DW, It sounds like your potential new job could be quite interesting and rewarding. Helping young people with employment opportunities is a worthy endeavor! Is whole foods similar to clean eating? It sounds like it could be...avoiding processed foods, etc.

Shari, I suspect that June will fly by for you with your trip on the horizon. You, too, are helping youth in a wonderful way. I detest onions even more than liver LOL! My mother was this way about onions too. I consider our home an onion-free zone.

I did well with my big excursion today, no problem getting in the van at home and after my hair appointment. It feels great to have my hair cut again. I was really tired by the time we got home (I left the house around 2:30 and got home around 6 pm). I didn't do a lot of walking, but my legs got tired. I will talk to my OT and PT about this.

Shari, You are wise to recognize how important it is to enjoy the moments of each day. I appreciate that you wrote that because it is a good reminder for me too.

I had another full day today and stayed on track with points, though I was tempted to stray. As luck would have it, I got distracted and didn't reach the snack I was considering. My cleaning service comes tomorrow so I had a lot of what I call house prep to do today. I tend to keep many things in arm's reach for myself because of my physical challenges, but I like to get things back to somewhat normal in advance of the cleaning service's arrival. It was easier to do this time because I have been keeping up better and keeping things neater since I have been feeling better and having less pain. I had a fairly ambitious to do list and am quite pleased with today's accomplishments. Oh, and I also had another hour of OT today and so did John.

Shari, Holding those 2 pounds off is terrific! Yay for you!

I had another full and productive day. But it had some drama from the "prez" again. Our inter-church group is meeting here on Sunday afternoon as they voted at the last meeting that all meetings will now be at my home with various member providing cake/pie etc. and I will provide the coffee. It sounded reasonable and manageable to me, especially since the prez and a few of the other women offered to help me with the set up an clean up. Earlier in the week the prez told me to serve chips and pretzels too. I agreed with that. Well today she told me I should also be serving soft drinks and alcohol! When I told her I had some soft drinks on hand but really no alcohol to speak of, she said, "Well then my husband isn't coming!" Ugh! I told her he could bring his own alcohol if he wanted to, but I am not providing that. She mentioned another member and said he said will also expect alcohol. Honestly, I never paid attention to who drank what, but I have no plans to get or serve alcohol. I guess the men in the group enjoy served drinks, but that is not our purpose nor is it needed. Then she told me it will be too late in the day for her to drink coffee. I said I will have decaf too. No response. Again, I told her I have some bottled water, seltzer, diet soda, and regular soda on hand. Of course she doesn't like any of the kinds I have. Just when I thought we had turned the corner and she was being cooperative based on our recent discussions (until today). Now we are back to her trying to push me around and criticizing all I do. Sorry for this long post, but I just had to vent.

Shari, thank you for allowing me to vent and for understanding my situation so well. Your prayers were heard as the prez called me again today in a much nicer tone. We didn't discuss yesterday's conversation, and today's conversation was shorter and somewhat pleasant. I suspect she might regret some of her words from the day before but is not the type to apologize. I worked hard today with Craig prepping for Sunday's meeting. With Craig's help I was able to organize and de-clutter things in the kitchen and to set up for the meeting which will be in the living room/dining (it's all one big room). I could not have done it without Craig. He is worth every dollar I pay him. And he is always so pleasant no matter what the chore. I ate well today but once again neglected to track my food. I probably won't track tomorrow either because of the sweets being served. Back to strong program efforts on Monday.

Shari, woo hoo for you with your scale success again!!! What you are doing is sure working. So happy for you. And such good timing with your trip on the horizon. Nice that the cement work was completed before the rain arrived. Will look forward to seeing your pictures of the project.

