it's still evening here, for another half hour. It's been a long day.

I haven't been sleeping well. When I don't sleep well, I get bizarre dreams. Or, maybe I always have them, but just remember them more when I'm not sleeping well. Anywho, this morning I woke up convinced that I had gained 15 pounds overnight. I was sure. In my dreams, none of my clothes fit anymore. I even felt heavy, like I couldn't muster the energy to haul my body out of bed.

Then I woke up a bit more, and realized that I had a 15-pound cat parked on my back. Making himself extra heavy, as only a cat that doesn't want to be disturbed can do.

If only fat was as easy to shed from one's backside as a fat cat. Poof, stand up, and it's gone. Cat-o-matic weight loss! Works while you sleep! Just 12 easy monthly installments a year (cat box not included shipping and handling extra) ...

OK, it's *really* time for me to get some sleep.

//b strong,
Kim

kaw Where do I send my 4 easy monthly payments of $14.99 for the Cat-o-matic? Oh wait, I already have one .

DH and I are going to have to sit down and weigh/measure out a bag of chips into "servings" . Right now our serving is an entire big bag.

He is mistakenly convinced that organic blue corn chips must have waaay less cals because they are a "healthier" choice. I'm curious about this but it means buying more chips.

AHA! DH can be a sneaky b*gger - he wants more chips (the house is finally empty of snax) so he's using this as a ploy to get me to buy some.

I am holding at 136 lbs. (my set point for most of my adult life). I'm not really maintaining properly (or at least what is properly in my mind) but this weight will do for the rest of winter/spring aka April. Then begins the march down to 130. I want the skinny jeans to be a bit loose this year.

Dagmar