Hey Everybody!! I come here at least once a day to see if there is anything new and sadly, there is almost no activity. I know summer is so busy for all of us. Since this site is not very active anymore, maybe we can post some updates on our lives. Did you go on vacation this summer? How is everyone doing with their health and weight goals? Anyone have any new goals? Or any fun or exciting news?
Hope you are all doing well and enjoying summer!
Jill
I have no specific goal(s) right now. I am trying to find the spiritual side of myself that I lost somewhere along the way.
I had a mammogram on Tuesday. Nothing like scheduling an appointment that includes, "No antiperspirant or deodorant or powder" on the hottest day of the year, and it was 105 here.
Poor tech!
Denise
Posts: 9221 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Sheri came out in June, and we had a GREAT trip to Yosemite and San Francisco.
ds graduated from high school. That was somewhat bittersweet... but I'm mostly over being bitter.
dh has been a contractor (sort of like a computer geek temp...) at the same company for the past 4 years. They FINALLY hired him this summer... which has been an improvement in our financial situation. Before switching jobs... he negotiated a 3 week vacation.
We went camping on Angel Island... the weather that day was fantastic! We had a great time. It is sort of like urban backpacking.
We spent 5 days in New York city and had a fabulous time! (although by Thursday afternoon we just could not do one more tourist activity).
We came home from NYC and immediately went to Yosemite and went backpacking for 2 nights. Previously, all of our backpacking has been on Angel Island or Big Basin... places with no bears (which we didn't see any...) ds was not too much of a backpacking fan... and preferred NYC. Nelson, on the other hand, really liked it (which is sort of a shock!).
Then went to Tahoe and put ds on a train in Truckee to come home.
Dh and I are going back up to Tahoe for an overnight trip in the Desolation Wilderness.
I've been preparing for all this backpacking by climbing Mission Peak 3 times a week with a 16 to 25 lb backpack.
Weight wise... I'm good.
I was 121-124ish Jan'05 thru Dec'08. Was more like 125 to 130 all of 2009 until about May 2010. Am just NOW putting together all/most the pieces for why that was.
At any rate... started slowly losing in May 2009 (and came back from both vacation with Sheri and from NYC down a pound) and have been 123-126 in the past month.
I pretty much believe that we all have our genetics and biology and then we have our lifestyles... and we weigh what we weigh (and looking back at 2009's "lifestyle", it isn't hard to figure out why I weighed more... although when you are in the think of it... can be hard to see the forest thru the trees). I really don't think I'm all that motivated to do any heavy duty losing... and I'm good with staying here.
Weight wise, dh hit his lowest weight since about 1999 and his BMI is 25.8. He's down 30 lbs from his all time high weight, which peaked about 2006 or so.
ds is still tall and thin and Sheri went to the grocery store with us and can attest to Jamie's healthy (and expensive!) food tastes. He starts college on Monday.
Earlier today I attended my aunt's funeral. She was 102, so it was her time, but it was still sad.
Puck, I'm sorry for your loss, too. No matter how prepared you think you are, it's never easy to lose a loved one. I hope you have your aunt's longevity genes.
Thank you all for you kind thoughts and prayers. I don't know if you remember this, but my MIL suffered from an aneurysm almost 5 years ago. That was one of the big reasons we moved back to Indiana. So, while we are deeply saddended, we also realize that most people would not have survived the first aneurysm, and that we were blessed that we had an additional 5 years with her.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
We had a really nice summer albeit too short. Our vacation to St. Simons Island,GA was wonderful. Last weekend we met friends from Atlanta in Chicago and saw a Cubs game, a Bears pre-season game, went to a comedy club and the Field Museum. It was a lovely time.
Then we came home and on Tuesday my mother-in-law died from a brain aneurysm. So, right now I'm just blah.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
I just got home today from Ohio. Left last Wednesday, stayed the night in Deep Creek, MD, an area I love, and got to my MOm's on Thursday. Family reunion was Saturday. Left Ohio Monday, stayed the night in Hagerstown, MD and got home this afternoon.
I had an overnighter to the DC area in July to attend a former colleague's retirement party and catch up with my peeps there. Great time.