Today's meeting was ok but felt odd to me in a way. One of the men John and I really enjoy didn't come today because he was under the weather. His wife (whom I adore) and his grandson came which was good, especially having the grandson here as he and John enjoy talking. The prez was mostly in a good mood, but I caught her in a lie about the vote to have all future meetings at my home. The vote was not in the minutes of the last meeting, and the other members said no such vote was taken. Prez denied telling me that in March they voted to have all future meetings at my home. I think I looked pretty stupid, and she steadfastly denied telling me that. Why on earth would I make something like that up?? I pushed a bit about this a bit but decided to let it go. I offered to have the next meeting here but I think they might just have the next meeting at the Prez's church. That is fine with me. In fact I think I prefer that. Prez did help me a lot with setting up and cleaning up. For that I was graciously thankful to her.

I didn't over eat but did indulge in sweet treats that I typically don't eat. I am not worried about getting back on track as the treats were good but not to the point that I won't get back on track. I think I no longer have that all or nothing mentally that used to derail me for long periods of time.

Hello! Just a quick note since I need to get to sleep... Shari, congrats on your weight loss!! Whatever you are doing is working!! Paula, congrats on taking the high road with the Prez! Her antics are beyond rude!! Also congrats on driving!! You are making great progress!!
Tomorrow, 6/11, is my 50th wedding anniversary. I work during the day and plan to take doughnuts to work to share the celebration. We will go out to dinner tomorrow night but plan to save for our trip to AK in September, which will be the real celebration! It is our gift to ourselves for the anniversary and for our BIG birthdays this year. I joined Planet Fitness over the weekend and went for a free session tonight with a trainer to set up my program based on my goals. It was very helpful and the young man was very nice and patient! He said that I could have another session with him to make adjustments to the program as needed. That's all the news -I plan to not think about making good choices at the restaurant tomorrow -LOL!! Have a great Tuesday!1

Hello! Shari, I hope that the printer concerns are resolved very quickly! I know how frustrating and time consuming that can be. I'm glad that you got to spend time with your friend even though the food wasn't good. Paula, I hope that your weekend has turned out to be as relaxing as you had planned! Do you get your organic foods from a local place? I've been trying to locate good resources around here. I did try Aldi's today and found limited organic meats and produce but at good prices.
I had a challenging agenda today and got enough of it completed. I started early walking the dog. Then I went to the car wash and cleaned out my van, then to Planet Fitness for a workout. MY DD worked until noon today and we went to many stores in the afternoon-all to get groceries-we went to Aldi's, Costco, and then Walmart. Costco is in a town about 15 miles away. We were both exhausted by the time we finished. I am giving myself and the dog a break tomorrow and am sleeping in. It is supposed to be in the 90s for the next 8 days, with four of those being considered dangerously hot. We should be fine as long as the air conditioning keeps going.
Have a blessed Sunday!

It was another restful day for me with a surprise visit from a friend early in the afternoon. I was happy to see her, and she stayed just a little while, not too long, which I appreciated. It was nice to catch up with her in person instead of on the phone. I didn't cook much today, just reheated some leftovers. I was quite hungry through the day but made healthy choices, mostly.

Managing good food choices when out of our normal routines is not easy. Congrats Shari for not letting loose! Nice that your guests are easy to have. That is how I felt when my Texas family visited this past autumn. And wow, entertaining 10 guests on Father's Day....sounds exhausting to me. Good for you for tackling that Shari.

I did ok today but it could have been better. I tracked by points and made good choices, but got really hungry before supper, so I ate without John. Everything was ready and he just wasn't hungry yet. On some days I get hungrier before he is and if I wait to eat till he is hungry, I tend to overeat. He doesn't mind that I eat without him on those days, as I sit with him of course while he eats supper. But I do enjoy it more when we eat at the same time.

I tracked my points again today and did well. My hunger level was reasonable but once again I ate without John. It was another full day with our therapies and taking care of my to do list which was manageable. I have had to adjust my to do list expectations a bit since 2 hours every afternoon are spent in therapy 4 days a week as I stay present while John has his therapy too. I have been pretty good about not stressing too much on what I want to accomplish and what I actually do. Since I am feeling better as a result of the therapies, when I actually do tackle my chores, I do so better and with less pain, so it does pay off.