Good morning lifers!

The weekend was busy, busy, busy. We had a wonderful time at tea on Saturday--the kids (6 & 4) were great and well-behaved. We ended up spending almost 3 hours at the tea room. I bought a new tea cup, cozy and some loose apricot tea I had chilled strawberry soup, egg salad sandwiches, cucumber & cream cheese sandwich, and a piece of nut bread with cream cheese. Of course they had scones & cream, lemon curd, a welsh cake and for dessert they had homemade grape ice cream. We started off with iced apricot tea and with our scones & dessert had some Yorkshire Gold tea. It was sooo nice! We ended up back at my house and we had a cookout. The kids played with lincoln logs and had a great time.

Sunday we celebrated DS #2's b-day and I made stuffed shells, big tossed salad, and had a small, and I mean small, piece of chocolate cake. Saturday I dipped into the flex but that's okay.

I did get some de-cluttering done over the weekend and want to get some more things done--it's just a matter of taking the time and doing it!

Lala: The tomatoes are starting to come in from our garden!! I had fresh grape tomatoes from the garden yesterday and there's more where they came from.

So how was everyone else's weekend?

Hi, Melissa. It sounds like you had a fun weekend. That tea sounds so great. Strawberry soup--was that good? It sounds so unusual. I do like grape tomatoes. I don't care for cherry tomatoes, but grape tomatoes have good flavor.

Well, I stayed active this weekend, but I know that I ate more than I should have. I even ordered french fries which I usually don't do. It's a new week.

I hear you about decluttering. I went to a party at our new neighbors' house and their home is so nicely decorated. When I got back home, I told myself that I have too much stuff!!! I tried to tell myself that our neighbors have only been married 3 years and DH and I have been married for almost 30 years, but we still have too much stuff. What is the solution? I'm good about getting rid of clothes that I don't wear. It's just knickknacks and items like that. Many things have sentimental value...

Hello to Pam, lala, Susan, Austingal, Julie, and Liz

Melissa - Yum.

Lisa - There are some who really like clean sleek lines and no stuff (my parents) and there are folks that like to see their history (me), its a hard line between the two. This is why I now buy socks when I travel. I can look at my socks and think - Madrid, Tokyo, Singapore and Paris.

Take up less room too.

Okay, must dash. very busy, getting ready to leave for conference, many bad things are happening at work that I am trying to get under control before we leave.

Or I leave my job due to my disgust.

Hi to everyone, I'll post later.

lala

lala, socks?? That's a different one. Actually I have some socks from various places. Sounds serious at work, what is happening? Where is this conference you're headed to?

Socks are good. Small and cheap and cheerful.

Work is just work, they just don't know what is going on anywhere, so I need to outline everything so that I don't end up with a project that is impossible to start or complete.

I'm going to the ESRI UC. I talk about it today in my blog. Must lead a Special INterest group meeting and give a talk on Wednesday. Fun stuff, not.

more later.

lala

Hi ladies,

It seems like work has taken over my life. Very busy working on a big presentation coming up on September 7th. I have so much that still must be completed and unfortunately it requires gathering some info from people who are not very good at meeting deadlines if you know what I mean I'll be so happy when this is done and I can start counting the days until I leave for Maui on 9/21.
The weekend was pretty uneventful DS came home so his Dad could do some work on his car. Unfortunately, the car is still in my garage and I'm hoping they can finish it today or tomorrow.

Melissa you had a great weekend. Happy birthday to your DS, hope he enjoyed his stuffed shells! I'm not so much in a decluttering mode but I've been cleaning like crazy. We had the carpets cleaned this past weekend and we're having the house powerwashed this coming weekend. Everything was looking a little dull .

Lisa I must tell you that french fries are a big red light food for me. I absolutely love them, especially the sweet potato fries. YUM. I have not been golfing in so long...I noticed some dust forming on my golf bag. I've got to try and fix that this weekend.

lala you are one busy lady. I like your socks idea! I read your blog, sounds like you're missing Ernest...how can you not, he's so cute!

Hi to everyone else. Must dash and get back to the dreaded project. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Pam, like you I am looking forward to vacation--6 more work days. Oh, I like sweet potato fries, too. Actually they're better for you. Yes, you need to get out there on the course!

