Hello, It is a little chilly here too Suzanne. What a change. I'm not minding it too much, but my poor DH has been having to do some outside work. At least when he comes home he can defrost in the hot tub! QOD: I have Monday off! I also have tomorrow off. Professional Development day for teachers so I don't have to go in! Patti, I am sorry to hear about your friend. You sound like you are good support for him. I hope the the PT works for you. Dave, right back at ya! Donna, I hope you are feeling better. (((HUGS))). I'm thinking of you. How is your kitty doing? Tikanis it sounds like you are on the right track. Keep up the great work. Raeanne, what are you giving for the unbroken gift? I could supply everyone at the party with something with the amount of "things" I have around here! Did anyone hear about SS house? So sad. I'm sure she will rebuild and make many more happy memories. I pulled out all of my WW stuff, AGAIN. I am going to read through it over the weekend and decide if I want to try and commit myself to it again. If I do, it will be full steam ahead. Meetings and everything. Have a great evening! Love, Besh

Milkdud! WTG on that weight loss - you go girl!! I'm glad the knee is coming along well. Raeanne - yes, I am still going to Curves. This is my 2nd week and I made a commitment to myself to go Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I stop on my way home from work. I feel better about me and am actually looking forward to getting measured again, I think in early September. And yes..I am definitely up for the book club. Marci - hard to believe it's time for school again. I saw the spinach squares recipe and will have to give them a try. John - enjoy the trip - the weather sounds promising. Be safe and have fun. Dee - another cruise?! Raeanne is right they will be naming a ship after you. ENJOY. Besh - menopause - I am right there with ya darlin. Zig - where are you - shoe shopping again??? Gotta run - check in later - Donna

Thanks, Wildchild for the invitation. I work out of town four days a week and have been doing so since February. This was when I started losing weight. Prior to this I worked at home and had WAY too much refrigerator access. While I am here I walk in the mornings before work between 45 minute and an hour and do a light weight work out. At home I am able to do a longer weight work out. I just use dumbbells. I have no scale access while I'm out of town so I don't weigh while I'm here. I find that if I don't get enough sleep I don't lose weight. Today I had grocery store sushi for lunch, I wish I had any kind of idea about the calorie count is in this stuff! I had a few fresh figs for dessert. Lots of water all day. I still have at least 50 pounds to lose. Seems like a long long journey sometimes. I really want to be thin right now! I didn't have any patience with WW, I hate sitting still for meetings! And I don't have the fortitude to go back several times and check out the different meeting leaders to see if one suits me better than another. One thing I have noticed about the WW (and many others as well) frozen meals is that the sodium content is rather high. I have just eliminated cookies, chips, crackers, bread and butter, and all fried foods, as well as ice cream. More vegies and fresh fruit and smaller portions. More exercise. So far so good. BarnMom

Thanks everyone. This was a low-key birthday, which is how I like it. No cooking. That was the day before, my daughter made us a mahi mahi stir fry that was very good. She learned how to juggle two woks at once. Last night we went out to sushi, as that is daughter's new food passion. Then we browsed our favorite vintage/hipster clothing store. I've almost stopped buying clothes at regular retail stores; this store provides in retail-speak, an edited eclectic selection at remarkably cheap prices. I bought a like-new cotton-cashmere sweater from Club Monaco (a Ralph Lauren sub-brand) for $8 - hard to beat that, even if the horizontal stripes are not exactly slimming. Call it a challenge. We also poked around Powell's bookstore, where I checked out some books on 1980s BMW sedans. I am getting a slight hankering for a "new" car project, and I've always liked the late 1980s BMW 5-series sedans, the last of the boxy no-nonsense Teutonic Beemers. They are quick, solid, and great bargains as future classics. Plus I'm told a fellow who knows how to work on cars (that's me) and who likes to work on cars (that might or might not still be me) can transplant a V8 motor from a later BMW in place of the stock 220 hp six-cylinder M30 motor. We bought a magazine on 3D printing for my son. Home 3D printers are now as cheap as $500, and that would be a pretty interesting thing for us to play with. My favorite present was a cutting board that has gridlines and measurements for various cuts. Now I can judge exactly how thick to slice for medium dice (1/2"), batonnet (1/4"), julienne (1/8") and fine julienne (1/16") sticks and brunoise. Very useful for the OCD cook. My least favorite present for this b-day will be making an appointment for my first colonoscopy. Oh joy! The pleasures of entering my fifties. Actually I should have done this last year on my 50th b-day, but have been putting it off. The pastime currently occupying us is planning for daughter's impending start of college. She is now receiving her college admission and rejection letters, and we are going through the various dormitory choices and studying credit requirements for different degree programs. At this point she is most seriously considering either Fordham University in Manhattan, McGill University in Montreal, UC San Diego, or the Clark Honors College at University of Oregon. I'm quietly rooting for U of O, it seems perfect to me. The Honors College is a small liberal arts program with just 700 students and their own professors, counselors, building and housing, set in the big campus of a 30,000 student research university. 2 hours from home, far enough for her, not too far for me. It is eminently affordable if you pay in-state tuition. If she wants to get a single room with private bath, to spend five years in school doing multiple majors, to study abroad and take trips, we can do all that and she can still graduate with zero student debt. She likes the campus and the town, and already has some friends who started there last year. So, I hope she picks it. Fingers crossed! We went to the beach last weekend. The Oregon coast is gorgeous. I haven't been for a couple of years. My friend led us in making a huge sandsculpture (a dragon consuming a hilltop city) that, I'm told, made the local TV news. It was very relaxing, and made me think that perhaps I work too much. This post was edited by johnliu on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 10:32