Sorry I wasn't around much at the end of last week. I was in a seminar on Thursday which wasn't bad. On Friday, it was an off work day and I had several errands to do. On Saturday, DH and I golfed. The weather was perfect; the golf course was so-so. I played horribly, but that was partly because of the way we were treated by the golf course employees--they were rude. On Sunday, I had a rehearsal for the Beethoven/Mendelssohn concert I'm in next month. That was a good rehearsal. Tonight is rehearsal for the play I'm in opening in April. Gosh, I'm so busy again.

Regarding the house repairs, the outside painting is done and it looks great. I'm still waiting for our pool enclosure. When that's done, all of our repairs will be complete (can't wait).

Had a so-so weekend of eating. I ate some good for you things, but I also ate too much of them.

Melissa, I hope you had fun in Chicago. I agree with lala, it's a fun place.

lala, I want to see Sideways also. I spoke to a woman yesterday who took an older woman to see it and the latter did not like the movie at all. She recommended Million Dollar Baby.

Pam, when is Lauren's surgery? I pray everything will go well. It doesn't matter if you've prepared for it or not; surgery on your child is hard to take.

When does Susan return from Thailand?

Hi everyone,

Happy President's Day.

Am having a good weekend, flew to Portland on Friday and shuttled to Corvallis to watch DP defend her proposal (good thing to as there is a contreversy brewing on her having to rewrite part of it), spent the night in Seattle at a hotel, goofed around on Satruday and worked on homework on Sunday.

I am home after running a few errands and starting work on the actual "writing" of my paper for my class. I was going to look at redemptive spaces in Paris in the 20th century, but have just decided to focus on worker's housing/short term accomodations as that is a subject that I just loooooove. So, here I am with many images, plans, journal articles from 1935-to current and a need to outline and then start somewhere. My goal is to be done by next weekend.

Lisa -- sounds like you had a busy weekend. Golfing sounds great! The concert also sounds great. You are so talented.

Melissa -- Are you back yet? My parents were quite taken by the snow in Milwaukee this weekend. I am waiting for my brother to send me pictures of my dad in the snow.

I think Miss Susan returns at the end of the month.

Prayers and good vibes to Pam, DH, DS on Lauren's surgery and swift recovery. We're thinking of you here.

Well, I should get cracking. I have heard all weekend from my friend I was supposed to go to London with this past weekend. Everytime she text messaged me with something like "i'm sitting in the lounge drinking champagne" or "i just bought the cutest shoes", I would counter with "I just passed the linn county line -- grass seed capital of the world". I think it would have been nice to be in London and Paris this weekend, but hanging out at home wasn't too bad either.

lala

Hi everyone,

Hope your Tuesday is splendid. I have only work, cleaning the oven, hanging laundry and paper writing on my plate. The excitement never ends...

I need to weigh in on Friday am. I skipped last week because I was gone and my skirt feels tight. Granted I didn't journal, I know I didn't overeat. I will be more prudent this week.

Accomplished a bunch yesterday -- picked out tablecloths and napkins for the dinner, ordered the flowers, worked on my paper, planted a few things including sweet peas. Spring has definitely sprung chez lala. Its quite lovely in Seattle this week.

Hope everyone is well and can check in!

lala

It's warm here today. I have no rehearsal tonight, so I'll be working on my line memorization. DH is a great help.

Where is everyone else?

lala, you have me thinking about flowers. I definitely need to plant some. Our yard is looking blah. The only things really looking good are my mums--very lush this year. Have a good OP week and you'll do well at WI.

