Happy Monday. Very strange weather here. It's been very, very windy. The waves on the ocean are incredible. It's in the 80's here, but I hardly notice it.

Took my GF to lunch for her 50th birthday. She's handling it well. I bought her a card that said Happy Birthday to a Hottie. When it's opened, it was written: Of course, now it comes in flashes. She can relate. We were discussing menopause. She's already having the night sweats and strange cycles.

This weekend, DH and I golfed. We went to a retirement party which was fun. Went for a 3 mile walk on Sunday. I had rehearsal in the afternoon and then watched some football. My Redskins had a bye, so just watched my Bucs WIN.

Eating has been good and bad. I ate more vegetables this weekend, but I also ate salty snacks.

Pam, how was the Cape?

Hi ladies,

I've been eating horribly! Vacation was pretty bad. I guess normally when I travel it is for work and I am by myself, so it is easier to eat good and exercise. Well DH and I walked A LOT on vacation, but we ate a lot as well! I gained 4 pounds while I was away, and I wasn't able to get back to my good habits yet. I'm hoping today I will, since I am at work and I will only be able to eat what I brought with me.

The doctors visit out there did not go as well as I had expected at all. I am doing fine, but the doc said to wait before getting pregnant - at least another year. We were expecting to discuss how I would be followed in pregnancy, and hoped to get pregnant really soon. I've been really depressed since the appointment last week He also doesn't have a lot of confidence in the lab I use for my blood work (that tests my remission), so I got some done while I was there (still awaiting results) and will be shipping it there every 3 months from now on.

Need to catch up on old threads. Hope you all had a good week.

Lori, Sorry about the weight gain. Good thing you did some walking though. Also, sorry about the pregnancy news. It's best to wait, of course, if that's what the doctor said. That was something about the lab you use. I wonder what the doctor's concern was with that.

The test isn't the kind of thing that can be calibrated across all labs. The lab my blood was being sent to does the test just fine, but the test they do there isn't as sensitive as it could be. So while the leukemia may be undetectable by the lab I've been using, it might be detectable by another. They have a more sensitive lab at the doctor's office where I went last week, so that is why I had the test re-done.

And I swear, if I hear from one more person "Oh well you're young so a year isn't that long to wait" I'm going to seriously get mad. Thats all everyone has said to me at work who asked how my visit went. It makes me so upset that my age should matter. A year is still a year, and emotionally it hurts me just as much as it would anyone else. Its like they all think it isn't that big of a deal.

Hi Ladies,

I had a very nice long weekend at Cape Cod. The weather was terrific so we managed to get in a little beach time! Foodwise, I did OK...the scale was down a little so I'm happy. I'm hoping to get in a workout later this afternoon so all in all things are pretty good.

Lisa What a cute card you got for your friend . Sounds like you had a nice weekend. My Pats won again but I'm more excited about the Sox winning the AL east......GO SOXS!

Susan good to hear from you!

Lori Good for you for getting in some walking on vacation. That four pounds of vacation fluff will come off quickly. Sorry to hear about your medical issues. That must have been very disappointing for you.

Melissa I hope all is well with you!

Well ladies I must get back to the stack of work on my desk although I'd much rather continue "chatting" with you. Have a good day!

Lori, Sometimes people just don't know what to say, so they say dumb things. It is, I'm sure, hard for you to have to wait to have a baby. Thanks for explaining the lab; that was interesting.

Pam, Good hearing from you. Yes, your Pats and Sox are doing well. Wow! You went to the Cape AND lost weight. Good for you.

Good morning everyone!

It's been a little crazy here but hopefully it'll quiet down a little. I'm pretty much caught up with my work so that's a good thing!

Lisa: Our weather has been equally strange--normal for this time of year is 67/50 and we're hitting into the upper 70's, low 80's! I know the cold will be coming soon enough but it's so hard to figure out what to wear! The mornings are nice & pleasant (64) but as the day progresses the temps increase.

Lori: I can understand your frustration at having to wait and with comments from coworkers. Hang in there! I hope your lab results are good. It always amazes me how labs can differ from one to another. I know when I get my bloodwork done at my ob/gyn office the ranges are different than what they are at the hospital.

Pam: Glad to hear you had a nice time at the Cape! Only 10 days until I leave for vacation--I can't wait! Congrats on the scale being down! I can only hope for that! I go next week for my bloodwork so we'll see where my levels are at--I'm still a little tired and my hair is still falling out...grrr.

I'm off to my meeting at noon and we'll see where I'm at. Lately I can't figure it out, one week I'm up, the next I'm down...I can never tell! I really want to get rid of 5# but it's not budging and I'm getting frustrated. It's not like I'm eating all this extra stuff. *sigh*

Melissa, Soon you'll be having that lovely fall weather. 60's would be great. We are continuing to have horrible rainstorms here. BUT no hurricanes. Let us know how your WI went. I'm putting mine off (can you hear me clucking like a chicken?)

