Returned from an exciting two week vacation in Italy - mostly Rome. What a glorious city.

I enjoyed all the treats of Italian eating and yet returned home at the same weight that I left. Yay for walking all day as a balance.

Bill Glad you enjoyed Rome/Italy and for the eating/walking balance.

Dagmar

Bill - that's awesome! I love Italy!
And congrats on the no weight gain. It's amazing how walking all the time will do that.


One of my students that just graduated last week, emailed me this morning that her dog is the dog of the day on www.dogoftheday.com .
She had tried before and not made it but she must have had time to write a more compelling story, lol.

Had a fun weekend. DD is home for a few weeks before we go get her set up in an apartment before she starts her job. My DH fixed up an old Peugot bike that has been in the garage (new tires, etc.) and she went on a bike ride with DH and I. We went 45 miles and she did better than me. On Saturday she and I ran a 5K on the beach - she came in 2nd in her age group. I came in 7th in my old-lady age group. It was so darn hot! I have to run really early with this humidity/heat. When I see people running in the afternoon, I am very impressed.

Last week of school!

CalCounter1003, as you know, I live in Florida also.

We think people who run during midday in the summer have to be insane. 92 degrees and 90 percent humidity. Really? Do they know they are in danger?

One day we saw this man jogging along, beet red. All along the street were light poles, and on top of each light pole was a black vulture. They were watching him closely...

My 12 day trip to Italy with a girlfriend a few years back involved copious amounts of walking and eating. I didn't gain an ounce, either! But then the cruise that DH and I took, well, that's another story.

We've decided no vacation this year as we're too busy at work. I mentioned that a nice 3 or 4-day get away would be nice but then we'd have to deal with the animals. DD (who was home for the weekend) and my in-laws all jumped in to say they're all available to help out. So I may have to plan something. I've always wanted to go to Santa Barbara or maybe Catalina. Hmmm...

re vultures. Yeah, DH and I really don't want to be out in the midday sun either. When I have to do it for work I try to keep the dogs and myself mostly on leash in the parks, under the trees. Sometimes the sand at the beach is too hot to walk on - and this is in Canada.

Dagmar

Bill, glad to see you back here, and I'm not surprised re: your trip. I love how active I can be on vacation!

Today's plan:
B-oats, blueberries, and walnuts
S-apple, cheese
L-bean tacos
S-Smoothie
D-Stir-fry
Ds-ice-cream sandwich.

LOL - we do have a lot of vultures around here! They are so ugly! At least they cleanup all the armadillos, opossums, and raccoons that are always on the sides of the road.

I try to avoid the midday sun and heat as much as possible.
Now that we are biking, we usually leave around 7:30am and are gone anywhere from 2-4 hours. I wear lots of sunscreen, especially on face but I still have gotten a biker's tan -- from the shorts line down to the ankles and then bright white feet are sticking out.

Sharon I work outside every day and I wear a ton of sunscreen. I still get the bright white feet every year up to and including the line for my ankle sox. I see some dogwalkers wearing sandals but my feet need supportive full shoes. I also manage to burn the back of my neck every year, despite liberal application of sunscreen there.

Dagmar

I took yesterday off and was super busy so I never got on to post. Glad you had fun on your trip, Bill!

I had one day to take off from work or lose so I took it. I had a nice day. Bikram in the morning, sushi with a friend for lunch, body pump in the afternoon, cooked dinner for dh.... weight still up another pound.... too much sushi I'm sure....

Came back to a huge mess at work.... still trying to unearth my desk four hours later....

Remember I said when my DD graduated I was going to get a cleaning person? Well, she comes tomorrow!
When she came to check out the house and give an estimate she said "I can help you organize". Trust me I need it!

I told her I will do that later in the summer. But I had to run around like crazy tonight preparing for her to clean tomorrow. I got home at 5:00 and after eating a quick dinner my DD made, I have been running around for 4 hours so she can clean.

DH and I have a lot of clutter and like I said, we have really let things go while paying for college, working extra jobs and of course, my part time job of maintaining my weight loss!

She's going to start coming every two weeks after this initial clean which will take quite a while I'm sure.

God that's familiar. We have a housecleaner every week (she alternates cleaning the main level plus bedrooms with main level plus finished basement) and my husband grumbles constantly about having to clean up before she cleans up. But if we don't, then he grumbles that she has "hidden" his papers by stacking them, or one of his gazillion photography doodads by moving it a foot to the left of where he set it down.

Michele, I wish I had extra vacation days piling up; I always just barely squeak by because of conference travel on top of real vacation.

I do about 10 minutes prep for my cleaners. They work around DH's clutter which is limited to 2 surfaces by me. Whatever he leaves lying around is deposited to these 2 areas and then he has to put it away.

I used to clean other people's houses for about a year while I was struggling to get enough dogs to walk so I have a good idea of what cleaners want when they arrive. And I have talked to my cleaners over the 15 or so years they have worked for me so their input is always helpful.

My cleaners come every 2 weeks and I so look forward to coming home after they have been here. That is my "reward", as will be not having to weed the yard - the yard people start this week.

Now I have to get serious about making DH organize and prepare the meals. I have no idea what we will eat tonite. Hope he does.

Dagmar

My cleaners come every two weeks. I have a small counter in the kitchen that contains my clutter and I clean that up before they come. DH has a small stack of clutter next to his TV watching chair. It's stackable (mostly magazines and papers). No worries there. I put away small items in the bathroom so they have an easier time cleaning that. It's the dog and cat toys strewn about everywhere that takes time to put away. Sometimes I don't even bother.

I think I actually spend more time putting the house "back together" when they're done. They move every object to clean under and rarely put them back where they belong. Even couches! So I spend 15 minutes or more moving things back. I have this "everything has a place and everything in it's place" motto. Even when my kids were young, they could play all they wanted but they had to put their toys away when they were done. It makes my life easier to not see clutter.

That does not mean I don't have clutter. But it's usually in a drawer or cupboard where it cannot be seen. And I have a lot of junk drawers!!!!