Yum Yum,1% cottage cheese mixed with applesauce! Breakfast this morning... I'm starving! The moon is glorius out there, so full and bright.

I had my old Singer sewing machine out yesterday hemming some Gap Flare jeans my friend picked up for my daughter at Salvation Army. Perfect condition, just too long. They cost less than a dollar.

Had a pretty good weekend, suffering some pms, it's worse when I don't drink enough water, and I've been not drinking my water. So my breasts are really sore, and I'm very grumpy/sensitive.

Played Euchre on Sat night with our Euchre group, but it went way too late and I didn't get to bed until 2am so yesterday I slept late and then last night I had insomnia.

Flower ~ my daughter was always in the 10th percentile for growth. It was such a worry after the first child was at the other end of the scale. At age 1 her doctor wanted to do many tests to confirm that everything was ok, but we oped out. I took a look at my family history, and although I'm a tall 5'5" (ha ha), my mother and sisters height varied from 5' to 5'2". I figured she was going to be petite. Morgan will be lucky to make it to 5'3", I think. But she is the healthiest of all of the kids.

Wildfire what about La Senza? I haven't bought nice bras in years... My friend in town spends 150.00 on her bras, she goes to a shop in Toronto.

Edyie ~ I think that when you live in Southern Ontario a lot of the thrill in gardening is dreaming about it through the winter. I have some landscaping to do this year and I want to keep it kind of period with the house, with lots of old lilac and roses and things.

Have a great day to everyone ~

Lois

Bliss and bluster
 

Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcomes!! I feel very much at home here.

Ruthie -- soooooooooooooooo glad you contacted Team in Training! They are the coolest people ever. You go, grrrrl!! It's a great feeling to do something that's good for us and even better for others.

Sometimes I get so into feeling my own aches and anguishes that I forget that there are others who don't have the same luxury as I do to choose whether to walk or work out or go biking ... or even to choose what to eat. Sort of puts things into perspective. (Not to say that I keep perspective ALL the time ...)

Anyway, it's neat to be here with y'all, and I am already learning lots of good things from some extraordinarily wise women.

Kim

Hello all!

The weekend went too quick... I hate that... :mad:
I didn't eat all that well which is something I really need to curb. I do this - say "I'm going to get healthy" then take 3 months to put any plans into action. I've been watching Discovery's Body Challenge and that's been motivating, also seeing a program on TV this weekend about obesity really got me thinking about not only what my body looks like on the outside - but more importantly, on the inside. Eeek!
I bought the weatherproof jacket, new shoes and sweats for a reason - guess I should use them and quit wasting my money... :rolleyes: Today I WILL walk...

Wildfire & Flower - *sigh*, the sewing went ok. I'm glad I bought extra fabric though. I haven't touched a sewing maching in oooh, about 9 years??? I did managed to get my 2 door snakes done with not much fabric left over. I didn't get my table curtains done because I didn't have an empty bobbin (excuses, excuses) and was just too plain lazy to walk to my Mom's to get one. I did get all the fabric cut out though!

Wildfire - Ouuuuch! I hope your back (oh, and ankle) feels better! Actually, I'm wondering if you might be walking funny on your hurt ankle - it may be what caused the back problem??
I know what you mean about the extra $$ for plus-sized clothes. Wal-Mart does that. Makes me SO mad! Like I'm not paying enough in other ways for being heavy now I need to pay you schmucks an extra $2 for a shirt?!?!? Geez...

Lamorgan - Yes, the moon's been beautiful! Out here in the boonies it's been so bright at night, it's been wonderful (except when I want to sleep). My cat's have been enjoying the night-time brightness too - they kept me up 'till midnight last night playing and tearing through the house. I guess my 8 month old kitty, Luna, is named appropriately, huh?? :) (Stella, her younger sister, has no excuse!).

Well, back to work and try to warm up. It's about 15 outside and even looking outside makes me cold!! Brrrrrrrr.... Spring IS coming, right?????

Terri :wave:

(today is "Accountability Monday")

Stella and Luna are your cat's names?? What wonderful names. My all-time favourite children's story is Stella Luna; it's about a small bat, who gets lost and ends up living with some birds. My cats all have dull names... (Thanks to children) Smokey, Morris, Tipsy, BJ, Wild Mama and Buttons.

Pop back later,

Lois

Waah, I'm tired, girls, why did you let the post sink to the bottom of the page and make me post at 5:25 AM when I'm sooooooo tired? :lol: I was up later than usual last night; went to XDH's house for dinner with his two bros, nephew and my DD. One of his bros was up from Florida and I haven't seen him in a couple years; I walked right past him in the lobby of the building! :o At any rate, I got home, did some reading as usual and didn't turn my light out till like 10:30, so I'm beat. I have typing to do this morning, so again, waaaaah. (If nothing else, I'm an excellent whiner.) Did I tell you guys the book I'm reading? It's by a philosopher named Al-Ghazali who lived about 1,000 years ago and did this long treatise on spirituality; this book is a section of that, and it's about learning to discipline yourself and control your desires. It's pretty cool so far, and even though it's 1,000 years old, I think it's going to be of help to me in my spiritual fight against living a life controlled by desire (I sure hope that made sense and didn't sound like blah blah blah blah blah).

