Good morning everyone!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I was in Chicago over the weekend and the weather there was pretty yucky on Saturday--lots of rain. Yesterday flying into Pittsburgh was pretty rocky. It ended up all the flights in and out of Erie were canceled due to the bad storms and wind. We later found that there had been numerous tornadic activity near the airport. Anyway, they ended up putting us on a bus and driving us to the airport. So, instead of getting home at 3:30 we got home at 7 p.m. last evening. I'm tired today and it's cold outside! It's hard to believe that it's the end of April and the temps are only 34! Geesh!

Eating wise, I was definitely over my range. Friday wasn't too bad but Saturday was definitely a high pointer...we went out to dinner at a German restaurant--made the best choices I could but the beers added the points. It did go down good though.

Today is a fresh page in my journal and it's my plan to stay on track. Only 12 days until my trip to FL and I want to keep my weight where I have a comfortable cushion. So my strategy is to keep my points in the 20-point range and to keep walking as much as possible.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Wow, Melissa, I just read about those tornadoes; thank heavens you weren't caught up in that! The report said that one F3 tornado took a 100-mile path through Illinois, and there were more in Missouri, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky. Not exactly tornado alley, like here in Texas-Oklahoma, either! How strange.

Re: a new journal page, I'm right there with you this morning. Dh and I didn't exactly go wild, points-wise, in Dallas this weekend, but I was definitely not in the 20's, either. (Wine, a good merlot, was the culprit for me. Gee, was it my fault the restaurant served such huge glasses? ) At least we got in lots of walking.

Lala, I know what you mean re: deadlines. I have a batch of curriculum docs due to the publisher this Wednesday, and I don't know *how* I'll make it. Why do I put things off until the last minute?

Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

Jan

Hi all. I've been AWOL for much of the past week; actually, MIA is more like it. Extremely busy here in the office and I've had a couple of short-haul business trips thrown in for good measure.

Weighed in Saturday. Up for the third consecutive month. I have no comfort zone left - only .8 of a pound away from having to pay. That seems to have had a positive effect - I've been pretty much within points range since

Am doing better on the exercise front. Ran for an HOUR with my sister on Sunday morning. Of course, my legs have been wobbly ever since, but we're pretty proud of ourselves.

I hear you Melissa about the weather. I awoke to the strains of Bing Crosby's White Christmas this morning, DH's way of getting my attention before he bounced into the bedroom and opened the blinds to -- you guessed it - beautiful white fluffy snowflakes - the kind you long for on Christmas Eve, but not on the last day of April. Will it ever end?

Janet: If you're gonna go over points, it should be for a good merlot Sounds like you had a nice weekend. DH and I have a little escape planned for June when he returns from sea - a few days in Quebec City, one of my favourite places.

kt: Congratulations on your new job. How are things going so far?

Hi to lala, laurel, patch and anyone else that I've missed.

Good morning everyone! Happy May! Wow, it's hard to believe that April is behind us. I'm hoping that we'll start having some better weather. So far today it's sunny and we're supposed to get up into the mid to high 50's. I'll take it!

Susan: I know exactly where you're coming from in talking about not having a comfort zone. I was there Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb. Thank goodness I've been able to get my act together and now have a "comfort zone". I'm a little anxious for my weigh in today as the past week was not as good as I would have liked. Stress played a part in my eating and I didn't do as well as I wanted with having a couple of pretty high point days. We'll see how it goes at noon. It's my goal to hit 136 before I leave for my trip we'll see how far off I am.

Janet: Sometimes you just need a weekend like that. Glad you had a nice time!

Not too much else going on here...only 9 days until my trip south. Can you tell I'm anxious?

Have a good day everyone! I'll post an udpate later as to how my weigh in goes.

Hi everyone. The sun is finally shining here after several cold, wet and generally dreary days.

How did your weigh-in go Melissa? You are doing so well. I know you will be right where you want to be by the time you leave.

As for me, my eating is in control but the scales haven't moved much. I'm experiencing TOM for the second time in two weeks and am definitely bloated and retaining water. Now is probably not a good time to be jumping on the scales every day to check on progress.

Our ten-year anniversary is coming up next week and I'm trying to think of an innovative gift for DH. I would dearly love to send a singing gorilla (or equivalent) to his office to repay him for some of the embarrassment he's caused me over the years. Unfortunately, he works in a high-security environment and I don't think anything would make it past the commissionaires' desk. Alternatively, I'm thinking about a reservation at the best restaurant in town - he loves to eat, so I know it would be appreciated.

Looking forward to a run after work to one of my favourite parks. See you tomorrow.

Myra, May is finally here, and your project done, I'll bet! Are you doing the happy dance?

Katie, wow, today is your first day on your new job! How did it go? Sounds like really interesting work, getting to meet all those people going back to college again. I would enjoy going back, I think. My B.A. was a blur (youth is wasted on the young) and my M.A. was stress city, but now I think I would really enjoy the whole experience. It's funny, since losing all this weight, I take a lot more pleasure in just about everything I do.

Susan, with all that running, I'm sure you'll be back into that comfort zone soon. I'm in the same boat; if I had to WI this week, I might have to pay, after last weekend! Good thing I have a little over a week until I can make the next meeting; I should be able to squeeze by again. Have been strictly OP since Monday; I *am* going to get to my personal goal this summer!

Melissa, your trip sounds like so much fun. What part of Florida are you visiting? We visit my sister on the west (nature) coast whenever we can; the whole town is like a resort.

Lala, hope your proposal writing is going along ok! I was up til past midnight last night working on my stuff, and will probably be up late tonight too, but the end is finally in sight.

Happy May Day, everybody!
Regards,
Jan

Good morning everyone! I got busy yesterday afternoon and forgot to post! Anyway, I was down 1# from last week. I'm happy with that. I still have the .6 that I gained from the week before that I'll work on. My goal is to be at 136 before I leave and I'm pretty close (1.8# away). Anyway, I'm going to write everything down and think twice about extras this week.

Susan: I can totally relate with the TOM bloating...this past one was like that; I swell up like a beach ball, n Your plans for a nice dinner sound really good. DH and I like to go out for our anniversary as well. This year marks 20 for us so I've been trying to plan something nice. We went away one year to a bed and breakfast and enjoyed it so I was thinking about planning the same thing.

Janet: I'll be heading to Clearwater. My gf lives there and we're planning a trip to Naples for a couple of days. It's a lot of fun. We enjoy going to tea rooms so we're getting places lined up. Her old roommate joins us and this year we're taking along my gf's 2 year old. It should be fun. I always enjoy visiting.

Myra: Hope things are going well there.

Katie, lala, patch: Hope things are quieting down for you!

Kudos on the pound lost, Melissa! I'm sure you'll make your goal before your Florida trip. Sounds like a lot of fun!

It's been *sooo* hot down here! It reached 108 yesterday in Cotulla, just west of here, and it's in the nineties today, even with cloud cover. (Still not a drop of rain, though.)

Gotta run ...
Jan