Where is everyone? This is unusual for me to start the thread. I've been so busy today. It's pretty hectic.

I had a nice weekend. Played a little golf, did lots of cleaning out of the house. Church rummage sale is coming up at the end of the month and I'll have a trunkful of stuff to give the church. I'm still finding clothes from my former fat days!

I was going to WI tonight, but changed my mind. I gained about 4 pounds over the holidays and I want that off before I weigh in. I was OP this past week and happy about that, but I only lost 2 pounds. I know, I know, that's good and we're supposed to lose it gradually. I just want that extra weight off!

lala, sorry to hear you were ill. I hope you're doing better.

Hi, Melissa, Pam and Suan.

Hi Lisa. Looks like it's just the two of us today. Hope everyone else is well.

I had a good weekend too. Spent time with my new match family on Friday. The new baby arrived on Dec. 23rd and he's sweet. So far, his older sisters (1 and almost 2 respectively) are in denial and ignoring him. As long as they're not beating on him.

Friday nite, DH and I went out for happy hour and dinner at a new Thai restaurant. We figured it would be our only Thai experience, given the situation. More on that later. Excellent meal. We'll definitely go back.

On Saturday, I took my twins for a few hours so their mom could catch up on sleep. It didn't work out for her cause the 5-year-old decided he wanted her to spend time with him, but I had lots of fun. Went shopping with them then spent some time at my house. They are so funny and cute at this age!

DH went skiing on Sunday so I had the day to myself. Did an 8 km run on the treadmill. Tried to run outside in the morning with other members of my half-marathon group but experienced an asthma attack and had to stop. Oh well, at least I got the run in.

Re our trip -- it looks like we're going! All reports point to things getting back to normal quite quickly in Phuket. Our friend talked to her brother on Saturday and he was surprised that we were even considering cancelling. He's amazed at the progress they're making with clean-up and even the media reports are talking about things being relatively normal by the end of January. So, we're on again! The excitement is starting to build, and the push to get this weight off is even stronger.

I snuck onto the scale this morning in spite of myself. I'm down, but I'll wait til my "official" weigh-in tomorrow morning and report then.

Hi everyone,

I am on the mend. I appreciate your concern. My head is pounding though, so I think its time for some advil.

Busy weekend here, mostly organizing, putting away all of Christmas, putting up the industrial shelving we bought for the basement and getting things back to normal. I can't say that things are as there are lots of boxes and furniture in our basement bedroom that haven't been put away. I am going to try 30 minutes tonight. I did a bunch of purging too. I really was a bit ruthless, but it looks way better and we are not a cluttery family. Okay, we have a problem with books.

Susan -- wow, good for you on going.

Lisa -- nice to get rid of larger clothes, don't need the temptation.

Nothing else going on, need to look at talk that DP is giving in my stead this week and annotate it for her and busy here.

Don't ask about food -- its ugly.

lala

Hi Ladies,

I actually started the post this morning from work but had network problems and lost it. I was so mad, I didn't get another chance to check in until now. The weekend was nice I got my hair cut (much shorter) and colored (much darker) and am quite pleased with the results. DH likes it, DD thinks it's too short. My mirror was delivered and I really like the way it looks in the bedroom. I weighed in on Friday and was down a little, I'm getting closer to my 5 lb goal.

Susan I'm so glad you will be able to go to Thailand in February. It certainly seems like Indonesia suffered the most damage. It's so hard to watch on the news each day. Just a heartbreaking situation. Glad your weight loss in progressing..are you still listening to the Dr Phil tapes?

Lisa I so envy you playing golf this weekend. On Saturday the weather here was snow followed by sleet followed by freezing rain. Looks like more of the same on Wednesday but on Thursday it should be about 50. A relative heat wave for this area in January. Did lots of cleaning myself this weekend but still have not tackled the basement which I really should try and get to soon. I also need to call the Salvation Army to try and schedule a time for them to pick up a sofa we want to donate.