Yes, the moon has been awesome the past couple of days, but it's making people act crazy. At work, we can always tell when it's full moon b/c it literally makes people act like insane idiots.

I fasted yesterday just b/c I could. It felt good.

Terri, I have the same problem getting myself to just get out there and do it. If you do, I will!

Kim, you're so right about perspective. Did anybody here see Chris Rock's special on HBO a few years ago? (I saw it in rerun on Comedy Central.) He does a bit where he says our problem in America is that we've got too much food.

Lois, I like your tip about water and PMS. I'm going to try it next time I start feeling symptoms.

Flower, thanks for the compliment! Good luck at your new job!

Wildfire, hope you're feeling better. Hey, drugs and movies -- sounds like a perfect evening in! :lol:

Eydie, I love Whole Foods. It can get expensive, but the more I think about how I want to live my life, the more I realize that buying organic and socially responsible foods is worth the money I make. And yes, being a parent is an awesome responsibility that I have at times failed at miserably. The one thing I do give myself credit for is realizing that my job has always been to prepare her for adulthood, not to make her be a pleasurable part of my life. I have a close friend whose daughter is a sophomore in college and my friend STILL hasn't adjusted to her being gone! Perhaps fortunately for her, the DD is on academic probation and will get kicked out if she doesn't improve her grades -- I don't if my friend is actually happy about that.

Sunday morning I spent about five and a half hours getting my head straight. I had been getting really depressed and, as I had posted, really upset about the Guy and my life and yadda yadda. I actually burned some incense while I purged my life of traces of the Guy -- deleted his e-mail messages (well, I saved them into a Word document), erased his voice mail messages I had saved, and surfed the internet reading and thinking and realizing all the reasons why I can't keep thinking about the empty aspects of my life and how my "real" life is going to be starting soon. I have to live my life now, too. I can't wait for the Guy, or for grad school, or for when I lose weight, or for when I quit my job, or any of those things. I have to be active and happy now. Since I stopped going to the bar, my weekends have consisted basically of sitting on the sofa, taking Xanax, watching TV and eating. Pretty sad, huh? I have to make myself go out and do things -- the trick is just to find people to do them with, but I have to work at it. So I got my mind right and then I spent the rest of the day catching up on school work I had neglected, then typing. Speaking of which....gotta go.

K guys, I have now revived the thread. Now get posting! Just send in a small blurb to say how you're doing generally and with your program! Take care.

Hello all...

Headache again today... another storm coming in. I really do wish I didn't have a barometric pressure sensor in my head. Really I do... Ug...

Lamorgan - Yup, Stella and Luna are my babies. Luna came first, she's almost 9 months old. I had her for almost a week before a name came to me. She was a whacky kitten and I wanted to name her something at least *somewhat* Pagan - it was a full moon and the term "moon crazy" came to mind, then Luna, the basis of lunatic. Stella, her sister from the next litter - same mother (my best friend owns the momma cat, named Demeter) is only 4 months old, and a polydactyl kitty. Stella is Italian for star, the perfect complement to my moon girl. It wasn't until much later that someone mentioned StellaLuna, the children's book. When my best friend brought Stella the 6 week old furball, home, she also brought me the book StellaLuna. I've toyed with getting a male named Sol for sun... but do I really need 3 cats??? heheheehe....

Ruthie - the book sounds really interesting! I've been trying to get through "The 4 Agreements" - but you can tell it was writen in another language and translated. For me it's been a difficult read. I'm also reading (simultaniously) Lord of the Rings, The Red Tent and a book by John Edward (love him!). I need to focus on one of the books though - I read too many at once and can't focus on any!:dizzy:

Well, I'm proud to say I've had one full day on program. Today is the start of the second day.... Finger's crossed and all my meals all ready planned!!!! :D

Later Gators!

Terri

Hey guys, could post a book today but that will have to wait until I actually have time. Just wanted to say hey. Not OP, Not caring at this moment- I can only juggle so many balls at one time and right now, diet and sleep are at the bottom of the list!

Just wanted to say hey!

Mornings aren't any better Flower, FYI!

Hugs to you all,
Amy
176/150-130

Hi girls!

I did pretty good today. Ate sensibly and got that feeling of being able to control myself back! :D I also went grocery shopping after work to stock up on some good lunch stuff, which we were lacking. All I could find this morning to take was tomato soup and crackers and a granny smith apple. I was starving by the time I got home!

