Hi gang! Down 2.4 at WW this morning, which puts me 5.2 from my 10% goal! I think I'm going to make myself a visual board like one I saw on our local WW FB site. It's a poster board with post-it notes representing each pound you have to lose. I'm going to use a different color for each "decade" and maybe will note each 10% goal and maybe even include a note with scheduled rewards for various goals.

After WW Jessi and I had breakfast out then did a bit of shopping at our local outlet mall. Other than that excursion, it's a very basketball day here. The OU men (rated #1) are playing LSU in the Big 12/SEC challenge. It's been heavily advertised on ESPN for the match up between the Sooners' Buddy Heild and LSU's Ben Simmons who are running neck and neck for national player of the year. Also TV games for the OU women - which they wan - as well as OSU men and women. Also looking forward to the Big 12/SEC match up between Kansas and Kentucky. In case you haven't already guessed, I'm a basketball nut! My dream job would be to be an college assistant coach in charge of recruiting - traveling all over the country watching tons of high school games with none of the head coaches pressure to win. But somehow, I just kept being a banker for 38 years while supporting my family.

Myra - our lake home isn't much. It's a small mobile home with a great rear desk looking over our little patch of wilderness. It's between Davis and Sulphur, OK in the south central part of the state near the Lake of the Arbuckles. It's a relatively small lake located within the Chickasaw National Recreation Area f/k/a Platt National Park. The trails we like to "hike" are also located within the park. I call anything on a non-paved surface hiking. Paved surfaces are "walking" in the World According to Suzi Opinion!

Karla - the parade pix are making me really excited for Mardi Gras! Found a necklace today at the Outlet mall to wear to the ball.

Jeanette - enjoy Alanna! Especially with those assignments out of the way. I'm really jealous of all of y'all with grandbabies. I'm really ready for them, but my kids aren't ready for babies.... So, I spoil my great niece and great nephew absolutely rotten! We'll be spending the night at the great nephews house on our way to and from Mobile but I'll have to share him with his Mimi (my sister-cousin, Kelly) who's going with me. Now to explain that. Kelly is actually my first cousin, but we're extremely close and have been our whole lives. We actually think of each other as sisters instead of cousins.

Patti - I'm really impressed with your craftiness. You have so much creativity! Since I didn't get that gene, I'm always amazed at the things you crafty types can do!

Cindy - enjoy your quiet, calm weekend. You've soooo earned it!

Janet - take it easy and get rested up so you can shop til you drop with Patti!

Diane - I'm anxious to hear where your travel plans will take you. So far we have AZ and Grand Canyon coming up end of Feb/early March. We're also planning a several national park trip in July and August - Rocky Mountain NP, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, Mt Rushmore, and Badlands NP. I'd like to squeeze in a FL beach trip in May after the spring breakers have come and gone. We haven't done any planning for that one yet, it's just sorta rattling around in our brains. We like to leave our vacations pretty much open schedule wise, but have been making NP reservations for the August vacations on the advice of some folks who serve as camp hosts at Yellowstone every summer. It's the 100 year anniversary of the NP system and they're expecting really big crowds all summer.

Dinky's having a fit for his supper so I better get these dogs fed.

Oh yeah, before I forget, Myra, please KEEP MY MINI GOAL THE SAME. I'm planning to stick with this one until after the Mobile trip.

Aw thanks Janet, the paper is a beautiful smooth ivory, not a stark white like it looks in the picture and the pink is more of a blush pink. I am going to buy another 50 sheets of the ivory, only need about 20 to finish this project but I love the paper so much and it will be great for other cards. I am going to see if they have this same paper in other colors. I love good paper and collect it like sewers collect fabric. Some times I find some I love so much I won't make anything out of it, lol.

Suzi, great WI, so happy for you. You sound so happy and making plans to go places I just love. We went to Yellowstone last year on the bike, my first time there, and I was blown away. Just wish we could have spent more time. I know you will have some awesome pictures to share.

I may go to my craft room and do some more cutting, scoring and folding since I am on a roll.
Patti

Good Morning! I'm up very early today. I'm heading to church this morning for 8:30 worship. I'll take the computer to set up the Power Point. Please keep my mini goals the same. I really need to focus on drinking more water. No change in the scale hop this morning; but I'll take no gain! Have a great day everyone.

