Hi, all. Although I appreciate the "atta girls," when I weighed this morning as I usually do, the scale was back up to 129.4. I expected that even though it was nice to see that lower number for one day.

Kelly, I'm glad to hear that things are moving in a good direction with your son and that some help is available with your MIL. It's hard to work, be there for family, and still put time in to exercise and think about what you're eating. I do better some days than others. I'm finding it a little harder for some reason to log my food soon enough to be sure that I don't forget about that one cookie or that handful of nuts, etc. I do find that logging food, even though not perfectly, helps. And for me, having that 10K steps a day goal is important. Some days I don't make it. I had eight thousand and a few on both Wednesday and Thursday of last week. But on days when I wasn't so tired or busy, I tried to get a little extra walking time in and it all worked out. I just know that some days, I have to give myself a pass. And mentioning which, here are my 7-day averages for last week:

Steps = 10,955
Kcals burned = 1,715

It was a little easier to put in extra steps to get the average up after a couple of less than average days because the weather was not so hot and humid. It's also easier for me now because I am not working. When I look back, it is not fun to remember how I felt when I'd work 10 hours a day, spend an hour or more on the road, and get home so exhausted that all I wanted to do was eat dinner and sit. Wish I had a do-over, but since we don't get those, I'm just trying to keep myself moving now even though there are days when my legs feel like they weigh a hundred pounds a piece. But in summary, yes, keeping track of my activity using my fitbit and logging food on MFP make a big difference for me.

And mentioning moving, I need to try to walk earlier today, if the heat allows. Our neighbors' son is aging out of little league softball and has only a couple of games left. So we are going to his game today. It starts at 5:30 and we'll be driving during rush hour, so my late afternoon is booked. Lois, that drive to Scottsdale sounds tiring and I think that nap was earned! Hope PT is going well and that the discomfort is getting much less.

Still have not heard from the surgeons office regarding a date, but I'm already concerned about what will happen during those 2 weeks afterwards. Pre-worrying. I do that!

As I expected, my weight on weigh-in day would not persist, and in fact, I bounced right up 130 point something within a couple of days. It was 130.2 this morning. I have to keep reminding myself that my weight bounces around based sometimes on how much salt or sugar I've consumed, and sometimes for no reason at all that I can discern. It just does.

Friday, I had a rough day because I was trying to handle frustration related to my surgery. On Wednesday, I sent an email to my PCP to ask them to check in with the surgeon's office since I was told on September 4 that they should have October openings at the surgical center and hospital within a week to 10 days, and yet every time I have called, I just get a voicemail saying, we still cannot book.

When I had not received a reply to that email by Friday mid-morning, I decided to bite the bullet and call the surgeon's office again myself. I was able to get a live voice this time, but once again, I was told that they still are unable to schedule me. I asked why, of course, and they said that all of the surgery centers and hospitals get booked up way in advance for the last 4 months of the year because people wait until they've met all of the insurance deductibles and after summer travel etc.

Knowing that being unpleasant would not help my cause, I explained to the scheduler that I have had to wait months between all the appointments I had to go through to get to this point and that if this turns out not to be benign, this very long wait may adversely affect my outcome, and I asked her to please do whatever she can to get me on the books. I also thanked her for her efforts thus far. Then I called--rather than emailed--my doctor's office, told them what had occurred and asked them to please also call. They did, and they stressed that my doctor wants this done in October, and they were told (but who knows if this is true) that they have moved to the top of the list. But they were also given the "no openings" info I got. So I asked if the "last four months of the year" reason is valid, and my doc said unfortunately, it is. We deal not only with a huge population here in Montgomery County, but people from all over the state come into the county because small local hospitals are either not good or cannot handle certain kinds of procedures.

So I wait, and I'm having twinges (not pain, just uncomfortable twinges) in my breast and arm that make it very hard to just put this out of my mind. And Friday was a day when it all weighed heavy. And I can't really get talk to hubby much about it because he gets just furious at the situation, and that makes it worse for me and not better. So in the early evening, I finally persuaded myself that sometimes you just have a bad day and that I needed to go down and get on the treadmill and watch a show I had taped that has no redeeming social value! And I felt much better went I woke up on Saturday. So say prayers and cross your fingers that something comes open for me in October. I so need this over and done with!

Sheesh, I remember the photos you shared of your ballpark, and I'm so sorry to hear that it's closing. It was, indeed, beautiful. I often question decisions that local leaders make. We are losing our local golf course to--you guessed it--more housing. And we were told when we moved here that the golf course would never be developed because it's wetlands. So what are they doing? Ripping out all the trees and building it up 15 feet by bringing in topsoil. Knowing how topsoil settles after our experience with our yard this year, I am just waiting for some of these new homes to fall into a sinkhole.

Well, the morning is speeding by, so I need to get busy. Hope everyone has a good start to the week.