When I come back from Montreal I am going to treat myself to a Rodney Yee yoga video. I've heard such great things about him! My back is feeling better, possibly partly because of all the stretching I've been doing.

I bowled so horribly last night I offered to leave and let the team have my absentee score! :D They might have been better off. I didn't bowl over a 140 before handicap all night!

Flower, good luck with your first day on the new job tomorrow! Great to hear you're getting along so wonderfully with Chris.

Lamorgan, I checked LaSenza online for bra sizes, and they carry just a few in DD. I did pop into the store, but there wasn't a DD in the whole place.

Punkin, I've been reading the transcripts for the Body Challenge online, but they're a little scrambled compared to watching the show. Glad your adventure in sewing turned out okay. :) Stella and Luna are great names....I say go for the Sol, though! My chats noir are Salem and Sherlock.

Amyjo, hang in there!

Venus, how was your day?

Ruthie, sounds like you're sorting things out, that's good. You are so right about living for now and being happy now. I even hate to shop at times because I want to wait until I'm thin again to buy new clothes....but I still need to look good now! Ooh...speaking of which, I bought a new coat tonight and stuck it in the closet without even trying it on because I had my hands full of groceries.

Gotta go do that!

Let's have a great OP day tomorrow!

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel: all claimed that they were the best, the most important, the most useful, the favorite.

GREEN said: "Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, leaves, trees--without me, all animals would die. Look out over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

BLUE interrupted: "You only think about the Earth, but consider the sky and sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

YELLOW chuckled:"You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth to the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me, there would be no fun."

ORANGE started next to blow her temper. "I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangos, and pawpaws. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you".

RED could stand it no longer. He shouted out: "I am the ruler of all of you! I am blood! Life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire to the blood! I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poppy and the poinsettia. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon!"

PURPLE rose up to his full height. He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am a sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me, they listen and obey".

Finally, INDIGO spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: "Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so all the colors went on boasting and quarreling, each convinced of their own superiority. Soon, their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening! Thunder rolled and boomed! Rain started to pour down relentlessly.

The colors crouched down in fear drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, RAIN began to speak: "You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands. The RAIN continued: "From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of colors as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow".

And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another.

author-unknown

Well, chicks, as Venus already knows, I am registering today with Team in Training. I couldn't be more excited. I think it's going to be a great opportunity to do some good for others and for myself.

I met with my personnel department yesterday to go over some issues regarding continuing benefits when I leave -- or as I put it, if an employee should hypothetically leave ;) . I believe I will be giving notice for May 3! Woo hoo! :D Which means I will most likely actually be giving that notice in about a month, since I wanted to give my boss generous lead time. Even though it's going to be rough financially, I am so happy to finally be starting the process of moving on, breaking away from this old life and traveling on down the line to the next! I have been thinking just a little bit about all the things I can do during May and June to get ready for all the changes in my and DD's lives. It will be wonderful to have the time free to take care of business.

Hey Flower, cool story -- today's your first day on the new job, right? Good luck! I'm sure you'll be great.

Wildfire, sounds like you're off to a good start. I agree with you on the issue of buying clothes even though you're not at the weight you want to be -- in keeping with my new philosophy of not waiting for my "thin" life to start, I have been thinking of buying some new clothes. I wear the same damn clothes every six days or so. That's ridiculous. I have a couple Rodney Yee videos. They are very ... mellow and even-paced.

Punkinseed, what is "The Four Agreements"? Congrats on the one day OP down!

Amy, I know what you mean about juggling ... I'm forever dropping one ball or another! Hang in there!

Wanted to say a quick 'good morning' before work. this is my 5th day OP---feels great! I'm rediscovering what it feels like to take care of myself in all kinds of ways.

Sounds like everyone's doing well----about the Rodney Yee videos, I have a few and they're all great--not to mention Rodney's quite easy on the eyes! :D

Will check in later!

2002 off to a good start!
 

It's very encouraging to read how well everyone's doing with daily struggles as we work our way into 2002. I think the most helpful thing of all is to know that others DO struggle every day -- and that we're all perfectly mortal in having some days that just aren't perfect. Thank you all for sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Ruthie, I'm so excited about knowing another TNT team member!! (( (( congrats! )) )) You'll probably start training fairly soon, right? Our Raleigh NC chapter starts group walks this Saturday. Anyway, I know you'll have a blast!