As most of you know, I went to California in June and spent a week with Denise touring Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. That was an amazing vacation! And I'm not just saying that because Denise might see this. LOL
Other than that, I got two new volunteer jobs this summer while my Headstart kids were out of school.
First, right after I returned from California, I started with the University of Delaware's College of Marine Science. I work for one of the world's foremost authorities on the seashore mallow plant, a plant that is being studied for potential use as biofuel. I do computer research as well as work with the seeds and seed pods of the plant itself.
Second, I had training in July for a gig I put in for in May and won't start until October (some volunteer organizations move at the speed of molasses and this is one of them). I will be working at a local food pantry either bagging groceries for the needy or interviewing those coming in for food to determine their needs and qualifications for receiving food from the pantry.
In my other existing volunteer gig with Coming of Age Delaware, I wrote a 3-part series of articles on transitioning to retirement that was very well received. That was really satisfying since I conceived and pitched the idea to my editor and he let me run with it.
I am loving retirement and loving living at the beach. I've gotten to the beach more this summer than in all the years I've come here.
Posts: 7864 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
The summer was not bad. We took the kids camping and they got to ride on a speed boat for the first time. DS is still doing good on his seizure meds, but his need for his ADHD meds changed over the summer. We are in the middle of changing his meds. With the kids home I couldn't go to the gym at all. They just went back to school so hopefully I can get back in. I haven't gained weight, but I haven't lost any either. I miss everybody on here, but I never know what to post. We need to think of something. I could really use a kick in the pants.
Summer has been super busy. school starts wednesday (yikes) and it does not look like things will slow down with soccer practice and SAT tutoring. in fact, i think iwill be in my car during dinner hours for several days out of the week, so i have to figure out how to swing that in a healthy way. we have gone to the beach twice, which was so much fun. i am still doing my workouts, and eating clean about 80% of the time. i still believe in No Deprivation which seems to work well for me. I recently found an old dress that still fits me (I was ready to send it to the thrift shop so it was delightful to add something to my clothing options)i have cut back on running, and doing more strength training. i forget to stretch too much. my work life has been busy and stressful. and i wish i could let go of money worries. but i am working on that little by little.n i had a personal training client in the summer but his job has taken him on the road a lot , which has disrupted our training. i hope we can resume in a week or so (when I am not driving the kids around)i think the next break i get is for christmas unless i fall out before then. it is nice to see everyone's posts.
Goals: 1. Enjoy life! 2. Be aware, be awake, pay attention. 3. One word 2010: faith
Posts: 2653 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: November 11, 2006
I have survived another summer class. I even managed to pull up my GPA a bit. I had a week off that went way too quick and start back on Monday. I'm excited about my classes this semester, which is good.
I seem to have DH's gluten free diet pretty well dealt with, and he's been really happy with the tweaked bread that he decided is a very good substitute, even though it's still not quite the same. I'm trying to be better about avoiding the thyroid-interrupting foods. Peaches, strawberries, and raw cabbage are the hard ones.
I'm about ready to tackle my 5th half marathon in September, and will do #6 in December. I am doing more strength training and cross training, which are doing double duty helping me get a little bit of weight off and have improved my running. I'm still fighting my body for the 1.5 pounds I've been able to get back off, but it sounds like this will be a long, not fun battle against the thyroid meds. As long as I keep moving down, I'm good. I'm still up 5 pounds from where I was before starting the meds last September.
I still check in everyday, but I usually only have time to pop in on all the boards that I frequent. I don't post much anywhere, which I keep trying to fix.
Life is like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs, but the curves, spirals, loops and corkscrews are what make life interesting.
On the downside, I think that my precious doggie is starting to display brain damage symptoms, from his brain tumor. In addition, his water consumption is increasing, so the tumor must be growing.
On the upside, his pills have dramatically improved the quality of his life for 176 days.
His pills don't effect his tumor, but deal with an additional disease that is caused by the tumor. The additional disease has a long list of awful symptoms, that so far, the pills have blocked/reversed.
The most touching improvement, due to the pills, is that he feels good enough to do tummy rubs again. Previously, he had stopped doing those.
Anyway, for the most part, he currently acts like a healthy, happy, bouncy, doggie.
Whatever may happen in the future, this period was much better than I anticipated.
