Hi Dee, I am glad you are here. I checked out the menu at Limoncello and I can picture you, Raeanne and me sipping chilled white wine while we chat over lunch! We need to pull that off again soon. I get so much done by getting up at 4am every morning! On the days I ride I am in my barn at 4:15 to give the girls a snack and muck a little. Then back to the house for tea and change into my riding clothes. At 4:45 I am back in the barn grooming and tacking. By 5:15 I am in the saddle and my ride takes about an hour and 15 mins. So, back at the barn by 6:30 latest to finish chores. Then to the chicken coop to let them out. I am back in the house by 7am and have an hour to shower and get ready for work! I leave my house at 8:15 and am in my office at 8:30! That's a 15 minute commute. Then there is after work! It's easy for me to get up that early this time of year - I love the early morning when it's light enough to see it! We need you all to weigh in on who the biggest AI fan is at this thread ladies. You too JOhn if you are lurking.

So i realized today that I am about 1/2 way to wear I think I will be comfortable weight wise. It's been 2 yr that I have been focused on losing and I am down 68 lb. Still a long way to go but pretty much where I was weight wise in my late 30s.. and by 40, I was down to a comfortable weight (which I maintained until my late 40s). The target I am envisioning is still larger than most women would be happy with -- but I know I don't like how I look when "skinny". My bone structure is too big. I appreciate all the support from you all .. and it helps a lot.. but I am not happy with my appearance and I don't feel strong or fit. i recently passed an important personal milestone (the weight I was when I met SO) but I expected to feel better about my progress at this point. I was more fit then... but I was also in love lol so there's that too. I will keep pressing forward as I am seeking better health AND I want to look better. They will both come. I just need to stop focusing on my appearance. It is absolutely better than it was 68lb ago and I think it will change even faster over the next 68lb. It's funny, Niece#2 is struggling with the same. She's lost 28 lb since December but is currently stalled. I give HER all teh advice I should be giving myself. So now after I talk to her, I give myself the same pep talk I've just given her. And to you all.. we really need to celebrate our successes both healthwise and weight wise and stop undermining our progress with the "not good enoughs".

I think you can get other seasons on various streaming services that I don't have. But Netflix will have a couple of seasons at any time, which is enough for me. About Pearl Islands, Sandra got a lot of haters later on (she won twice) but she's a darned good player. And Pearl Islands had the BEST challenges, the pirate-themed ones, like firing muskets and making the loved one walk the plank. That's an outstanding season. And yes, Rupert!

PM and Wintercat, I checked with a friend who lives some miles away today, and she said she calls her helpers the same thing. She also said it's normal here, as did I here. But when it was pointed out that people were taking it as derogatory, I said thank-you and that I would retire it. No bad feelings were ever intended, and I don't mind that it's a minority of those who've spoken out. I'd rather be kind to the minority than be "right" in the majority, and I know there are lurkers whose feelings we don't know, no matter how much I appreciate the kind and supportive posts of those who took it as it was meant. I think we're forgetting, however, what it was like here fifteen years ago. When I joined CF there was internecine warfare between factions who tried to recuit me by e-mail, and others who tried to smooth things over by e-mail, and others who just e-mailed to make trouble--let alone all the sniping that was done in the Forum itself (I mostly just closed those threads, but it was very unpleasant). I stayed because I admired many of the noncombatants...er, posters...and was learning a lot from them. I took breaks when the bullies turned their guns on me. Others were so kind and helpful and I've learned so much in the intervening years, I try to post to give back. There's no need for hostility or forming cliques or any of that. And I think we're all adult enough to take a critical comment for its value without tearing things apart. Nothing uncivil has been said here, on either side, and I value all who have posted. It's not worth battling over! Please let it stop here.