Heavens, it's almost Memorial Day. I just don't know where this year is going. I had a busy weekend. I coordinated a wedding at my church and it went well. Played golf with DH and friends on Saturday--that was fun. Yesterday we went to an arts and crafts show, but it was way too hot out. I think DH got overheated. After that he wanted to go home and rest. Did well eating wise.

This week I have several rehearsals for an upcoming variety show I'm in and a couple weddings where I will be singing (not coordinating). Speaking of the coordinating, I'm giving up that job after July. The brides and their mothers are becoming meaner and meaner. I just don't think I should have to deal with that as a volunteer at my church.

How is everyone else? Did you have fun at the Highland Games, Melissa?

Well the weekend was "eh" for me. TOM arrived on Friday (super early) and I was exhausted when I got home. I worked for 9.5 hours on Saturday and did grocery shopping on my way home. And yesterday I really WANTED to get a bunch of stuff done but I was so tired and feeling lazy that I couldn't bring myself to do much at all. I watched a lot of TV, cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, pulled a few weeds in our mulched areas outside, and made dinner. Thats about it! Meanwhile DH was outside all day putting together our new grill, getting rid of a concrete pad on our patio with a sledgehammer, mowing the lawn, etc.

My eating has been AWEFUL lately as well.

Melissa - The Highland Games sound like so much fun! You'll have to tell us how it was

Lisa - That must be a really hard job, having to deal with all the brides! Its wedding season now too. I can't imagine you have... but do you ever say anything to them when they are being mean or rude? As a volunteer for the church I doubt there is much you can do about it.

I felt lazy yesterday evening, too, Lori. I finished my ironing and that was about it. A new grill? Is it a nice one with the side burner and all?

There's not much I can say to the brides and their mothers. I just don't get their attitudes. For one thing, I don't know why some of them get married in the church! Some show up half-looped for their weddings--disgusting.

Hi! It's so cold here today--only 45 and the wind goes right through you. We've have a couple peeks of sun but nothing major. It feels more like a Fall day here than Spring!

I can't believe this weekend is Memorial Day! Time sure is flying! The Highland Games were fun--we were quite a distance away from the activities this year because the field that they had previously used is now the site of construction for new apartments for the university campus. It was windy and at the end of the day there was a t'storm and hail! I did go down to the festival grounds and bought a sausage roll It was a nice walk to get down there and back and I did that twice. I ended up with over 10,000 steps for Saturday which is really good. We went to the party afterwards and I did pretty good--had a couple of beers, salad, meatball, chicken, and a small piece of bread so overall I did good.

I'm still experiencing my ankles swelling and I've been playing around a little with my medication and I'm not sure if it's the cause or not. I didn't take the one pill for a day and I didn't have any swellling and this morning I took a small dose and now my ankle is all swollen...ugh! The weird part is that my hands haven't been swollen/puffy. I feel better not as tired as I have been. I'm trying to watch because I can't take another gain at the scale. It's been climbing up every week and I broke that 150 mark and I hate it!

Lisa: It's just not the brides/parents/bridesmaids, I see it here too that people are very demanding in what they want. It's a shame really because it doesn't get them anywhere and I don't get the fact that people show up for functions already trashed...what are they thinking???

Lori: Even though you were tired you definitely got quite a bit done yesterday. I really have to force myself to do things and that's not a good thing for me.

I wonder where everyone else is??

I'm working at WW tonight at another location and it's the last one that I agreed to do; I don't mind pinch-hitting but it's not something I want to do all the time.

Well as you can see by my new ticker, I'm owning up. Both to where I really was at my lowest and to where I really am now. I NEED to start planning again and staying on plan. No more lying to myself that I can do it on my own without planning. I never went back to a WW meeting either. I'm going to go this weekend. DH and I also re-committed to our old gym schedule and went last night. I'm fed up with myself and how I've been treating my body. It needs to stop!

Lisa - Melissa definitely has a point. I see it to - people wanting things just the way they like it. I've also seen a lot of people who HAVE to get something when they want it. To the point where you would think that they were rich and had tons of money to throw around. Really they are not though. Probably why our economy is so horrible right now! DH and I used to be that way when we were younger (5-6 years ago) but once we decided we wanted to buy a house 4-5 years ago we buckled down and realized what a mess we were in financially and worked on fixing it.

Melissa - I really hope that you get things worked out with that medication. I know how not-fun those things can be. And I know how you feel about the scale. I can see "170" on the horizon and I don't like that at all!

Melissa, That is really chilly weather. Very strange, isn't it? I am so looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend.

Lori, You are brave putting your numbers down; well now that you've done that, you know what you need to do. You are so right about people just wanting stuff now--no saving, hey just put it on a credit card. I tell my friends, if you're not going to pay off the credit card, the "good deal" you think you're getting isn't one. With that interest, it will be very expensive.

These brides are just different people. And for many of them, I don't know why they are getting married in the church. It obviously doesn't mean much to them with their behavior.

Lisa - You must get some really nice and polite brides every once in a while though.... right?

Well I've been posting in the Flex Talk thread a lot since there is so little activity here lately! I am taking my post from today in there and copying and pasting it here:

I stuck to the plan yesterday and did not give in to the popcorn. Actually, I had to wolf down my dinner to get to the theatre on time, so I was really full when I got there. Plus I brought seltzer to drink, so I was all set! I actually turned down the free mini-bag of Nerds they were giving out (Tuesdays are bargain nights here at the theatre and they give you a small treat with your cheaper admission). It is amazing what one OP day can do, especially when I drink all my water. I can lose a pound or two in an instant. I got on the scale this morning and was 166.8, but I refuse to change my ticker every day that I weigh now. It will only change once a week!

