Good morning. Almost the end of July, and summer hasn't started here yet. Guess it's not to be this year. The weekend was horrid with sky-high humidity. It finally rained yesterday, making Christmas in July rather soggy.

I guess Melissa is away this week. Pam, are you back?

I'm feeling a little more control the past few days as far as eating is concerned. Had a good run yesterday with my sister; that always improves my state of mind. Did you weigh in this weekend lala? What's new with you Lisa?

Accommodations for Bermuda have been confirmed, and flight arrangements for Phuket are now complete with the exception of cancellation insurance. I am so excited about visiting Thailand; have any of you ever been? The friends we are travelling with have been several times, visiting her brother who lives there, so they'll take us under their wing and make sure we don't get into any trouble

These same friends are getting married at their home this coming weekend. We're praying for good weather but the way this summer has been going, no one is holding their breath. If we can get through the ceremony without a downpour, we'll consider ourselves lucky. We'll have one and possibly three friends staying with us. All in all, with the wedding and the Tall Ships in town, it should be a great long weekend.

Had a fun weekend. Golfed on Friday and Sunday; I shot less than 100 for the first time. That was exciting! Went shopping on Sunday; I found some great deals at Lord and Taylor. That is not one of my favorite stores, but they had some really good sales.

Good news! The tailor took in my LBD and it's perfect. I'm so glad I didn't continue searching for a new one. I do need to get some photos taken.

Susan, Thailand?? I've always heard it's a beautiful country. It's great that you'll be with someone who knows the area.

This week is lots of rehearsals for the Odd Couple. Other than that not much else going on.

Hello to Pam, Melissa, and lala.

Hi everyone,

Susan, I suffered the heat this weekend, but thank goodness it was dry. I'm sorry it rained on Christmas. I have never been to Thailand. I was hoping for this year, but it looks like Venice before Thanksgiving instead.

The tall ships would be way cool. I'm glad you got your accomodations straightened out. I need to call our hotel and make sure they have a room for us the first night we're in France. I am one of those people who likes to know where they are sleeping.

Lisa - outstanding on the dress and the golf. I am so jealous and proud of you. Funny you mentioned Lord and Taylor. I am hitting the one in Philly tomorrow. I love that store. I hope they have their twin sets out.

I am sitting in the airport lounge, waiting for my boston flight. The muffins are screaming at me... I will control myself.

I weighed in on Saturday and it was awful. I was up 3.4 and I am feeling it. Good shock to the system. I reigned in the eating this weekend and did exercise. This week I will work on portion control, water and keeping up with the exercise.

However, I did hit the nordstrom sale yesterday, I bought a pair of size 6 jeans and they were okay, I bought a size 4 skirt, so vanity sizing rules. I did manage to drop about 400 bucks in 30 minutes. Maybe this is why I should stop leaving the house.

Okay, I've written a tome. I'm hoping that Pam will check in and update us on her vacation and Melissa is having a great time.

I'll be able to post from your time zones. Nice.

lala

Hi Ladies,

I'm back!! The vacation was very nice, not relaxing but certainly fun. We did the usual.. Great Escapes amusement park and a water park. We also took a train ride through the Adirondacks where we learned quite a bit of information on President Teddy Roosevelt who was born in NY and had a summer home in the Adirondacks. I also tried kayaking which was really pretty easy to do and a lot of fun!! We had a lot of nice meals and I tried very hard to be somewhat good with my choices. Most nights my sister and I would pass up dessert in the restaurants and instead go out for ice cream at one of the many ice cream shops in Lake George Village. The weather was very nice, only a little rain on Wednesday afternoon, I'm always amazed at how quickly a vacation can go by.

Domina congrats on shooting under 100..that is really a nice accomplishment. You will be quite busy this week with the Odd Couple. How are your lines coming along. Great that you were able to have the LBD altered and glad you enjoyed your shopping trip at Lord and Taylor.

Susan you certainly have some interesting vacation destinations!! I've never been to Thailand and I don't know anyone who has gone so I can't wait to here all about your upcoming trip. When are you leaving and how long will you be there?

Lala so you're on your way to Boston today? I'm sure it will be kind of crazy there with the Democratic Convention going on. Nice score at Nordstroms. I really like vanity sizing

Sounds like Melissa is on vacation this week, hope she is having a good one. Time to go back to work and start tackling the mountain of paperwork that has accumulated on my desk. Talk to you later.

Pam, good to hear from you. I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation; good for you for passing up the desserts. My lines are fine; now it's the fine-tuning and getting used to wearing wigs and the costumes they want us to wear. (I'm not fond of wigs). We open on August 6th.

Hey everyone--speaking of desserts, have you tried the Smart Ones Big Ones ice cream bars?? I bought the cookies and cream ones and they are great--2 points. DH loves 'em. No guilt there.

Welcome back Pam. Sounds like you had a fun week. Ice cream in the evening sounds so summery!! I've always wanted to try kayaking; maybe I'll get a chance on vacation. We're hanging around home for the first two weeks and I think they rent them on a lake not far from us. Re Thailand, we're going for three weeks in February so loads of time for anticipation. Our friend's brother lives there. He has a beautiful big sail boat too so we'll likely do some diving while we're there. I suppose I shouldn't watch too much of Discovery channel's shark programming in that case

Lisa: Wigs are restrictive and claustrophobic at the best of times. They must be a real pain in Florida in summer. Thanks for the tip about the ice cream bars; I'll look for them. And congrats on your new personal best in golf. I so admire anyone who can play that game and not die from frustration.

lala: Is Boston crazy with the convention going on?

A little less than 6 weeks to go to Bermuda. I'm trying really hard to get this extra weight off before we step on the plane. Our accommodation sounds lovely - small but lots of character. DH wants to go diving once before we leave but I refuse to dive in cold water. The wetsuit and weights are just too difficult to contend with; guess I'm a warm water diver, which is hard when you live in Canada

Last night was publicity photo night. In one play I wear a black wig (quite shocking) and in the other play I wear blonde wig. We'll see which photos the paper prints.

I wish I were going on a vacation. The short one DH and I took to South Dakota was just that--too short.

Susan, Talk about admiring someone. You dive? I don't think I would ever try that. Cold water diving??? Not on a bet!

Hi, lala, Melissa and Pam.

Hi guys,

Its a lovely evening here in Philadelphia. I have the world's shortest network cable, so I guess it means I won't stay on long.

I have been very good with the drinking of water and exercising, but still not up to snuff on the eating and like Susan, have six weeks until France.

Pam- sounds like you had a great vacation. Hope you are nice and rested.

Domina -- we want to see your reviews. You are our shining star.

I am hoping Melissa is enjoying her vacation. I am thinking of extending my stay one more day as Philadelphia is much nicer this time of year than when its snowing.

We went to John Kerry's last speech/public thing before the election. It was fun to be part of a big crowd.

Tomorrow, more meetings and a dinner cruise on the deleware. I might stay home and enjoy a good night's sleep.

Hope everyone is dandy.

lala

Hi Ladies,

It's really hard getting back in the work groove after vacation but I'm trying. I was shopping yesterday and the stores are already advertising back to school sales...the summer is really going by quickly.

Domina I saw the Smart Ones ice cream sandwiches in the store but held off on buying them until I finish my freezer full of skinny cows. They looked good. I would think wearing a wig must be uncomfortable. I would love to see some pictures of you in costume. Hope you can post some.

Susan that is great that you will be leaving the frozen North for 3 weeks in February..that will certainly make the winter go by a little faster. Sounds like a great trip. I've never gone diving...actually I have trouble snokeling so I'm not too sure I would ever try. And you're right..stay away from the Discovery channel

Lala hope you are having fun in Philly. Good for you on drinking plenty of water. I must get better about that. Lately I have been adding crystal light lemondade to my water to make it go down a little easier, but still I'm not drinking enough.

Well time to sign off and get some sleep. Tomorrow morning I go to the dentist at 8 am for a cleaning..how good is that??? Talk to you later.

Pam --

I hide the BTS ads from DP. She hates BTS.

Okay, back from the gym. Must get in the shower. Gym sucks at this hotel. Gym is much better at the other posher hotel that I will be staying at tonight.

Wish me luck that I keep under 900 points today (joke). How about under 25?

Be back tonight.

lala

Good Morning! Yep, doing great drinking water and exercising However, in the eating department I was horrible yesterday. I had cooky and an apple for mid-morning snack. Then I had a lunch meeting with mucho food, so to make it worse, I had a cooky and yogurt raisins for mid-afternoon snack. I made a nutritious soup for dinner, but had to have bakery bread with it. My appetite yesterday was unbelievable. Oh well, move on. Today's a new day.

lala, I'm glad the weather's nice there. I've only been to Philly on business and did not see much. DH says there's a marathon there, so we may do that some day.

Pam, it is difficult to get into the swing of things after vacation. When you finish your Skinnies, get some of the Smart Ones.

If any photos end up in the paper, I'll try to post it (if I can figure out how to do that; perhaps lala can help me).

Hi Ladies,

What a day. The weather is yuck 58 and rainy, dentist first thing in the morning, my home computer died last night and this morning I get to work and my work computer is not working either. Had the PC tech in my office most of the day trying to resolve the issue. Arghhhh what a wasted day. Tomorrow I'm bringing in my home computer in for him to take a look at.

Lala I wish I could stay around 1200 calories a day. Right now I just feel fat and bloated. I have got to eat better, exercise more and drink more water. OK now I've said it so I have to just do it!! Hope you like your hotel better tonight.

Domina I will definitely try the weight watcher ice cream sandwiches. I can so relate to your eating problems. I honestly don't know why I am choosing to eat so much junk lately.

Hi to Melissa and Susan, hope you are both well. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

meeting is over, i am happy. It got a bit to buzz wordy there at the end.

We had a nice game of bs bingo going there via text messaging. I fear for my cell phone bill.

Drank too much for me (three drinks over three hours) last night, as we sat in a colleagues room and watched the convention and the nomination. I love the nomination process, I don't even care who is running.

Slept in today, so its my no gym day. Tomorrow is a travel day, so i'll get to the gym.

However, don't ask what I am eating now.

Must get back, to a meeting on Saturday am and back on track. I was doing so well.

Hope everyone has a nice Friday and if I don't hear from you, weekend.

Lisa -- I can help you post if you need.

Pam -- back in the nice hotel. Didn't get a suite like I did on Monday night though. I love this hotel, it is an old apartment building and when I wake up I feel like a princess.

Hi to everyone else!

lala

Hey Lala

We're similar when drinking..3 in 3 hours is a lot for me also. Tonight DH and I went out for dinner and I had a lovely little raspberry lemonade made with raspberry vodka. Quite yummy but one was enough for me on a "work night"
We've been watching the convention also..I think Teresa Heinz Kerry did a nice job Tuesday night. Not too much planned for the weekend..probably just going to Amherst to check out my son's apartment. He will be living off campus this semester. Don't know how I feel about that yet.
Hope you have a safe and pleasant travel day tomorrow.

Hi to Melissa (hope you are enjoying vacation), Lisa and Susan.

Talk to you later.

Hi everyone. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Playing golf on Saturday and then a fancy fundraiser party for a local charity. It's called a "Black and White." Everyone is supposed to wear black and white. There will be an art auction. I don't really need any of that (no wall space left). Other than that, just rehearsals. The plays open next Friday.

Pam, don't worry about your son; he'll be fine. raspberry lemonade with vodka?? That sounds deadly.

lala, it sounds like you're having a good time. Hmmm, what were you eating?

Hi, Melissa and Susan.