Hi all,
Getting back in the groove here...thankfully for the next three weekends although we are out of town we'll be leaving Saturday morning/coming home Sunday afternoon. Last weekend kind of drained me, and it was a sort of unpleasant reminder of the same time last year when I had just found out my mother definitely had Parkinson's (and that my parents had lied to me about this for an indeterminent amount of time). I remember really feeling badly last year when we were at our friend's house and I guess this brought back a bunch of feelings about that. We are so lucky to be in invited there and I love our friends; this is not about them or the house, but rather the circumstance. In any case - moving along. I was on plan yesterday but ate a lot of grain, more than I usually do. I'm still struggling with water weight so my ticker is not telling the truth, but I'm not changing it since I know it's not real.

Today: work, pick up son, etc. I have my lunchtime free and I'm not sure what I'll do...we'll have to see. Hope everyone has a great day today!

Good Morning

Matilda, thanks for getting us started this morning! I was up but away from the computer. Thanks for the kind thoughts yesterday. My mom is having another test on Thursday which might determine if it's simple or complicated. Glad to hear you're getting back in the groove. Sorry to hear you had a bit of a difficult weekend recycling some of the emotions from last year. I understand. Take care.

I've been up since the wee hours...a cat spat right under the bedroom window at 1130pm sent me flying out of bed and the adrenelin did it's thing. I finally got out of bed at 130 and did the project from h*ll, cleaning the carpet in the laundry/coffee/Bing pees room. Arg! I love the little devil but he is accident prone. I understand that a pup that lived his first 5 years in a kennel just doesn't get it-but it was new carpet before he arrived. Oh, well.

Good news...food OP again (no grains for 4 days). I'll go for another one today.

Have a great day everyone!

So I hear DH rising...guess it's time to move on. I'm leaving early for Denver again...mom's ear Dr. today then Costco. The good news is that my afternoon project is already done.

Matilda, it's been quite a rough year for you, but I'm glad you are keeping a positive attitude about it all.

We have a busy day full of piano lessons and Pony Club, with no time for the pool today. It should be an early night for me, though, and I know I'll find Amber and Tyler in the pool when I get home. At least this heat is making me drink lots of ice water!

Good morning and thanks for the start-up, Matilda. Sorry last weekend was a bummer and hope the next ones are fun and relaxing.

I had another good night of sleep and am ready to tackle the day. Tonight I have a meeting so must save some energy for that. When I'm so busy, I find I'm pretty wiped by 6. It's the garden group tonight and our speaker is talking about roses that survive in this cold garden zone - US4. He will be bringing roses to sell and I'm hoping I don't get tempted. I used to grow roses here and deal with all the winter coverage but the finally succumbed.

I have more strawberries in the food dehydrator at the moment and another 4 quart basket waiting for its turn. The first batch I did got nibbled away! I love them in my oatmeal in the winter but I also love them just out of the bag when dried. Trouble is, you can snack away and then realize you just ate two quarts of berries! The calories are still pretty low at 120 but sometimes an extra 12 grams of fiber is over the top. 4 quarts dries down to a sandwich baggie so it's deceiving.

Today's plan is a bit of gardening for ME, coffee at the diner with the gang, sorting schoolwork, a short staff meeting at the Mill and then a free afternoon to finally get some of those alterations done.

What's on your agenda? Something just for you?

Good morning friends.

My daughter and her good friend Luke are on a plane heading back to Houston right now so I'm feeling kind of blue, but I've sure had a wonderful, wonderful week with them. We had a few restaurant meals and I didn't worry about staying on plan for them but otherwise did well food wise.

It looks like there's going to be a wedding in my near future so I'm contemplating getting down to 135 again so that I'll be happier with the photos. I say I'm content at 150 so I should just relax and continue to focus on maintaining but something about picturing myself as "mother of the bride" makes me crazy.

Matilda, I'm sorry the weekend was tough.
Debbie, I hope you'll be able to catch a "cat nap" later today. (groooan... Sorry, I just couldn't resist! LOL) Seriously, I'm sorry about your interrupted sleep, being shocked awake like that is a lousy feeling.

Enjoy your Wednesday ladies!

Oh, good morning Ruth and Linda!

Good morning, Debbie, and I admire you for getting that carpet cleaning project out of the way already. I'm keeping your mother in my prayers that all goes well.

Ruth, I'd love to be able to sit in on tonight's Garden Club meeting. I can grow practically anything, but have an awful time with roses. I only have Freedom roses now, at least they don't require anything but an occasional pruning. Must be the season for getting out our dehydrators. I did up a batch of zucchini chips last night.

Heidi! I've been wondering where you've been! You had an excellent excuse to be MIA, though. That's exciting news about a possible wedding!