Last night was horrible. I have 3 cats, and one of them (Bailey) is VERY dependent. She likes sleeping on the bed with us... right in our faces. We've been trying to break her of the habit and its been going well. Every time she tries to sleep at the top of the bed, I pick her up and put her at the bottom of it. Well last night she just wouldn't stop. Eventually I kicked her out of the room, but then she cries outside the door. So I spray this citrus stuff because cats don't like the smell of it and it usually keeps her away for an hour or so. Well last night she pushed the door back open and got back in (old house, doors don't always latch). So I threw her out again and sprayed more stuff and she got in AGAIN so I was so frustrated (at this point it was 12:15 and I had been trying to sleep since 10:45) that I took my pillows to our guest room (which does lock and the bed is far enough away from teh door that if she meows I can't hear it) and slept in there. When I got up in the morning, DH told me that Bailey was really sick after I went up stairs. She was drooling, kind of foaming, shaking her legs, etc. After a 1/2 hour she was better and then they went to sleep. So I stayed home from work today and took her to the vet. Even though the spray I use is 100% natural (only natural oils from oranges, no chemicals and non-aeresol) we thought maybe if she was right outside the door when I sprayed it and inhaled too much that could have been it (even though we've been using this spray for years and have never had a problem before). The vet said it was possible, but that she definitely ingested something that made her like that. They did some bloodwork, and I should know early next week if everything is OK. Her heart and lungs were OK, but I'm going to take the rest of the day off of work and look after her anyway. I feel horrible that I might have hurt her by spraying that stuff! The other thing I was thinking was that maybe she was really clingy last night BECAUSE she wasn't feeling well (thats happened before) and I wasn't seeing it and was just pushing her away and trying to get rid of her so I could sleep

Good afternoon! It is strange that there hasn't been anyone around on the board...I hope they're just all busy and that nothing has happened!

Lori: It is a good feeling when we can get one good day under our belts--it gives you the motivation to continue on. I need to do that. I've been doing pretty good with the night time snacking so I feel pretty good with that. I'm finding that I need to have variety and a meal that is "eye appealing" as well so that I feel satisfied both physically and visually.

It's cold here today--only 44 and it's been raining off and on; the forecast for the weekend is looking a lot better in terms of being a little warmer. We have a party with a bunch of old friends on Saturday night and it should be fun. The rest of the weekend should be on the quiet side.

I went for my blood work this morning and I'm anxious to get the results. I stopped taking the one med and the swelling in my ankle is slowing going down so that's a good thing.

I went to my meeting and was up .2 which isn't bad; I would rather have been down but hey, what can you do?? I can't stress out too much because it just sends me down a whole other path.

Does anyone else have plans for the weekend?

I had a great day yesterday. I stayed home to watch the kitty, and she's all good. I'm very happy and relieved! Well DH and I did some more work to our patio (we are digging out the old one that was just white rock and dirt and putting down gravel, stone dust, and patio stones). I could not believe what we found there. Apparently in the "old days" (according to my neighbor) when there was no garbage pickup, people would have this thing in their back yard. It was just a metal cylinder that went about 8ft into the ground and had a cap. Well you would open it up and pour your trash in there and set it on fire. And the people who owned the house before us even built a stone wall for this patio but didn't bother taking this thing out - crazy! They just filled the top part of it with cement So it took us a while to dig it out and it was heavy, but its out! We also discovered we are done digging the dirt out of the patio, which is good because the gravel and stone dust get delivered today. We're going to be working on it all weekend. Lots of movement for me this weekend!

Oh and I stuck to my plan yesterday and feel fabulous about it! I've also been very cold the past couple of days, which for me is a sure sign that I'm on plan and doing things right. Burning all those calories so there is no energy left to keep my hands and feet warm

Melissa - I've been waiting 16 days to hear about my remission test now! I usually get it in 7-10 days. Its going to rain here today too... AGAIN. I'm sick of all this rain!

Lori and Melissa, I've been so busy at work. We are converting to a new database for all of our contracts and it's a bear to use. Also, I'm supposed to help others; I'm a "key user" which is funny because I'm learning to use it like everyone else. Grrr.

Weekend plans? I have a wedding on Saturday that I'm singing at; should be fun--close friends' daughter. She just graduated from law school and her fiance is an engineer. DH has to work on Memorial Day, so I'll probably just stick around the homestead. Get my hair colored tomorrow. I hope DH and I can play some golf, but believe it or not, we're getting some rain this weekend!! Yippee--it has been so dry here and we need it. I'll probably do some more work in the yard. That always burns some calories.

Melissa, I hope you get some good information to stop that swelling in your ankles. That must be miserable. Your weather is so cold!

Lori, congrats to you for staying OP. You're on the right track. You mentioned water and I'm a big water drinker, but for some reason in the last couple days, I haven't been drinking it--makes no sense. I will concentrate on that. Food intake has been pretty good because I've been so busy. That garbage thing in your back yard sounds so odd. I never heard of that one. Yes, yard work is good for burning up calories. Sorry about your kitty. That has happened to us, too, with our birds. They are very sensitive to cleaners and any odors. It makes you feel like a bad Mommy.

Oh, Lori, I forgot to add that I hope you get good results on your remission tests. That would be terrible to wait so long.