Morning Barb. Yup, I'd want a Jag off the street, too. Like yours, our neighborhood is fine, but you never know what someone will do--usually a goofy teenager. We went through a couple of years of mailbox bashing and miscellaneous minor vandalism up and down the block. When one teen (and his friends) finally grew up, all became quiet.

I keep telling myself I'm in a good place, too. Actually my body is in a fairly good place, but I wish my mind would follow suit. I'm about to make a committment, if I can bring myself to it, to skip the almond butter at the next run to Trader Joes. There's something seductive about nuts anyway, and the almond butter has become a comfort food of sorts. Ish.

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Most of the shed is painted now, after a wobbly hiatus, but wouldn't you know, as careful as I tried to be, I ran out of paint. Oh well, it was a leftover partial can, anyway. It's going to be too darn hot for awhile, too, unless I can coerce myself out early in the day. Other than that, I'm not feeling much incentive for accomplishment today.

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

Brenda, you have my permssion to veg as long as you want. Just in case you needed support.

In the weight management department, I know that (as in everything) I can't keep doing the same things and expect a different result. So...if I really want to lose five or ten pounds, something's got to change, and change fundamentally. It's more than just not eating nuts, or skipping the nightly wine. And I can tell you even those decisions get tiresome in about a week.

I'm anticipating a major "carb holiday" coming up, when I go out to CO for the week with my sisters. Call it a planned cheat, or whatever. But when I get back from that, my system will be ready for a restart, and that's what I'll do. The holiday will probably cost me a gain, but life's too short to think five lbs. here or there is that important. More than that...well, that would be a slippery slope. But I know what to do, and I'm planning for it. That's the Atkins strategy.

How's it going everyone?

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

I've many little errands to run today before I take off for Victoria tomorrow morning, so this will be short unless I get some free time tonight.

TTL our nasty heatwave finally broke, and it's only supposed to be 80 today. Much joy and relief is being expressed by everyone we meet. Even though reached 90 yesterday, it really didn't feel that hot after what we've been through.

Victoria is supposed to be rather cool (low 70s) and perhaps rainy. So, although it feels weird, I'm packing heavier jeans, shirts, and socks.

__________________
~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

Oh Terry, have a WONDERFUL time. Take some pictures to share with us, ok?

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

The MIA vet has appeared again. Sorry to miss a day. I have been reading up on you all though.

Today I had a meeting on some curriculum changes and have spent considerable time this evening getting my mind around things that I need to have to teach the new materials. I've downloaded LOTS of files and ordered some new items that were free. Free is an important aspect. Our new budget year doesn't begin until September 1, but school starts in early August. There is no possible way of getting new materials requiring purchase orders before the end of October at the earliest. Essentially, you must plan for and purchase what you need before March each year --- if there is any money available. That's sort of hard to do when they change the instructional requirements after school is out. Oh well, it's not like this is anything new.

In today's medical update, it appears that Daddy is doing somewhat better. He is getting his mental equilibrium back somewhat. The change in routine really throws him off. His care givers have been asked to take his blood pressure twice a day and record the results. This morning he had another somewhat low reading. More medicine adjustments were made. I'm really afraid that his system is just wearing out and that it's slowly pooping out.

One more week and then I'm back to the routine of school. I picked up my schedule this afternoon and am thrilled with both what I am reaching and the class periods that I teach. For this last week I have one more sewing project that I want to do. I might also try to finish the current book (I think I read about 8 this summer). I am so glad that I did not do summer school and that I did give up Aca Dec. It's been nice not to worry about either one of them.

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!

OMG!! It's 8:15 and nobody's been here. I hope everyone is OK!

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!

I'm easing into my usual Saturday thing, including my double workout at the gym. This is pure "me" time and I enjoy it all.

Judy, good to hear that your father is stable and looked-after. My long-lived family seem to just wear out. At this point, my dad is feeling bored to death, and it isn't fun. But we don't get to decide about these things, do we? The things you HAVE decided--your academic commitments--seem to be working well at this point. I can just hear your sigh of relief about AcaDec--and you certainly bowed out at peak level, a great thing to remember. As for buying your own materials--just one more piece of evidence that the educational system is totally out of whack.

Even those of us who no longer operate on a "summer vacation" schedule still feel that back-to-school rhythm.

See ya'll later.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

P. S. to Judy. Late, but up and doing! Hi, have a great day!

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Hi Gang!

Well, another MIA vet checking in. Yeah, I'm up, but not doing much. I don't preach tomorrow, so all I have to do is show up and look beautiful. :gorgeous: Well, I do have to do a little bit in the service, but not much. This has been a very easy assignment when it comes to Sundays. I've only preached 4 times this summer. Next Sunday and the one after that I preach, and then I am done. Yay!

I slept in until 8:30 this morning! It was a good long sleep, and I needed it. I had an absolutely crazy dream, which I often do when I sleep late. I'll tell you about it, but first: yesterday, we spent the day hearing from our lawyer and real estate agent alternately. It seems that the buyers lawyer is asking some pretty unreasonable things in the purchase and sale agreement, which we haven't seen or signed yet. At 7:00 last night we learned that the buyers and their lawyer were meeting for the first time. We also learned that their lawyer was not a real estate lawyer, so probably not familiar with the "usual" practices in these cases. Since the buyer is asking a great deal from us (moving out by August 29th, for instance and for only one), our lawyer has been relentless in seeing that we are protected during the "rental" time. They will rent from us until December and they sell their house in New Jersey. The hassle seems to be over the amount of money we have asked them to put into escrow for us if they default in December. Their lawyer is insisting on none! Our lawyer is insisting on 5% of the purchase price, which is standard in MA. We finally called our real estate agent and told him to inform the buyers that if they can't provide a P&S for us to sign by Monday, the deal is off. He did, and we got a "sort of" assurance.

My Dream: I woke up this morning to the sound of angry voices in my living room. I got up and put on my robe and there was the "buyers," their lawyer, and their real estate agent arguing with my dh, who was crying. Dh stormed out and went to a neighbor's to drink (he doesn't drink or cry in real life). I was clueless about what happened, and BS I was so angry. When I finally got the story it was that the buyers wanted to include our boat in the deal without paying for it, and that they wanted to move in on August 1st. There were also many other stipulations on this long, long legal document that they had brought with them. The lawyer was triumphant. The buyers were triumphant, and the real estate agent was solicitous saying, "Just sign it." "I'll see that they don't enforce anything!"

Isn't that just a stitch?? When I told dh this morning he laughed and said, "So, are you worrying about anything in particular?" He is a real card!

I've been reading along with all of you. Sorry I haven't been posting, but honestly, my life is just one worrisome day after another. They continue to show the condo, so we have to keep is spotless, and I am doing a lot of that too. Yesterday we met with three movers for estimates. We need to decide on one by MOnday because their calendars are getting full, and late August is the favorite time to move. I still have no idea where we will be moving other than the general area in Southern Cal. It will be an apartment, and we will store the boxes we don't want to open until we move again, at a storage facility. We have to decide about what we want to keep and what we want to store. If I think about it too much I get weepy with the magnitude of it.

Judy: One of the realizations I had with a parishioner with whom I got very close at another church, is that Parkinson's disease not only damages the muscles that you can see, but also the big muscles on the inside of the body. I don't know why I didn't think of that, but it was a shock. I wonder if that is what is going on with your Dad? I think it must be so terrible to slowly lose your abilities, and then to be confused too. Blessings on him and on you!

Terry: If you read this, do have a wonderful time! I love Victoria! One of my favorite places. Buchart Gardens, especially. I hope you get there. We also took the ferry from there to the San Juan Islands. Then we took the mail boat from island to island. We stayed a couple of nights on Orcas Island. Great memory.

Bren: Good to read what is going on at your house. Ya know, I think that I would stretch out that painting the shed time until Fall when it cools off some. Or, I might even hire someone to do it, come to think of it. What is it with some fellows and their butt crack. Don't you think that they would be aware of that and not want to show it? It's a mystery to me, that's for sure! Now, I don't want you to think that I am beyond the "looking" stage. I'm not, and hope I never get that way. But, I really prefer "pecs" to "butts"

Barb: So glad that you have a "me" day planned. I'm still mystified by your enjoyment of sweating and exercising hard. But, hey girl, if it floats your boat, why not?

Alida: What do you have planned today, girlfriend?

Donna: And, what are you going to do today?

Shelley: I hope that you can rest today. Sounds like you had a terrible week. Yeah, dh's test was "clean" except for a 2mil polyp that the Doc removed. He was not worried about it at all, and urged us not to worry either. So, we're not. So, we are to go on not knowing why he had diarhea for four months. It's over now. Drs all say "it must have been a virus." Pat answer, if you ask me. But, he's been tested for everything under the sun, and better, so, we're done thinking about it.

So, you guys, I'm missing Rachel!!! I wonder if she is back in Tblisi yet? Her, Roger is there. I hope she posts soon. If you're reading Rach, let us know you are out there.

We are to hit 90 today, but have blue skies. It is just beautiful out. We had a BIG boomer last night which kindly watered everything. We must have had several inches in a matter of minutes. It was fabulous. But, our ground is so porous, that is soaked in quickly.

Well, that's all for today. I'm listening to Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas on my IPod. It is scary and suspenseful. I won't listen after dark. I've decided that his books are daytime reading. This one is just plain wierd, which makes it actually bearable. It strains the bounds of rational reason, so I can see it in the form of fantasy. That way I can listen and not get too scared. I don't read Stephen King because his books are just TOO scary for me. I'll see how this one ends, and then decide if Dean Koontz is in that category now. Judy, I think I've read at least 8 novels this summer too. I love being able to do that.

Peace, Peg

__________________
"Live the questions and some day you will live along into the answers."
Rainer Marie Rilke

Atkins since 2003
5'8" 206.4/197/175
64-3/4 years young

Ok chickadees.... I am typing this to you from 35,000 feet over the Atlantic ocean on a Lufthansa flight - on which they HAVE WIRELESS!!?!?!!!!! How COOL is this?!?!?!?

Not only am I wireless and online - but, I just SKyped by Mom to let her know the flight is on-time, and my sister and BiL because they are techie geeks like we (sort of) are and we knew they'd find this so awesome. So I chatted with my mom and then sis and now I'm getting on the LCE website to "chat" with you all here!!!!

Sorry if I seem wildly psyched about this - it just opens up all sorts of possibilities. Whoa!

So Friday, yesterday, I finished work in Yerevan, was driven 4 hours to the border, walked across the bridge with my luggage (it rolls) and then caught my driver to Tbilisi (another hour or so). Rog repacked all our bags, we went out to the local watering hole to say our last goodbyes... got back to the house for an hour of sleep, got up, went to the airport - and flew first to Munich, then to Frankfurt and we are now mid-flight to Newark... we are exhausted beyond belief and I have to say that Frankfurt continues to be the most hideous airport in Europe (Chicago O'Hare is in a tight running with Miami for the worst in the US - sorry Bren, dearheart)...

My work has been very intense and I was grinding up to the bitter end so I apologize for being completely out of touch. I did respond to an email from Judy asking after my health - and I do promise to write about my scary trip to the Armenian hospital.

Judy, I am so sorry to hear about your dad, and Peg... hang in there with this whole sale, and move... these are trying times. Laughing about weird dreams is a great way to see some balance. By the way, I finished "Broken for You" last week - your recommendation - LOVED IT!! And now as a gift back to you - the book is called "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson - this year's Pulitzer winner for fiction (don't be put off by this - it is brilliant. A very "quiet" and bittersweet story.. involving a minister and his father and grandfather. It was so good that I finished the last sentence, closed the book, then opened it again and re-read it.

Love you gals... my time is running out - I just had to post this from LH flight #402 - somewhere over the Atlantic on July 29, 2006. This is just so neat!

__________________
Hugs, Rachel







(the horn is in honor of DH!)
Quien canta, sus males espanta... ("She who sings fightens away her ills") Miguel de Cervantes

Rachel!! Way cool to get a transatlantic message!!

Like Gilda Ratner said --IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING! DDad fell in the bathroom last night and made an emergency run to the hospital for stitches in his head. He did not call for help when he got up as he is supposed to do. Maybe now he can understand why we pay for that help. Poor brother and SIL are running on fumes. This was the second time this week that they were up all night for hospital runs.

Barb -- I think boredom must be characteristic of assisted living. That's been one of DDad's complaints, too.

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!

Hey, Rachel! Right here with Judy to intercept your high-flying communication. That is way cool. Have an uneventful flight, and a long, long rest when you finally touch down.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Judy, Rachel, Peg, Barb! How great to see all of you here this morning.

Judy, I can almost feel your relief at having "only" (LOL) school to worry about this year, rather than having done summer school and having Aca Dec to look forward to. Hooray on having a good schedule this year!!! I'm so sorry your Dad is still having some ups and downs, but if he's a bit more stable and his caregivers are watchful perhaps he'll start having more good days than bad again.

Oh my gosh, I just caught you last post. Poor Dad!!!! Bless your SIL and BIL, too. I do wonder if your Dad will choose to use the help available--sometimes only one way of doing things seems to stick in the mind.

Rachel, how kewl you could reach us mid-air!! SO glad to hear you're on your way home, safe, sound, and in better health than last we heard via Judy. Do take some down time as you can to recover from the last few months, ok? Also, thanks for the book recommendation to Peg. I'll put it on my list, too.

Peg, I'm not gonna be a woo-woo here, but girlfriend I would listen to that dream. IMO these people and/or their lawyer are bad news. My suggestion would be NOT to contract a mover Monday unless you get a signed document from the buyer you can EASILY live with. So yeah, maybe it's me, and I'm sorry if I am adding to your worry, but I'm getting really bad vibes.

Barb, glad you got in your bonus Saturday workout! It's a sweatbath here just getting to the car, so I imagine you were quite steamy with a double session this am.

Imagining Terry on her way to BC

Alida, Shell, and Donna , hope you all will have relaxing weekends.
_______________
As for me, nope I'm not going to finish the shed until the weather breaks a little. I only have maybe two hours work left on it, but it's just not necessary to do in this heat.

In the bargain corner, at Lowe's sidewalk sale I snagged a great portable gas BBQ (like a Weber Q grill), still in original box as it was being marked down for the last time. Regular price: $149 My price: $19.52, including tax. This thing is SO great! 60% grill/40% either griddle or burner, automatic ignition, and I can easily fold it up to the size of a small suitcase and roll into the garage in the winter. I've been missing a grill since mine finally rusted out. Having a new grill called for having a new umbrella on the deck, which I also got for about 75% off

Our town is having their annual celebration this week, called Founders' Days. The parade is going on as we speak--they stage about a block from us. There's a carnival, food booths, pet parade, art show, and much music--typical small town stuff. I was a parade judge for several years, but got tired of burning my brain for three hours in the sun and left that job to others. Tomorrow night, though, I'll walk down to the river front park (maybe 1/4 mile) if it isn't too hot, and listen to the Elgin Symphony. By the time I get home, the fireworks will start, which will be quite visible over the trees.

Hugs to all

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

Hey Chickadees!

Thanks for the recommendation, Rachel. I've already "heard" Gilead. I listened to it shortly after it came out. It was a very good novel. Very meaningful considering our careers. I'm amazed at Robinson's facility with words. Wow! She really gives "turn of the phrase" a new meaning.

SO good to see you again. We've missed you terribly. (Me very very much!)
So, are you getting to MA? I do hope if you do we will get to connect.

Bren: Yeah. I know. I'm not getting a very good feeling either. We won't be signing anything soon that doesn't include our lawyer's blessing. That includes a contract for the moving. Don't worry.

Judy: Ohmigawd! Your poor Ddad is really having a hard time making it in assisted living isn't he? I'm so sorry to hear the latest. Blessings to all of you!

Love you all!
Peg

__________________
"Live the questions and some day you will live along into the answers."
Rainer Marie Rilke

Atkins since 2003
5'8" 206.4/197/175
64-3/4 years young

In an effort to be in control of something, I filled in Fitday today and tried to start back keeping up with my food intake. What I would have like to have seen at the end of the day is something in the 1200-1300 calorie and 60 carb range. What I did see is 1595 calories and 76 carbs. Oh well, that's better than what I found when I tracked a few random days lately. No wonder I've gained weight. I dug in the cabinet this morning and found the old WW stuff. I haven't read it yet, just found it............ that's a step in the right direction isn't it? As I remember the plan I was on (20 years ago) was fairly LC. I think it might be a good way to get quantity and calories down. Like Shelley, I have no intention of eating all the "breads."

Back to project completions. I'm going to try to get as much stuff (school and home) done as possible this week. It looks like the stressors this year will be sitting around waiting for the next shoe to drop. I'll live by the Boy Scout motto....... "Be prepared."

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!