Not much going on here. Lily is sick after her weekend of canoeing/camping. It was pretty rainy where they camped. Chilly at night, too. She's snuggled down on the couch with a glass of water and a Strawberry Shortcake DVD. Heaven for a six year old!

Tomorrow is the big day for me. I have weigh-in in the morning and will get my lifetime membership at the meeting. Looks like I may have to take the little sicky with me, but it should be alright. She's the reason I did this anyway.

I hope this week is going well for all of you!

Liz, woo-hoo! That will be great. It is a super accomplishment to make lifetime. Your stats look so good. What I like about being a Lifetimer is that I weigh in every month--it truly keeps me accountable.

Good morning everyone! The weather here has been great--the past 2 mornings have been cool so I've taken advantage and come into work early so I can get a walk in before work--it's a great way to start the day This morning it was only 60 and it actually felt cool! Tomorrow we're supposed to get some humidity but hopefully it won't stick around too long.

Liz: Woohoo! Congratulations!! I still attend weekly meetings and weigh in so that I can stay accountable--it's too easy for me to slip back into old habits and I really enjoy my noon group.

Lisa: The strawberry soup was delicious--not too sweet, you could really taste the fresh strawberries and they add a little bit of ginger ale to give it a little fizz. The tea was wonderful and I'm trying to figure out when I can go back! No vacation for me for a while, although yesterday I was looking at how much time I have left between now and the end of the year and I have 13 1/2 days--I think I'm taking tomorrow off to spend some time with my girlfriend and her kids.

Lala: I like your sock idea...I too like to see my history, I've never been one for sleek lines, etc. I did purchase another teacup while at the tearoom on Saturday--it has a scalloped cup and tiny blue roses on it. It's a nice momento of our tea. Also purchased some loose apricot tea from Elmwood Inn that I brewed up for iced tea.

Pam: I really have to be in the mood to de-clutter and that doesn't happen very often! Good luck with getting everything together for the presentation. It's so frustrating when others don't take note of deadlines, etc. Maui will be here before you know it!

I hope Susan is having a great time in Australia!

Hi to Julie, Austingal and anyone else lurking.

Today is meeting day for me and I'm hoping for a loss--I've been meticulous with my journal (full disclosure) and have been mindful of not eating in the evening. I feel good about the past week and am hoping for the best. I'll check back in later this afternoon.

Melissa and Liz - Good luck to both of you at weigh in this morning! I'll be back with more later.

Hello all - Great Wednesday - well at least it is hump day right
I had weight in yesterday a nd I went down 1.4 lbs - surprised me since I was good except for Saturday - it was my <shhh> 40th birthday and I ate a Resee Cup Flurry with my children. I didn't want to look up how many points that would be. But I guess my walking and keeping track the rest of the week paid off.
Tomorrow I am taking my oldest dd to Ohio State University in Columbus Oh to look over the school. She is deciding between Toledo and Columbus.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Julie: Great job!!! Happy Belated Birthday!! Welcome to the 40's--I turned 44 in June and don't feel like it!

Well ladies, I'm a little discouraged and can't figure out what I need to do--I have really been careful with my eating (weighing/measuring) and writing everything down--today I was up another .6 I really had to fight to not break down at the meeting and it's equally hard sitting here at my desk. I'm up almost 7# from last year at this time and up 6# from February. I'm at a total loss of what I can do. My meds (thyroid/bp) are all under control but obviously my body is doing something else. My biggest fear is that it's not going to stop. I talked with my leader for a while today and I gave her my journal to take a look at. What I thought was going to be a good WI turned ugly *sigh* I'm not going to go off the deep end but eating french fries and the foods that are comfort me sound awfully good

No more whining...I'll forge ahead and hopefully things will simmer down and my body will let go of this dratted weight!

One thing that has worked for me when I had a few weeks of gaining slightly I splurge the day after weight in - not ALOT but over my points and with something I enjoy - it seems to put my body back in a weight loss mode. No sure if that will work with everyone but it has with me.
I wish you luck

Julie, congrats on the loss. I hope dd becomes a Buckeye.

Melissa, Oh, poo, but .6 could be almost anything. The 7 pounds is puzzling. Are you having perimenopausal symptoms? So what did your leader say when she looked at your journal? Was there anything enlightening?

As Julie said, maybe you should do the what we used to call the Wendy Plan--eat high points one day and low the next to confuse your body. Don't be discouraged. You've always been such an inspiration to me.