I've lost 2 pounds this week, mostly in anticipation of getting back to my regular routine and being extremely careful about journaling my points. While I was journaling last week, I noticed I wasn't getting enough fruits and veggies. And then someone (not sure which thread) miraculously posted a link to a site that recommended ''creating a still life'' for yourself every day -- setting a plate of fruit on your desk or table, and snacking from it throughout the day. I've been doing that for the past two weeks, and it seems to be helping me stay out of the cookies (this has been hard, as I'm just starting to date, and I've been freaking out about that). It seems expensive, but I don't spend on fast food or chips or cookies or all those fat-laden horrors I used to eat, so I'm actually saving a lot of money even if I spend $5 a day on fruits I love. PLUS, it's such a beautiful addition to my office!

Well, back to the grind ...

A silly good morning to you all.
 

:dizzy:
This morning when I left the house at 5:30, the world was covered in a fine layer of ice. The trees, the shrubs, the grass, the mailboxes and it was so cool to hear the trees kind of clinking in the breeze. There was a fine rain, but it wasn't too slippery, only on the wooden steps here and there. Then the fine rain turned into a kind of ice thing, and now it's snowing.

Tea tastes flat today. Sigh. I yelled at my youngest who decided that he HATES his snowpants. They are a spare pair, with over the shoulder straps, because the other kind that he likes (no silly shoulder straps) are too tight. So I shrieked at him "SHUT-UP" and that is a word I NEVER use, let alone hurl it at the kids. So he was sad, and I felt badly. I hate sending them off for a day of school after I've yelled at them. The 12 year old daughter didn't want to wear her boots, so I yelled at her too. Luckily the 9 year old is wise and didn't do anything to cause yet another spectacle from mother, he simply got ready and went.

I went to my local (tiny) public library yesterday, I'm hoping to irritate them enough to hire me. Last year I applied for a job as an adult page, but didn't get it. The job has come up again and now I'll be agitated for the next few weeks, until I find out whether I have it or not. It's only 10 hours a week, but would be a foot in the door to be in the system. When I graduate, I would have first dibs on the jobs that come up within the 6 libraries in the surrounding towns.

I feel a bit as though I'm a nervous wreck. After the disappointment last year when I didn't get the job, it took me forever to get up enough nerve to swallow my pride and go back into the library. It was awkward as ****.

I did a tarot reading and got good positive (yes you will get the job) cards.

This morning I had a huge bowl of soup, cabbage/veg/hamburger. Nothing else would do, I had to have savory. But it filled me up.

I think I'll go do some art, all this energy needs to be focused.

Have a wonderful day to you all ~ Hope you have a great first-day-of-work Flower!

Lois

nope, no first day for me. my drug test results aren't back so I gotta wait. :( :?: :mad: There is nothing more madening than knowing that you could pass a million drug tests, yet I must wait for proof to be able to start. Such a messed up society. Everyone is treated guilty until proven innoscent! I was so looking forward to today. I am gonna try to enjoy my day and find my hidden silver lining! ~flower

Good morning ladies :D

I'm OP, but woke up this morning SO hungry that I was nauseous and all that sounded good was a PBnJ. So I made one, it was icky, but it calmed my stomach down. I also made it with 1/2 the peanut butter of "normal" sandwiches, which was good.

I WALKED YESTERDAY!!!!! :dizzy: Yes, it was 30 degrees and I froze my butt off - but I did it. One mile - not much, but considering I haven't been physically active in yeeeeears, it's a start!

Wildfire - Rodney Yee, oh yes... I'm going to agree with Eydie here. Good teacher and quite a treat to watch too. The bendy-twisty woman he works with sometimes bugs me though... no honey, we can't ALL do back bends like you!!!

Ruthie - "The Four Agreements" is by Donn Miguel (Donn as in what I think is the equivalent of a Mexican knight of sorts??). The agreements are the things in life that you KNOW to be truths and that we are all essentially on the same page on. Everyone recognizes them as truths (agreements being something we all agree on) and apparently these specific 4 agreements are some that he thinks will make us better people by adopting them. So far I've only gotten to the first agreement - being impecable with your word. It goes into depth on how much of an impact our spoken/writen word has and how we can use our word for good or to harm. Like I said, it was writen in Spanish originally and I'm having a hard time following the English translation as he keeps repeating himself (sometimes 4 times, just in different words). The message is great, if I can get through the rest of the book!
He also has a long paragraph in the first agreement on how words can work "black magic" which I really, really have a hard time with his terminology because he's not using the term "black magic" as an euphamism, but literally - and implying evil. Also implying that only in being Christian can you be "good". Ug... I mean, can't I just learn something without feeling my beliefs "attacked"? Whatever, guess I'll just never be "good"... :rolleyes: (mini-rant over)

Lamorgan - Good luck in your quest to be irritating! I hope they hire you on so at least you've got your foot in the door! Don't think of it as irritating, call it "constant, somewhat bothersome, persistant attempts" to get them to open their eyes. They NEED you - remember that! ;)

I'm off... gotta try to wake up so I can get some work done. Another cuppa tea might help, but I just want my bed...

Terri :wave: