I made it! I swam a mile! March 22, 2004! I'm over 50 and over 200 lbs, so that is a triumph for me! I've been swimming since late January. I worked up to a half mile and now I'm up to a mile! It took me 40 minutes, but not bad for someone who quit smoking in June. Also to burn fat, you don't want to be in a fast heart-target range. I was at 195lbs. when I first quit smoking and I want to get down below 200 as a goal for the time being-then work on losing more. Being over 200 is no fun. I 5'4", but have always been solid and muscular, medium boned. Still, I need to be thinner for my highth. I swim 3 nights and one weekend day a week. I work 2 jobs, so every night I'm not working the 2nd job, I have made it part of my routine to spend an hour in the water! I keep reading more and more that exercise is a key to almost everything...less cancer, less heart problems, better everything...just MOVE and SWEAT at least 3 or more times a week. So my lungs are getting stronger, my stamina is increasing and my muscle mass is increasing to help my metabolism burn more fat! I sure do sleep good - I go to sleep earlier too! ha ha! You guys have helped to keep me motivated! I really appreciate hearing all your feedback and reading what keeps you motivated!! June

So.....I had this old exercise bike and a high chair taking up space in my garage and decided to donate them to the local thrift shop and as I was waiting on the lady who runs the shop to get free so's I could tell her I had these two items I wanted to give to her, an elderly gentleman came in and asked her for an exercise bike..........I gave him mine ;0) And I donated the highchair to her ;0) And the exercise part of this story is that I had to jump up into the back of DH's truck, slide the bike out and onto the ground and the high chair then help the nice man put the bike into his truck...I think my weight workout part is done lol....and I'll get on my bike in a bit I just couldn't believe the lucky streak I was having and wanted to share lol.

Walked to the barn to feed the cats. Looked whether there might be another puffball on the return trip - there wasn't (again). Didn't walk down the lane to the road to check for mail - was driving out soon (there was no mail today). Shared coffee at the senior men's coffee hour at the church. They recently decided to use the name, "ROMEO" - Retired Old Men Eating Out. I said that it should be "ROMDO" - Retired Old Men Drinking Out, but that elicited very minimal approval: we usually have cookies, muffins, etc., they said. Came to the library to contact you guys. Checked a book, "the Banker's Secrets" giving money management advice. A couple of weeks ago I attended an investment-related seminar at downtown branch of major bank, asked at info desk where to find it. Then, leaning a bit closer, asked rather conspiratorially whether they knew what was a better use of money than putting it into the bank. When the lady asked what that might be, I said, "Buying bank shares"! Both of the women within earshot laughed aloud and the lady to whom I was speaking replied, "That's for sure"! By the way - have you considered which of us benefits from inflation? I'm looking forward to travelling to Windsor on Saturday to meet and gab with some of the conversationalists at the Kitchen Table forum. Many there say that they have found some good friends there. I met one (luckygardnr) in the spring here in London, another (PoohBear) near Chattanooga in early August. Just reserved a book by a famous city planner, Jane Jacobs, now in her 80s but still sharp, called "Dark Age Ahead" which opines that our current civilization may be on its last legs, referring to a number of civilizations in various parts of the world that have come and gone. Trouble is - the earlier ones covered a limited area of the world, but our civilization is now world-wide, so if it goes down there will be some serious problems. For a long time. I wondered a few days ago whether, on my departure from this phase of life, whether my final exam related to my stewardship of life while I lived on this planet may include a question along the line of, "We're rather confused about what's going on in the world, these days. Can you explain to us how it is that one of the major preoccupations of people in the indutrialized world (mainly North America) for about two generations now has been dieting ... ... while about 25,000 people in the world (give or take a few related to vague record keeping) die daily due to inadequate food and lack of clean water?". That's a question that would give me some difficulty. Hope you all enjoy your week - and weekend. ole joyful

Between running, strength-gym work and walking the dog, I'm exercising every day. Last Sunday we did a two hour trail run through a canyon and didn't hit any snow but we were scrambling over some downed trees which were victims of our horrible winter.