Bert

Mornin' y'all! It's bright and sunny, warm and windy here in OOOOOOOOklahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plains! Yes, our official fire weather season has arrived. We not only have tornado season, we also have grass fire season. Yesterday several towns in SW OK had record high temps in the mid 80's. In OKC we tied the record high temp of 76 Friday and Saturday both with pretty good winds 20 - 30 and gusting higher. Since January is typically our second driest month of the year and with all the dry, dead vegetation this time of year it's a recipe ripe for grass fires. There have been several small ones across the state the past couple days, but no major damage. Hopefully, with a 4-year drought behind us thanks to record rainfall last spring and summer, we won't have any really big fires like we've had in years past.

Lisa, maybe your body is just taking a pause to catch up to the new weight. During my first WL journey 9 years ago, my body settled into a pattern where I would experience a mini plateau for a couple weeks at approximately each 10-pound interval. With the amount of exercise you're getting, I wouldn't worry too much, I don't think you'll be stuck for long.

Suzi (sorry, I keep forgetting to add my name to my posts)

Good morning, it is overcast and yucky but not snowing so I will not complain.

Bert, love your puzzle picks. That one looks hard. I know you will enjoy the service and the time spent with your church family and friends. You are still healing, so your body will be holding on to extra everything until you are back to normal. It is the body's way of protecting itself, giving itself a "cushion" in case there is trouble. You are doing all the right things, so don't worry about that stupid scale.

Lisa, Suzi is spot on with how our bodies lose weight. Especially with all your physical activity, it has to have to time to adjust to the changes and sometimes it needs the extra fat and fluids to sustain you through your workouts. Hope you are not discouraged. Living a healthy life with proper eating and exercise is it's own reward.

Suzi, so very proud of your NSV. Hope you enjoyed what you fixed instead of the pizza. You are the most focused I have ever known you to be. I think taking away the stress of work and work travel has made a huge difference. Plus, now that most of your injuries are healed ( I was going to say behind you but that one is still a plague to you I am thinking, lol) you can really focus on taking care of yourself. You are so lucky that Dave is in this with you and that he has well established healthy eating and exercising patterns. Him being a cook is a huge plus. What I wouldn't give to have someone cook for me on a semi regular basis (they would have to be a cook, I am picky, lol). When you head out west are you doing Zion, Bryce or Grand Escalante? I think the Utah canyons and mountains are the most beautiful in our country. They are all so different from each other, hard to believe they are in the same state. Also, will you be going to Sedona, AZ on your way to or from the Grand Canyon? It is a gem. Such grandeur in the middle of the desert. Just some thoughts.

Still working out the math for all the paper cuts that need to be made. I have a limited supply of one of pink papers. Don't want to waste any. Each card takes 5 different sized rectangles to back each element. It's like working a jigsaw puzzle in reverse, but I love a good challenge.

I skipped lunch yesterday because I was so focused on my project so dinner was calorie heavy but not awful. Need to be mindful today and plan a little better. Also need to make a menu for the week. Just 4 dinners as we are leaving early, early Friday morning for NC. Not looking forward to eating on the road or at our friends house. I know the menu for the Superbowl party is fried everything! Oysters, shrimp and "world famous" french fries. They are making the shrimp just for us because they know we don't eat oysters. Give me strength. Our friend's son is a mechanic and owns his own business, so the party is being held in his shop. Should be a lot of fun.

The day is getting away from me here, so better try and be productive. Hope you all are enjoying this day.
Patti

Suzi, Sedona is about half way between Phoenix and Grand Canyon. We just went there for dinner and a drive but it is breath taking and worth the stop. Grand Staircase (Escalante) is north of Grand Canyon on your way to Yellowstone. It is spectacular, with different formations and types of mountains around every curve. Zion is so different than any other canyon because you go through it, instead of viewing it from the top. It has some of the best hiking of any of the canyons in the area. Zion is to the west of Grand Escalante. Bryce is just the most beautiful sandstone you will ever see and has lots of hiking trails down into the canyon. It is to the northeast of Zion. The route we took was Phoenix - Sedona - Grand Canyon - Zion & Bryce (these two are close enough that you can pick a camp spot and visit them without moving your camper) Grand Escalante (we just drove thru here on our way to Colorado) Any or all of these are awesome places to stop. Of course, if you go to Sedona you are not far from Winslow, AZ where you could be "standing on the corner" it is a great place to stop for lunch. We were there end of May to early June and had perfect weather. Is Dave 62 yet? If so, he can buy a Lifetime National Parks pass for $10. That gets you into all the National parks for free and a discount on camping. If not, you will probably want to buy an annual National Parks pass (you only need one per car) it saved us a bundle on entrance fees. Keep in mind, you are not going to be able to see it all in 2 1/2 weeks. We took a 6 week trip to AZ, UT and CO and felt like we rushed thru much of it. But we were on the motorcycle and just the ride is a big part of the trip. Hope you find some of this useful.

Patti