Hi everyone! It's been a very stressful few days. My trip to Chicago went well--went out for dinner with some of the group on Friday evening and had a nice time. Saturday's meeting was uneventful and I spent the evening relaxing. Sunday morning I received a call from DH that my father had collapsed and that he was not able to get up and was disoriented...DH called for the ambulance and he was taken in. We tried to get an earlier flight home but couldn't get connections back here so we were on the phone a lot getting updates. My dad had a stress test on Friday and he had told us "everything is fine"...hmm something definitely was not right after all. Saturday he wasn't feeling well and told the kids he was a little off and I was uneasy when DS #1 told me he hadn't taken his meds in the evening (this is so not like him). Sunday he didn't get up for church and that was another warning bell. They did a heart catharization this morning and the cardiologist told my mother that he has significant blockage in the bypasses (he had this done in 1984) and that he didn't feel he was a candidate for surgery. They did put in a stent and my mom is waiting to talk more with the doctors as far as how much blockage, what can be done, etc. Things are crazy in my life and my eating is not good. Calgon take me away!

I think the waiting is worse and my dad is oblivious to everything--when I stopped in at noon to see him he says, "the stress test was fine"??!! Denial? My dad is 76, and will be 77 next month, he's had bypass surgery when he was 56 but he has still continued to smoke even though the doctor's advised him to quit. I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you guys with all the details. I'll keep you posted on how he's doing.

I'm trying to stay on track and not go overboard but last night I had a substantial amount of Dove chocolate covered almonds...the bad part is that I really didn't even want more but still continued to eat them.

Work is busy--we kicked off our pedometer program and the pedometers the Wellness Center provided are not counting steps accurately and we're trying to get them replaced with something more reliable...more stress! I am trying to walk more and deep breathe for relaxation. So that's what's happening in my corner of the world...I hope yours is less stressful.

Pam: Has Lauren had her surgery yet? Keep us posted.

I'll catch up more later on...have a good afternoon!

Melissa, I knew something was up when we didn't hear from you. You're such a good poster. I am so sorry about your dad. That is scary and yes, I think he's in denial. I will keep him in my prayers.

On the food front, I made your six-week muffins and boy, did they come in handy. Whenever I wanted to much on something (stressed out, too, but not your kind), I ate one of those 1-pt. muffins and it was filling.

That's funny about the pedometers; I just got one that counted steps because we are supposed to walk 10,000 steps a day for good health. The darn thing kept resetting to zero during the day. I knew I had walked more steps!!

Pam, yes, please let us know how Lauren is doing.

Hugs to Melissa. That is scary. Hopefully this will be your dad's wake up call. I would say that its okay to turn to almonds and chocolate at this time. Its funny, I don't think of 77 as old, my mom just turned 77 and she seems so young to me. Knocking wood here...

Don't worry about the pedometers, the supplier will get it right and everyone on campus will be raving about how many steps they are walking!

I just got a pedometer too, I should try it out tomorrow.

Pam -- I hope Lauren is doing well!

Okay, should probably get back to my fun tutorial.

lala

Hi everyone.

Nice here today again. I hung out laundry last night, so it should be dry when I get home. I love freshly hung laundry.

I had a run in with a smallish bag of doritos. I should have planned better for today.

I have a haircut tonight and then its fun, fun, fun and writing, writing, writing....

Hugs and good wishes to everyone who needs them.

lala

It's also nice here today, but clouding up. I guess we do need rain.

Lots of snacks at work today, but I haven't had any (it's tough, let me tell you). There are cookies, brownies, pineapple upside down cake, and salted nuts. These engineers can eat!

I have another free night tonight; choir practice was canceled. Our director has the flu. Uh-oh, the flu is starting around here.

I'm thinking of going to visit the parents this weekend (short trip). DH is headed to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras Marathon, so I think I'll take a little trip.

lala, are you doing something different with your hair or just getting a trim? Ah, writing...it's fine unless you get writer's block.

Hugs to Melissa and Pam.

Hi everyone! My dad was discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon with directives to not smoke, no driving, etc. He was not a happy person with that! He did say that he hasn't had a cigarette in 5 days and it's my hope he continues to be smoke free. I know it's a tough habit to break but the doctor warned him it could trigger a heart attack. He's not supposed to do anything strenuous so hopefully he'll listen to what they say. He is going to have to back in to have a stent put in and they're going to schedule it for next week. My mom was under the impression that they did this when he was in for the catherization but they must have decided against it.

