Nice job awm!! Isn't it amazing how good it feels to drop a few pounds? Do I remember you from the kitchen forum too? I recognize you from somewhere. So sorry to hear about all the continuing knee problems. That has to be extremely frustrating especially when you're used to being so active. Hope you can recover soon! I don't know what triggers cravings for sweets for me - other than just the sight of them. Addiction I think. Yesterday someone brought these beautiful, gourmet cupcakes into the office for someone's birthday. For several hours I just admired the beauty of them but at the end of the day I could no longer control myself and snatched a lovely key lime one. I was practically drooling over it. I ate it, savored it, logged it and stayed within my daily limits and today dropped down a couple tenths of a pound to my lowest level since early 2010. I haven't actually maintained this weight for any period of time since 2009. One thing I'm finding kind of helpful is sometimes eating half the amount I normally would - small glass of juice vs. large, one piece of toast vs. two, etc. The thing I have to figure out is how to incorporate treats into my diet without going completely crazy and eating massive quantities of them.

If you want active, Kinect is the way to go! My son and his wife have one and my granddaughter played it while we were down there for Christmas. Wow! It had her moving every direction you can think of! Of course, different games are going to have different activity levels, but this was with a game that came with the system. That bit that someone mentioned about Kinect reading the whole room.. it does read whatever the person that is playing (or people, as there are multi person games) while Wii reads the controller that the person is playing.

If you want something that is really good for fitness games, an xBox360 with Kinnect is head and shoulders above the Wii. The Kinnect uses a little camera to check your whole body's alignment and make sure you are actually following the instructions in the game. The Wii with the balance board can only sense balance, weight and hand movement, but not the position of your whole body so it has no way of knowing if you are actually doing what you are supposed to. The xBox is a little more expensive, but you can get some neat fitness stuff for it. There is Zumba, yoga, aerobics and dance games. Most of these exist for the Wii as well, however, I think they are better executed on the xBox because of it's ability to check your form as you go. In the end, though, it really comes down to how much money you want to spend. And keep in mind, a used system and games can save you a lot of money and be totally worth it if you buy from a reputable dealer.

The Wedgwood vase is very pretty - it reminds me of the startup silhouette on the Kindle app. But the Beagles Biscuit tin is perfect! Raboo - my Lab chooses to spend part of her day and every night in her crate. And we haven't closed the gate in over 4 years. It's right in the kitchen where she feels like she's in the center of all the activity. She loves it, it's her den and her favorite snoozing place. We have dog beds in the study and family room too - but she still prefers her crate.