Good morning friends I'm on the road today but have a bunch of work to do first so just a drive by

Best thing about a week with a Monday holiday - it's already hump day!

good morning,

Coffee is done and kitchen cleaned.

Matilda - enjoy your weekend you deserve it.

Debbie - I can't imagine cleaning at 1:30 but I think I'm joining the 5a.m. club.

Ruth - I still have a few rose bushes left but alot are gone, I use to think of them as annuals.

Cottage - wow, you put on a different hat as soon as you come home.

Heidi - so nice to see you and what exciting news you have.

Cyndi - safe travels today.

me - so we nearly had a catastrophe on our hands. I cleaned the basement fridge and we have a big deep freeze filled with fish and meats beside the fridge and some how the defrost button got hit. 12 hrs later I went to get some fish out for supper and what a surprise, there was a melt down. Luckily everything was still frozen. The fridge in the basement in an Amana and is 32 years old (harvest gold) but whenever I clean it I can just see the difference, they just don't make them the same now. No plastic involved.
take care
Sophie

Good Morning ladies!

It has been almost 4 years since I have logged into here. Some of you are familiar, others not.

My husband and I used to follow the South Beach diet, and stopped when I got pregnant with my now 3 y.o. son.

We are currently on day 8 of Phase 1 and hopefully have gotten past the hard part. I am very excited to see all the new additions to the program from the good Dr. (the new cookbooks) I checked some out from the library last night and flagged SO many pages. My husband is totally waiting and hoping that I will make him cheesecake tonight!

Good morning all!

Matilda - I totally know what you're saying - memory triggers can be so frustrating because they stress you out and take the enjoyment out of things that are supposed to make you happy... I hope you have a nice relaxing day with lots of water so your ticker can be "real" again.

Debbie - A++ for early productivity! What, oh what, will you do with your now free afternoon?

Cottage - Piano lessons and pony club - oh my! Hope you get some self time in too!

Ruth - Sounds like you have a nice, but long, day ahead of you. Dehydrated strawberries sound delicious!

Heidi - Congrats to your family for the upcoming nuptials! It never hurts to focus more on your physique before a special event - maybe focus on toning up a certain part of the body that will be in pictures (shoulders, arms). Personally I am very event motivated and it helps me stay focused and pump up workouts.

Cyndi - Have a good day!

Sophie - Thank goodness you found that in time! That could have ended very, very badly. Sounds like your freezer is awesome though. I have a saying: "the older it is, the longer it lasts!"

Louise - Welcome back! Have you perused the recipe section here? There are nuggets of gold there. Its very nice that your husband is doing it with you.

As for me, well I'm feeling pumped after yesterday. I had gotten up early and exercised (6 minute jog around the condo complex) and it really energized me for the whole day. I stayed on plan and today I'm doing it all again! Funny story: I took my dog Levi, ~25 lbs, for a small walk as my cool-down after jogging this morning. We have a neighborhood cat who thinks she owns the place. Normally she skedaddles when she sees dogs coming, but this morning she would NOT get off the sidewalk when my dog and I came along! She just held her ground and gave a little snarl. I scooped up my doggie, stepped around her, put Levi back down, and continued on! I love cats that rule the world.

Happy Wednesday all!

Hey all!

Nice to meet you, Louise. Lucky you that your hubby is on the beach too.

I've done a short treadmill walk and been to the gym with my mom and trainer today. More cardio this afternoon. It's been working well for me to do a second workout, usually not long, but every little bit helps and I don't snack while I'm doing it I thought my little gain from the lake house weekend would come off fast and it isn't so I think I need to increase veggies and decrease fruit for a while.

I'm on my period and I've been eating like a pregnant woman (sigh). I won't be too hard on myself as this is birthday week for me and I've not been doing too badly before this week. I can't check in on the day of my birth but on the eve of my birth and on 7/11, I will check in. Take care everyone.

Hi everyone,

just checking in to say, Still OP despite cupcakes in the house and other treats! so proud of myself. MMc, sorry it's been so rough of a year.

Will try personals tomorrow. Hugs

Well the winddown of a very long day.
~Furn-I did get a short nap this afternoon. I do those short bursts in the am, too!
~Louise-Welcome back!
~Heidi-Welcome back and congrats! You'll make a beautiful mother of the bride!
~sophie-we had a freezer go out in Alaska while we were on vaca and lost everything.
~jenne-great job resisting!
~Karen, I think a second mini workout is great! I try to mix it up.
~Cyndi, I hope you're home by now
~Linda, you reminded me ice water sounds really good right now
~Ruth, I gave my favorite rose to my mom, its yellow and very fragrant, "Julia Child".
~Okie,

Good night all!