I need to follow your lead Karen and not hop on the scale daily. It's really discouraging. I still have 4-5 lbs to go and now I'm getting really frustrated. Someone just asked me yesterday "but you've reached your target clothes size, right?" and that put it in perspective. I am officially in a size 6 jean. I need to shut up and stop complaining. I have lost 3 sizes (I was a 12) since January. I'd like to be in a 4 but I don't think my body type is such. Big hips and booty no matter how much I lose. So, I've decided it's not the weight that I'm aiming for, it's the tone. I just need to keep reminding myself of that. I think I need to put the scale away. It's in my kitchen!!! I went out and went crazy buying snacks from the bins at Sprouts for my 6+ hour plane ride coming up with DD. I want to have tons of stuff to entertain us. Crayons, coloring books, books to read (for her and me)... and snacks. I got dark chocolate covered raisins, jelly beans, salt water taffy, sugar coated peanuts, yogurt covered raisins. And two outrageously expensive dark chocolate organic chocolate bars. I'm planning to take a bunch of protein powder with me too so I can use that when I get hungry instead of relying on take out for when I'm running around with the bride. The hard part will be not overdosing on my favorite foods while I'm there. I have some serious cravings for home food, and none of it is diet friendly. Anyone have any travel food suggestions? I want food that will last, take up time, and be interesting. I plan on eating a big breakfast so I'm not hungry, but I'm pretty bored on planes!

Good afternoon! It's 91 F. and sunny here in SE Texas. Where did our "Spring" go??? Everybody has been so busy this week! I'm impressed with those of you who have stayed on your eating plan, worked out regularly, and are feeling positive about things. That's the kind of incentive and motivation I like! I attended our community center's Mother's Day luncheon today. We had a style show first, clothes from Palais Royal, then a lovely high tea/luncheon. Very much "lady foods", but it was all scrumptious! Today I sat with a table of people I've met briefly during this past year, so I had a chance to get to know them much better today. I was the "baby" at the table at 61, and the oldest one was 93. Most of the other 6 women were in their high 70's and 80's. These women are very active in the community and never seem to slow down. They are such an inspiration to me. Tonight I'm going to spend the evening with our friend Susanne helping her get things ready for our ESA state convention next week. I had promised her when Larry was so sick that I would go with her to this if he wasn't up to it, and I will. I'll be staying at night with my son and DDIL while in Dallas, and that will be the only time I'll get to see them while there, but it's better than nothing! Dee, I hope they don't dump too much extra work onto you. Time for another cruise, isn't it? LOL I'm going to see my granddaughters and son and DDIL tomorrow after cohosting a youth banjo concert at our church. Pray for me in the morning because I have to bake 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies!!!!! The doorbell just rang, and it was FedEx with a gift from oldest Dson and DDIL - 3 living, blooming African violets and a wooden collector's box. My DDIL really knows me well and Dson always trusts her taste. If I don't get a chance to post tomorrow or Sunday, I wish everyone here a Happy Mother's Day, whether you're a bio-mom, stepmom, or furbaby mom!

Well Holy Cow...it was another non-elimination leg of the race. What in the heck happened to TK & Rachel? We were playing a game while we watching and I missed how they got so messed up with their flight. They were three hours (?) behind the other teams? I was so happy that Dad and Daughter came in first! He did not yell AND we have not heard about his hernia in at least two weeks...an improvement! They did a good job. Did we all KNOW that the Grandson would get LOST while driving the car in the city? He has gotten lost EVERYTIME directions are involved. But they did a good job. I was a little worried about Grandpa but he made it. And, Nate and Jen. They did better than I thought they would. I would still like them to be the next to go. She is such a brat. Why does she have to whine so much? Nothing is EVER her fault. I hope TK and Rachel are able to get past the speed bump of next week. They are not as strong as I thought they were, but they are nice to eachother and that counts for a lot. They never yell, whine or cry. So, what did all of you think? sooey

I liked Steve and Linda but I agree that she didn't seem to be able to keep up with the rest too well. I think he kind of set the tone for her in the first episode when he berated her and she was very wounded by that. It was very sweet though when they both said last night how much they love each other and how money can't buy that. I would have loved to do the paraglide and the segue/segway challenges, way more than a bungee jump! Too bad that wind wasn't cooperating. I probably would have run down the mountain, too, not willing to wait. That dating couple- is English her 2nd language or something? Her boyfriend kept correcting her pronunciation or grammar all night. "AustRIA, not AustraLIA!" lol That was just one of them. When father/son couldn't open the gate, that was pretty funny. And when the father told the stunt guy "don't be scared", I thought the stunt brother was going to go off on him. He looked very offended by that jokey comment. I think the other brother is more laid back and not as snotty. It was a good show, all in all. I know I don't ever want to be clobbered by cakes. That could have been painful.