Melissa The weather here is also unseasonably warm, it really doesn't feel like fall. Good luck today with your weigh in. I didn't realize your hair was falling out....do your doctors think it's thyroid related? My hair is so thin to begin with I really panic when I think about losing more as I get older. My mom is almost bald in one spot on the top of her head! ACK! I also have 5 pounds of no budge pudge that I would love to get rid of. Hopefully my new workout routine will help with that!

Hi to Lisa, Susan and Lori

Lisa: I've been keeping on eye on the storms and your area has been really lucky! I know the rain down there can be like ice/snow here with the roads so I wouldn't want to trade places with you!

Pam: I know the hair issue is thyroid-related so it's just telling me my meds still aren't at the optimal level yet. I'm still tired but not as bad as I was before so it's slowly getting better. It's frustrating because it's taking so long to start feeling "human" and I fight to keep my energy level up.

My WI wasn't at all what I expected...my weight was up another 1.2# taking me to 148!!! I haven't been at this weight since I began my weight loss in 1999! I'm at my wit's end and I'm having a hard time not beating myself up. I don't feel puffy/bloated (rings/shoes aren't tight) and I actually felt pretty good this morning. I talked with my leader for a little bit after the meeting and she suggested that maybe I need to re-think my goal weight (142). I may change it to 145 although it's not something I really want to do but it might make me feel better (i.e. not a failure).

I think my biggest fear is that my weight is continuing to creep, I'm going on vacation and then I come back for a couple of weeks and then I have the surgery and I'm fearful that all the hard work of keeping my weight off is going to go out the window!

Wow lots of vacations coming or going around here I'm in a better mood today. My eating has been horrible. Before I got sick a few weeks ago, I was down to 161. This morning I was 167.8 I desperately need to get back on track. Today is really good so far. Last night I broke down after I got home, but did good until then. I need to rid the house of trigger foods, but I hate throwing out food, especially expensive things like nuts! I used to be good with these, but lately they are horrible and I'm just eating tons of them. But I need to start munching on veggies. I've been doing a lot of mindless munching lately, and eating when I'm not hungry. Today I munched on carrots and had a banana when that happened. I still have cucumbers and an apple left if I need those, but hopefully I will only eat the cucumbers. Don't know whats for dinner, but have 7 points left. I have an eggplant at home, and was thinking of the eggplant parm recipe from WW. I've had it before and its good.

I'm taking some time off starting tomorrow afternoon. Going to visit a friend in NH and then stop by my parents house a few days later on the way home. Looking forward to it. I need a few more days off! Plus its a long weekend already, so it will be like another vacation.

DH have been talking about how things went last week, and we are seriously considering adoption the first time around. Its just very expensive, unless adopting through DCYF. I'd be open to that, it would just be very unlikely we would adopt a child under 2 years old. We also discussed waiting a year or 2, and doing IVF and having 2 children at once so that I wouldn't have to be off my medication twice (if we decided to have 2 children consecutively). DH isn't too keen on this, since he will be the primary caretaker But he is considering it as a possible option.

Lisa - Sounds like you golf a lot. Do you do anything else for exercise (besides the normal stuff like walking)?

Melissa - Well I know how you feel lately. My rings are tight too, and I JUST got them resized to a lower size at the beginning of September. I'm up up up and want to be going down down down! I think I need to go to a meeting to jump start things. I haven't been in a few weeks. I'm afraid to go though since I will most certainly be above my lifetime weight and also have to pay. I still think it would be worth it though. Are your medical problems and/or medicines contributing to the weight gain? You are going to Maine for vacation right? It should be beautiful when you go! The leaves here are starting to look really good

Pam - Glad to hear you had a good vacation Did you see the news story about the artists who set up an apartment in the Providence Place Mall? Its all over the news!

Wow Lori I didn't see that story. I'm a property manager and I'll definitely be paying more attention to some of the retail properties I manage.

Okay, for the second time this week, my post has disappeared. I don't know what is going on.

DH went to WI yesterday and he was down 5#!! It's so easy for him to lose weight. MEN.

Melissa, sorry about the gain. I hope things get straightened out for you. It may help to have a different goal.

Pam, what is your new workout routine?

Lori, yes, I golf, but more in the summer than in the winter. The snow birds take all of the tee times! I'm a big time walker. I also do Pilates, use a home gym and I just started taking Tai Chi.

Hello to Susan--how's the running coming along? Are you able to do it again? DH is making slow progress and he has really been complaining. He took up biking to keep up his exercise and he's doing really well at that. He hopes to bike 42 miles in some rally later this month.