Lala glad you are on the mend, hope the Advil took care of the headache. So, you were a cleaning fool this weekend too. One half of this family is not cluttery the rest are. How is your new heating system working out so far??

Well ladies, it's only 9 pm but I'm already getting sleepy. Hope you all had a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

It's weigh-in day and I'm down 3 lbs!! Really happy about that and targetting another 2 for the coming week.

Pam: The Dr. Phil tapes are helping. He's very specific about behaviour change - how to identify the problem areas and how to make lasting changes. That's precisely what I need at this time in my life.

lala: Books aren't clutter, although they can get out of hand easily. I did a purge recently; got rid of all the paperbacks and hardcovers that I didn't absolutely love. The remaining ones fit nicely for a while in a bookcase in our guest bedroom on the main level. Lately though, that one's overflowing too.

Lisa: It seems unreal to me that you played golf on the weekend. We're getting a little snow squall at the moment; I don't think it will accumulate much, but there are blizzard-like conditions outside at the moment. Our temps are also supposed to rise significantly by Thursday. What a rollercoaster.

Hi to Melissa.

Susan, Congrats and woo-hoo on your weight loss. You keep on going. I'm glad Dr. Phil is providing inspiration to you. I'm somewhat surprised that you're going to Thailand. I hadn't heard that Phuket had recovered so soon. The news reports are so sad. When are you supposed to go? I'm glad you got your run in. I know it does sound funny that I can still golf down here.

We are having a heat wave. It's been near 80 every day for over a week. It will end though. I heard this coming Sunday night will be in the 30's. Brrr.

Pam, I hope you like your mirror. Congrats to you, too, for losing.

lala, decluttering should make you feel better. I'm going to do some more tonight. The hurricanes really taught me a lesson. When DH and I looked around for what to take with us when we evacuated, we realized that we have too much stuff. We probably still have too much, but at least there's a dent in it. Yes, books are an issue sometimes. I need to purge mine as there are some I don't really love, as Susan said.

Hi Melissa.

Good morning ladies! I wasn't lost--just had a very busy Monday! Classes started and I had meetings yesterday. I'm on a couple of committees and we're meeting more so that we can get our recommendations to the budget & planning/president for compensation. There is a lot to it!

Anyway, I'm happy to report that my journal is filled and I've tallied everything and I've pretty much stayed within my POINTS. The only thing that could hamper my work would be TOM arriving Friday but we'll see what happens.

Our weather is crazy--this morning it's snowing and by this afternoon it's supposed to be raining. Forecast for Wed/Thurs is 58/61 respectively and then we'll plummet down to 25 with night time lows of 8! Talk about a rollercoaster! The upside is that if the weather is that warm the next couple of days I'll be opening the windows at home to vent the house

Domina: Thanks for getting the thread up and running yesterday! I talked to my GF on Sunday and she said the same thing about the temps being warm. My aunt is in Orlando and said it's been great. She'll be in for a rude awakening when she comes home this weekend!

Lala: Hope you're feeling better. I had a sinus headache on Sunday that dragged me down considerably. Our Christmas stuff is down and put away. The house looks bare now with the exception of a huge poinsettia bush.

Pam: I'm sure the new hc will grown on DD. My kids aren't always up for change when I get a new HC but later on they'll admit it looks fine. I'm getting mine done on Friday. Congrats on your loss!! Glad the mirror looks good on your room. I need some incentive to get my weight back to where I want it. I'll see where I'm at on Wednesday and get a plan into place. I've been doing better with night time snacking and that's a big thing for me.

Susan: Congrats on your great loss!!! All that hard work is paying off. I'm glad you'll be able to go on your trip as planned. I'm planning a trip to FL in May to visit my girlfriend. It's always nice to have something to look forward to

I'll check in again later on...have a great day everyone!

