Good Monday morning. The sun is shining here; hope it is where you are too.

Bought a few hanging baskets on the weekend, but it's still too cool at night to leave them outside. Hope that will change after the coming weekend; I'm already tired of lugging them in and out every day.

I see lala is back. You must tell us all about your travels, where you went, what you ate - you know, the important stuff.

Good to hear from you laurel; you are so faithful with your on-line journal. I do well for about half the week, then the rest of it falls by the wayside (usually after a high point day).

My sister and I ran for 67 minutes yesterday morning. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to coffee and scones at a coffee place downtown. Almost fell asleep on the couch! I was pretty much exhausted, but in a good way.

I guess Melissa is off to Florida to visit her girlfriend.

Janet: How was the weekend? Did you do any travelling?

That's about it for me. It's hectic here in the office and I don't have much time to post. I lurk when I can though, and hope to be back in a few weeks when some of these deadlines are behind me.

Hi Susan! Wow, you and your sister really can cover the miles; that's a loooong run! Say, maybe you and she were having your scones and coffee about the same time that Melissa and her friend were doing the same in Naples, Fla. (I just love good coffee, but it seems like every morning I hear that tea is a miracle beverage of some kind. Just today, they said it helps prevent osteoporosis!)

Lala, I'm with Susan, let's hear all the details on your trip to Italy! Dh and I finally got our tickets to France, but since we were using our FF miles, we got an incredibly circuitous route. We're going thru Amsterdam on the way to Paris, and through Venice on the way back home! Oh well, Dh actually likes airports...

Had a good time this weekend. Dad, dh and I went to the hill country north of San Antonio (Fredericksburg). Did lots of walking and some swimming, and a little shopping. (Their prices are *way* out of line on antiques and such, and besides, I don't have much room for any more knicknacks! Found a couple of crystal wine coasters I needed and a candlestick, that's all.) Dh went to a WW mtg Sat. and lost another 1.8 pounds. I didn't weigh in, as I had just barely "passed" for May last week, and didn't want to risk it! Down here, even if you've done your monthly wi, if you choose to weigh again and are over, you pay $11.

There were 7 guys at the mtg., which is a bit more than usual; are there many men at y'all's?

Well, sorry to write a book here. Melissa, hope you're having a blast in Florida!
ttyl,
Jan

Hi all! Have you missed me? I've been so overloaded with work and other stresses that I haven't posted in quite some time. Not doing so great. Gained a little in the past month or two. Hopefully can get it back down once things calm down in the next few weeks. Then I will get back to posting here and on the journal thread. That helps a lot, but I just haven't had the time to get there. Been trying to journal for myself at least. That is why I only gained a little (about 5 lbs.) as opposed to this push last year when I gained over 15 lbs. I guess that is something to be proud of, sort of.

Yes, Myra, we miss you! and in journal-land, i'm one lonely gal...come back little Myra!!!!

It will be good to have you back Myra and Laurel too if you are so inclined.

It's nuts here at work. The up side of that is I don't get much time to daydream about food - one of my favourite things to do!

My weight is back to normal - finally. I haven't weighed in officially for May yet and hope to do that this weekend. I hope to see a 3 lb or so loss, which gives me some comfort zone again. I'm kinda inspired though to go for my personal goal - anything under 140. Added incentive is my 30-year high school reunion which will take place at the beginning of August.

Been doing well with my running. I half-heartedly started this half marathon training at the beginning of April but it has done wonders for getting me out on a regular basis - regardless of the weather or how I'm feeling. Last nite, I used the treadmill because of the high winds and driving rain and found 4 k to be quite easy for a change

DH is gearing up for his sea trial and will be leaving in less than a week. In some ways, given what's happening here at work, this is a blessing. I will be able to spend the time here to make things happen without having to feel like I've dropped the ball on the home front. This trip is a little different in that the ship will be just off the coast. They are scheduled to come into port twice during the month-long trip so it won't be quite as difficult as in the past when he'd be gone for five weeks straight.

Well, gotta run. Hi to Janet, lala and melissa where I hope you will take a picture of the sun and send it to us folks here on the east coast of Canada.

Hi Myra! Good to hear from you! Way to go, too, avoiding a big gain, and getting right back on track; I know you'll get those few extra pounds off soon.

Susan, wish you could send us some of your rain! Our drought continues, and the air smells like the Sonoran Desert now. Dh is starting to sell off cattle, and is looking for more hay to keep the rest of them through the summer. We're having lovely, unusually chilly weather, after a record heat wave last week. Weird, huh? Glad to hear your dh will be able to come ashore a few times during his sea trial! And congrats on losing the 3 pounds, that is terrific!

Lala, how was Italy?

Gotta run... ttyl,
Jan

Just a quick hello to everyone or at least to the folks who are around. It's very quiet this week, isn't it?

I weighed in yesterday and was down 2.6! Not quite 3 but I'm very happy with that because I gained consistently over the past three months. Another 2 lbs and I will breathe a lot easier.

Speaking of breathing, I went out for a run yesterday morning before work and it turned out to be one of the toughest ever. It was very windy, not especially cold, but for some reason I was huffing and puffing and generally dragging myself. I intended to do 5k but gave up after 4.5. Actually, I am proud of having done that much, given how I was feeling. Hope my planned 10k on Sunday isn't like that.

What are your plans for the long weekend? (or is it a long weekend in the US?) We're going to the casino and then out for dinner at a very special restaurant tomorrow evening. DH will likely accompany me on his bike for the 10k on Sunday, and Monday will be leisurely (I hope).

Janet: You are welcome to our rain and cool temps. I'm starting to think we'll never feel true warmth from the sun again. Very discouraging spring so far. On the other hand, drought is no good either. I hope you get some relief soon and that you find some food for the livestock. You can have some of our lawn... the rain is doing wonders for it.

Have a good one.

Hi Susan! Congrats on the 2.6; wow, I haven't seen a loss like that in sooo long. You are an inspiration! Re: the cool weather, wish I could send you some of this sun; it's brutal. The little cool snap didn't last long! But we did get a thunderstorm last night, half an inch of rain, first we've seen in ages. Not enough to break a drought, but we'll take anything we can get!

Re: the weekend, not a holiday here, I'm afraid. We're giving finals next week, and then school's out for summer! Tomorrow, dh and I are going to San Antonio to a herb festival, w/cooking demos and such. Should be fun! We'll go to an early a.m. WW mtg. beforehand, but I've already "passed" for May, so won't WI again. Have stayed the same.

Have a great time on your 10K run Sunday!

Hi to Lala, Myra, Melissa, & Laurel; have a good weekend!

Regards,
Jan

Good morning everyone! I arrived back home late last evening. The weather in FL was hot! Back home the temps are in the 40's so I had a 50+ degree change in temperature.

We had a wonderful time and it seems as though the trips go by fast! I'll post more later but just wanted to let everyone know I'm back.