Good afternoon Lifers, Soon-to-Be-Lifers, and anyone else out there lurking! Feel free to join us!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was busy as usual and it's not going to be any quieter in the near future. I've been doing much better in the eating department and my exercise is actually improving! I'm happy with that and feel better.

DH is still off of work and beginning to drive me crazy. He has his follow up appointment this Thursday and has talked about taking next week off as vacation. DS had his CT scan on Friday and we're waiting the results of that as well. I'm hoping everything is okay. I'm ready for a "me" day

So how's everyone else doing?

Hi Melissa and everyone,

Busy here at work and that is really bogging things down everywhere. I had a nice work out with my personal trainer today and we're going to continue seeing eachother for two 30 minute sessions a week until I get the hang of the weights and abs routines. I don't have any problem doing cardio.

I hope the boys get well soon.

Other than that, I'm home all week and then gone for a good 10 day chunk. I am cherishing these moments at home.

lala

Hi Melissa: Hmm, too much husband, huh? Hopefully he'll go back to work soon. Let us know about your DS's test results.

Lala: You're at home all week--I wonder what that's like??

Well, I haven't lost my vacation weight yet, but I'll get there.

I'm supposed to weigh in this week. I guess I'll just do it and get it over with.

Domina,
I should say, I'm at work all week, but not travelling. I wish I was at home all week.

Good luck on your weigh in!

lala

Lala: Sorry I misunderstood. I guess we all hope we can stay home. In your case, you're probably glad not to be traveling.

WI is tonight. Thanks for the best wishes.

Hi Everyone,

Its a lovelyish day here in the neighborhood and I've been in meetings since 8:30 our time and just got out for a break. I was scheduled to give my talk around noon, but they are running so far behind schedule, I'm not slated for 3 pm!

Yikes.

Anyhoo, nothing new going on. I am thinking about joining ww electronically, especially since my schedule is so whacky I can't seem to actually make it to a meeting.

Melissa -- are you seeing that meeting attendance is dropping off in your area? Our center has cut out tons of meetings, mostly ones that were convenient for me. I have a friend who travels about 150 days a year and she is doing it on line. She just tries to find a reliable scale once a week for her weigh ins.

I have also realized that I need to start listening to that little voice inside my head when we are approaching the purchase of redlight foods. I realized this with the box of skinny cows I bought last week (only having one a night, but still), cafe twists and kozy shack pudding. I am thinking things like this are much better as a single serving treat somewhere other than the home.

Okay, enough from me. Good luck Domina!

Hi to Susan, Laurel, Melissa and Saskie,

lala

Aloha everyone.

Got back from Maui late Monday nite and returned to work this morning. Can't get into my email for some reason, so I'm having a very relaxed start to the day. I believe that will change when the help desk staff arrive at work and fix the problem

We had a great trip. Well, not a 10/10 but probably a 7. One of the couples didn't turn out to be such good living/travelling companions, and that can put a damper on things. On the other hand, we were in Hawai'i. How bad can that be?? I didn't run much because the heat really was a little overwhelming for this northerner, but we swam, hiked, walked, went scuba diving, etc. so I certainly wasn't a couch potato. I weighed myself yesterday and it looks like I ganed 2 lbs. I can live with that.

How is everyone? Did I miss anything important? What's happening at your house Melissa that has the boys grounded? Where are you off to next lala? Domina - where did you vacation? Hi to Patch, Laurel, Saskie

Went to WI last night--gained 2 pounds; just what I thought, but I'm not too upset.

Lala: Don't you love it when there is an agenda, but no one follows it?? Regarding meetings, on the contrary, in our area, new centers are opening up and we have more meetings than ever!! I think we are all overweight in Florida.

Susan: Welcome back. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and had a nice time (and stayed active). My mother went to Hawaii last year and thought it was a beautiful place. Too bad about the other couple. That happens. DH and I just returned from Tennessee. He ran the Country Music Marathon and ran his fastest time for a marathon in 5 years. Needless to say, he was thrilled. It was quite chilly there the day of the race, but that's better than too hot.

Hello, Melissa.

Good morning everyone!

The weather here has been so nice and my flowers at home are all blooming. The lilacs are just about open...the bush is loaded this year.

Susan: Welcome back! I've heard Hawaii is beautiful and would love to visit there someday. As far as what has my boys grounded: DH has been off since the middle of April with his knee. He had arthroscopic surgery last Monday and will hopefully be going back to work the 19th. DS #2 got hit in the head with a baseball the Saturday before Easter and we've had numerous trips to the eye doctor because his eye swelled shut. We had another appointment for next Tuesday and we'll have the results of his latest CT scan. They're checking to make sure he doesn't have a blow out fracture of the orbit area. He got hit just above the eyebrow area. Thankfully his glasses flew off and the rims didn't do any damage (i.e. stitches). He was off school for 5 days because he couldn't see and when he was able to open his eye it was blurry and double vision. It's been a crazy few weeks.

Lala: I'd have to say that the meetings I've been working that the attendance is holding steady but I know that there are a couple of our meetings that the attendance is down and they are in danger of being closed. I know that they want 20 members in order to keep the meeting open. I totally agree with you about having the redlight foods out and not having "extra servings" around the house. It's way too easy to "have just a little more".