Hi everyone,

Brr from here. Should have snow on the ground by tomorrow am and right now I am computerless at home. I have a swish new laptop on its way, but hopefully, it'll show up today. I need to work from home and we're so dependent on computing, aren't we?

Pam -- I got a haircut this weekend. Colored too. Its short,but I love it, however, it would be nice to cover the ears in this weather.

Melissa-- classes started for us last week. I have one this quarter and its going to be fun! However, I did not envy the poor folks at the registrars office on Monday sorting out schedules and admissions.

Lisa -- Yup, purging is good. Our boiler was not working last night -- the culprit, who knows. I had to unplug it and replug it and voila --- it worked. The service tech is coming out to troubleshoot. I accused DP of messing with the thermostat, which she did, but not to that degree. I should take some pics, eh?

Susan-- Congrats on your loss! I was afraid to weigh in and I better bite the bullet this week.

Well, we bought a new lamp at crate and barrel on Saturday that I should pick up today. We found an old ottoman that DP's dear father had bought at goodwill and we had stored in the basement. It has fine lines, but needs reupholstering. I think it should be fine with a clean and a slip cover. I don't think I want to invest in a 300 reupholstering for something that DP will put her feet on. A slipcover would be cool because you could change it with the seasons too.

Our living room is starting to look like grownups live there!

Okay, back to work. DP is in San Diego all week and she's giving my paper tomorrow. Maybe I should look at and so I can give her some pointers?

laters taters!

lala

Cold here too lala. We're supposed to come out of the deep freeze gradually today and get rain tomorrow.

Not much to report. Did a 5km run on the treadmill last night. Bought some weights which I hope to put to good use tonight if I can muscle DH out of the workout room

Journalling going well and I'm getting most of my water in.

It's another beautiful day here, but it's going to change come the weekend. I'm still OP--8 days now. WI is next Monday. Today will be a challenge. I have a staff meeting with lunch provided and my professional group dinner meeting this evening. I have some banked points, so I know I'll use them.

One of these days I will post a photo of myself if I could figure out how to do that? Any help, lala?

Did more decluttering. I actually found old leotards in one of my drawers, so they're out of here. I bought a new karaoke machine, so my old one which uses cassettes is going to the rummage. DH found some water bottles (he gets them from his races), so they went, too. Gee, with all of this empty space, I should get more stuff (Not!)

Susan, it sounds like you're right on track.

Melissa, you're doing well keeping your journal. TOM sort of ruins everything; soon I'll be rid of it. : )

lala, sorry to hear about your new boiler. I hope it gets fixed soon. Is is the time of year for haircuts? I will need a trim soon.

Hello to Pam.

Hi Everyone,

Lisa thanks for the QOTD!

Everything here is marginally hunky dory. DP gave my talk this morning at a professional meeting and from a text I got from a colleague it went well. We had book group last night and we picked some pretty cool books to read next year. I did declutter a bit too, didn't have much time, but managed to get a bag together. Tonight we'll do a bit more. I'll probably go visit the shelter on Sunday and drop off some clothes and coats. It feels good to get rid of stuff that others can use.

Lisa -- celebrate empty space! That is what I'm going to do. BTW, congrats on your loss and the 8 days of OP living.

Susan -- WTG on the treadmill run! Sounds like you had an adventurous weekend with the kiddos too. I'm glad to hear you are getting in your water and journalling.

Melissa and Pam -- hola!

Well, must get cracking and then spend some quality time figuring out how to really make a three page summary of some truly difficult readings on architectual theory today.

later taters,

lala

Afternoon ladies! We're getting teased here with some nice weather. This morning it was a downpour and now it's just cloudy with temps hovering around 52. Tomorrow we're supposed to see 61 and then the cold front moves in and we'll be lucky to get into the 20's over the weekend! Yikes!