Lala: I love hanging stuff outside...it'll be a while before I'll be able to do that. It's a chilly 18 this morning. We did receive the new pedometers and so far haven't had any more complaints so that's one good thing

Lisa: I haven't made the six week muffins in a long time and maybe I should make some for those quick on the go snacks. I need to get more program friendly stuff in my house.

I haven't been doing all that bad with eating, other than the almonds and they're gone now, so things should get a little better. Amidst all this, I'm battling PMS and the urge to eat salty/crunchy/greasy foods. I was up 1.6# at WI yesterday and I'm not too worried about it because I know that it will go away if I focus on drinking my water, journaling, and eating right.

Pam: I hope all is well with Lauren.

Susan: Hope your trip is going well! Can't wait to hear about it.

Hi everyone,

I'll be back, but I'm happy to hear that Melissa's dad is out of the hospital. Melissa, I hope your mom is a take charge kind of a lady. I think it would be very difficult to give up a habit that you have had all your life, even if it will make you weaker and maybe kill you...

I had waffles for dinner. I have no idea why, but they are not pointy and satisfied me.

more later,

lala

Melissa, I'm so glad that you dad is out of the hospital. That's a good sign that he is smoke-free so far. The six-week muffins are great to have around instead of other red light foods! You can take care of the 1.6#.

lala, mmmm waffles. Sometimes I like to have breakfast food for dinner.

Lisa -- I seem to alternating between banana waffles from Trader Joes (these are gluten and wheat free - not that these things are issues with me) and flax seed whole wheat ones.

Its easy, quick and satisfying. I need to measure my maple syrup though. I really like maple syrup .

Oy, what a day.

lala

Hi Ladies,

Thank you all so much for keeping Lauren in your thoughts. She had extensive reconstructive surgery on her upper and lower jaw on Tuesday. It went very well after some initial concern that it might not be able to be done at all. Due to the problems in the development of throat/lower jaw, the doctors thought there might be a chance they would not be able to intubate her. Thank God they could, and after 7 hours the surgery was complete. It will be a somewhat difficult recovery as she will be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks. Please keep us in your prayers and I will try to post as often as possible to let you know how she is doing.

Good morning! It's a bone-chilling 15 this morning but the sun is shining!

They have scheduled my dad's surgery for Monday morning at 6:30 a.m. I was a little miffed at him last night because I know he went outside and had a cigarette or a part of one...this just after he said he hadn't had one and felt good! grrrrr. I keep telling myself there's nothing I can do but offer support to his giving them up.

Pam: I'm so glad that Lauren's surgery was successful. I'm sure the next 2 weeks are going to be difficult and I'll definitely keep you, Lauren, and your family in my prayers. What is the anticipated recovery time for her?

Lala: My mom is a take charge lady but that's where she and my dad butt heads...he's just as stubborn and doesn't want to listen/follow directions. It's frustrating for her. On a side note, my mom is 65 and my dad will be 77 next month so the age difference really shows up.

Lisa: I know I can get rid of the 1.6...it's just a matter of staying focused and with everything that's going on it's a little hard but I know that if I really put my mind to it I'll feel better and it will give me a sense of stability in one part of my life.

On a happy note, DS #2 had his picture in this morning's paper (#23)--his basketball team mate was featured on the frontpage of the paper and the picture includes the starting line up--he's going to be so surprised when he sees it this morning. The kids all thought it was going to be on the sports page! His teammate is only 15 and is 78" tall and weighs 200# and is the nicest kid. He is definitely a team player and if he keeps his head on straight he'll do big things. He's very down to earth. Here's a link to our paper & you can see the picture: http://www.goerie.com/

So anyone have any plans for the weekend? I get to sleep in tomorrow morning--DS #2 is going to pre-bowl so he can go to basketball practice and then afterwards we're going bowling with the rugby club so Saturday will be busy. Students are all leaving for Spring break so the campus will be quiet next week. Hard to imagine it's been a year since I went to London *sigh*