Domina Yep, too much husband. He really tries to help but he gets underfoot in the morning when I'm trying to get things ready for work. I have to admit it's been nice not having to take DS #1 to school in the morning.

I'm not sure how my WI will go at noon today...I did a quick check at home this a.m. and my scale shows I'm up a little but I should expect it since TOM is visiting. I've been doing the WATP tapes 3x a week and Im thinking I need to up that a little more. I wanted to "ease" myself into it. Walking at lunch time has been nonexistent because I've had so much going on. I need to get back into that pattern again.

Work is crazy and we're gearing up for our summer programs--it's the time of year that I have a love/hate relationship with stuff that needs to be done.

No much else happening around here...

Hi everyone and welcome back Susan!

I love Hawaii and I am trying to convince DP that a four day trip to Hawaii wouldn't be that bad. It takes about as much time as flying to DC and its a non-stop.

Anyhoo, Domina you'll lose that pesky 2# in no time. Our meeting today has no agenda that is following, so I am moving in and out. I can't sit through four hours of demos of software that our group has developed. I have work to do.

Melissa -- Its really strange about our meetings. Like I said, the meeting times don't work for me, so its going to be etools and emeetings. Maybe when they announce the new program it'll get more active.

Like Domina, we have some pretty big people here too.

Other than that, nothing planned. I'm working, working working and working out and hoping to work out in the garden. My workout this morning with my personal trainer has my arms and abs screaming. I hope to be in my size sixes by june!

whoo hoo.

Oh, I lent my flylady book to a friend and she emailed me to say her sink was shining. Very neat to hear!

lala

I'm going to vent here just a little...I went to my WI at noon and posted a 1.8# gain! I really feel good and didn't feel heavy even with TOM here. I have to buckle down and figure out what I'm doing wrong and get things back under control. The frustrating part is that I've been actually getting up early to do my exercise tape before work!

I'm starting fresh...,I have a new week opened in my spiral journal and some notes of what I plan to do this week.

1) Water, water, and more water
2) Increase my veggies (they've been a little sparse)
3) Continue exercising....

Melissa: Don't be so hard on yourself. TOM can be very bad sometimes--it's nothing for me to gain 3# at that time. Yes, drink your water and keep exercising. You'll get rid of it.

Lala: Now, why did you have to remind me to work in my flower garden?? I need to do that. That's good exercise, especially with the mega weeds I have (they grow very well in Florida). Okay, what's flylady??? I'm curious.

Melissa--

I know a gain is hard, but instead of hitting the skinny cows (evil as they can be), you are doing some self reflection. Water, veggies and exercise will all help. Thank you for reminding me about water, I'm going to fill up my beer pint glass right after I'm done here.

Veggies are hard. I can believe that. I feel (stupid as it seems), that cooked veggies don't really count. I can't justify a veggie serving as pizza toppings, it needs to be raw and crunchy. Am I wierd or what?

Domina--
The flylady is a website started by Marla Cilley that helps people get organized. I have to say that for a skeptic like me, it has helped tremendously. I don't have a lot of the problems that alot of her cadre do and I have been blessed with the fact that I have a cleaning person. However, I can't expect someone else to deal with my clutter and why I continue to keep things from my past.

The flylady deals with some of these things.

Please visit www.flylady.net to see what I am talking about.

I am not a particularily religious person (spiritual, yes, but not organized, so a bit of the religion stuff I skip), but the steps are a good foundation for an organized life.

As for mine, it seems to be okay today. I did a new cardio workout and added 15 minutes of weights at the end. I found a pair of khakis from last year and a purse similiar to the type I was looking to buy for this season. Good thing. I just saved myself 300 bucks!

lala

edited for exceedingly stupid stuff.

Lala: Thanks for the link. I'll take a look. I'm a fairly organized person, but I could use some new ideas.

The workout sounds good. What actually are you doing?

Tomorrow I'm headed to the company picnic. It should be a nice day (hot--90's). Then we are headed to friends' for dinner.

Domina/Lala: Thanks for the encouraging words. In looking at my old journals I notice that I'm not getting a whole lot of variety with my lunches. I'm going to focus on trying to mix things up and around. It took a lot of willpower to not get into the chips, etc. but I did it. I talked to another leader this morning and asked her for some input since she does the tapes as well and she said it's probably just my body re-adjusting. I'm going to hang in there and hope for the best. Last night I did the 1-mile walk after I got home from WW before I ate dinner and I got up early this morning and did the 2-mile tape. The weather also cooperated at noon for me to get out and get a quick 20-minute walk in.

No major plans for the weekend (thank goodness). I'm working tomorrow morning at WW bright and early (7:15 am) and afterwards DS #1 wants to head to the mall to get a shirt to wear with his suit. One of my favorite stores is closing so I'm going to go in and see if the shoes I've been drooling over are still there and if they are I'll take the plunge and get them. I have a 25% off coupon to use if they're there. As far as Mother's Day goes nothing special going on...hopefully it'll be a quiet day.

So how's everyone else doing???