I'm happy to report that my journaling paid off at the scale today, even with TOM knocking on the door. I was down 2# at my WI so that makes me really happy. Now to get rid of 3 more and I'll be back to my personal goal. It's tough. My back is still giving me some problems and I've made an appointment with the doctor. I have an appointment for Friday at 1 p.m. with the workman's comp doctor. I hate having to go but it's nagging and it's been a week. We'll see what he says.

Lala: Did your new laptop arrive? I love getting new gadgets.

Lisa: Sounds like you're on a roll, too with keeping OP. It'll pay off for you. I'm hoping that I lose a little more after TOM leaves. I need to work on decluttering. I start and then lose momentum.

Susan: Good for you for getting the run in--one of my office mates has recently started running and said she's go the bug now and really enjoys it. Keep up the great work with journaling & water. Some days are harder to get the water in but I know I feel better when I do.

Hi to Pam!

Melissa we're experiencing the same weather here. Tomorrow it is suppose to get close to 60. So strange for this time of year but I'll take it. Congrats on the loss. Since it's TOM time for me too I'm not expecting too much at Friday's weigh in, but who knows. Hope your back begins to feel better soon. A week is a long time to suffer with a backache.

Lala Glad the talk you helped prepare for DP went well. What was the topic?

Susan congrats on your 3lb loss..that is terrific. My journalling is going well, but I have to do better with the water. I've been adding a little Crystal Light to it to try and make it go down a little easier.

Lisa 8 OP days is great!! I'm sure you'll see a nice loss at weigh in. It seems like we're all headed in the right direction.

Well ladies not much else to report. I've been so busy at work lately it's been difficult to even find a few minutes to post during the day. Too many projects going on at once. Oh well I'm sure things will calm down soon. Hope you all had a nice day. I'll talk to you later.

Well, ladies, I broke my streak of straight OP days--yesterday I'll just forget. I did all right at lunch, but the dinner at my professional meeting did me in. Oh well, move on.

Today it was raining, so I didn't go on my morning walk. I pulled out that DVD that Weight Watchers handed out last year with the Flex system. I don't know why I never looked at it before. It's actually not too bad. It has low, medium, and high intensity work outs. I enjoyed it. Have any of you tried it?

Had some sad news. The oldest of my brothers is getting a divorce after 17 years. His wife said she doesn't love him anymore. They have two teenaged children; I really feel bad for them. I hope my brother gets custody because we believe that his wife is having an affair and that's not a good arrangement for those young people.

Melissa, we are headed for a cold, rainy weekend here. The 30's are coming back--yikes is right! I'm sorry about your back. There is something about the back that just affects your entire body. That's why I really believe in chiropractic because it is true that everything in our bodies is attached to the spine. You mentioned Workmen's Comp--did you injure your back at work?

Pam, good luck on WI. When I was new to WW, TOM always messed me up. Now that I'm Lifetime, I can WI on another week that has no TOM problems. I'll be happy if my WI this month is the same as December's. I gained about 4 pounds over Christmas! Too many cookies and candy.

lala, good for you for decluttering.

Hi, Susan.

Lisa: Don't beat yourself up too badly re dinner last night. Remember - it's only one meal out of 21 for the week. Overall, you're doing great. That is sad news about your brother. He'll need lots of support over the coming months. Thanks for the info about the WW DVD; I haven't looked at it but I will.

Melissa: WTG on the loss. I admire how you keep yourself in check and never stray too far from your personal goal. Hope your back is better soon.

Pam: You may well be surprised when you weigh in on Friday, but if the scale doesn't move much, at least you know that the loss will show up next week.

lala: OK - I have to ask - is lala close to your real name? Will we ever know your real name? Inquiring minds...

My OP streak continues. Even restricted myself to one 6-point serving of mushroom and brie pizza last nite. I continue to amaze myself

Got my last twinrix shot against hepatitis A and B this morning, so I think I'm ready for the trip in terms of immunization. My friend called the other night with nightmare stories about cholera; interesting how everyone wants to feed you information that can scare the living daylights out of you!! I know she means well though.