mdrai

Hi Vi's~~ I will begin working on our 1-year Bandiversary Blow-Out today. We've decided on gathering at a cabin/house on Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland from a Friday - Monday in April. Step 1 = Who is coming? Once I have an initial interest number, then I can check for a house to hold us all. They have houses that sleep up to 25 or so (w/indoor pools & other fun amenities!). So simply post your name & in a day or so I'll tally them up & begin the house hunt, which will then result in our dates & specific location & cost per person. I'll start!: MICHELLE! = 1

How heartbreaking, Judy! You are right... as much as we b1tch & moan about it, at least we HAVE it... gratitude is where it is AT! Have so much fun on the cruise!! Eat a shrimp for me!! LAURA!!~~ I'm so excited to type this... I saw 238 on the scale today, too!! The 30s!! Absolutely stupendo amazing!! That makes -79 for me! I cannot believe it! Pinch me!! Off to the mall w/DD & her friend to just "hang out"... ahhh, pre-teens! Everyone make it a great day!!

That's kinda the way I feel, Janie... I don't want to feel complacent at this weight... I want to KEEP GOING!! So that's why I'm "pretending" that I'm just beginning the whole process and re-committing to the bandster eating rules + water + exercise just like I did last year when I was so excited and nothing was going to stop me! Remember how inconceivable it was that we'd be able to do it when we went from full-out overeating to the liquid diet phase (for those of us who had to do it)?? We NEVER thought we could do it -- but we did because we were COMMITTED and were willing to do whatever it took. THAT'S where I need to be mentally right now!! At the beginning... not at the middle or... dare I say it... the END! :tt2: So here's to a new beginning!!

OMG Tracy! 1 week 'til the wedding???!!! :tt2:

Good Morning, Girlies~~ Yep, we're getting (or supposed to be, anyway) a big snow/ice "weather event"... so school is closed (which means kids are home & bored)... but technically nothing is falling from the sky.... yet... so much for weather "fore"casting... they make it such a big hoopla in the "Storm Center" and then nada... then tomorrow they'll babble about what happened today... but in my book, that's weather REPORTING... a completely different thing... oh well... that's my weather rant for today... Am back down to my January lowest weight... so now it's on to NEW lows!... It's amazing how quickly 8 or so lbs can go on... and then it takes at least twice that long to get it off again... maybe THIS time I've learned the lesson and so will stop the gaining!... do you think??... maybe??... I dunnoo....... A fun-filled day of cleaning, laundry, and feeding kids ahead... woo hoo. Make it a great one, Vi's!

Haydee-- You're the cutest "dork" I've ever seen!! Laura-- Ugh... in-law stuff. $60k in a month & she can't/won't tell on what?? Oooh la la... something's going on! Sorry you're in the middle of it!! Snowed yesterday a little... sunny today... calling for snow & ice & YUCK tomorrow... I'm predicting school will be cancelled, so gotta go get "supplies": bread, milk, TP & SNAX to feed all the sledders! Judy--I'm reading Duma Key also... only about 75 pages in... nothing scary has happened... YET! Now that's a BIG book to lug on vaca w/you!!

((Terri)) All my purple luv for you, your mom, & family!!

Happy Birthday, Tracy! Sorry I'm a tad late... whoopsie! :cursing:

Good Morning, Vi's~~ I did great yesterday w/my "Back on Track" program! Yay me! Need to work on water intake AND remember NOT to drink after about 7pm, as I was up 3 times to p in the nite... boo. Am working out today (friend's elliptical... can't remember when I last did that!), + have lots of this & that to do... PTA/Book Fair stuff + errands + meeting a friend for SKINNY LATTES... am definitely back to reality! Make it a great day, everyone!

Well, Tracy... I figure I look smaller in comparison to Piglet! Ha ha ha! :wub:

Bored w/planning the book fair so I made a new avatar! Back to work now...

Pam -- I just started that book, too. It's so long tho... phew! Let me know how she's liking it! Reading & knitting are my game plans against nibbling in the night... or afternoon... or morning! lol! But you know what I mean... having something to do w/my hands that makes eating difficult & unappealing.

Good Morn, Vi's~~ Pretty much back to normal around here... dh returned from Mexico... you can view his blog about the trip & see his photos here: http://web.mac.com/draimist Laura... I'm in a very similar situation... feeling good; getting lots of great feedback; wearing smaller, cuter clothes; and EATING. I told myself that I could enjoy the WDW trip & eat whatever, that we'd be walking so much it'd be ok... and it was... but *somehow* I ended up continuing that mindset on our return... all the way through last night when I was eating a big ol' slab of Amish Friendship Bread that my mom baked & it actually hurt but I ate it... duh... But I do have moments when I realize that even though I've done great so far, I'm still technically FAT and still need to continue to lose... so I'm trying to play a major mind-game w/myself BEGINNING TODAY and "pretend" that I'm just starting... that the next lb I lose will be lb #1... & go from there. I also made up those 2 charts... 1 for weekly wt loss goals & 1 for tracking my daily meds, vits, exercise & water... + I'll start wearing my bodybugg again & tracking intake. I agree w/Pam's advice also... if you can't muster up the gusto to do what you need to do, then perhaps a professional can help... Make it a great day, everyone!

My fav part is pressing the triangle on your nose to start it! Tee Hee! :cheers2:

Wow Judy! Just look at that!! What skinny little legs you have now! & a neck! and, well, just wow!! You Rock!!

Ok... working on my motivation/goals... There are 15 full weeks 'til my 1-year band-iversary & I want to lose 30 lbs between now & then to make it an even 100, so that's 2lbs/week. Reasonable. If I want to kick it up a notch, I can bump it to 2.5lbs/wk so I can be at -100 for Vi Weekend! Either way, it's all good! I made a weekly chart w/the goal weight for each week, so can track it & tweak as necessary. I also made a daily checklist for my meds, vitamins, acai juice, and water, so I can make sure I remember all that stuff, too. Can you tell that I love charts? And I love KNOWING where I am & where I want to go & having a plan to get there. Phew! I feel my mojo rising!

Hey Gang... Yep, just trying to get back into the routine... it's amazing how just a few days away can get me so out of whack! And DH comes home tomorrow, so am trying to get our laundry out of the way + clean, etc... never a dull moment. Am trying to psych myself up to getting my "losing weight" mojo back... As of today I'm at +1 for the year so far... and THAT'S not good!... so I'm going to get some motivational reading done + set some goals, etc... and whip this butt back into shape!! Make it a great day, everyone!

Ugh... those arms in the first pic give me the heebie-jeebies!! Yikes!! Needless to say... it's back on plan today!! + next week I'm kicking up the exercise to 1x/day!!! I've GOT to get back in the groove!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Altho I will say... it was wonderful to fly... I fit while walking down the aisle... + had too much seat belt!!! + I rode every ride w/out fearing that I wouldn't fit or would have a heart attack for being out of shape... It really was just a trip of NSVs & I have the band & all of you to thank for it! Now it's time to whip this butt into shape & FINISH what I started!!! I want to be at least -100 for the May trip!!!

Attempting to post a few pics... the one of us @ Splash Mountain is especially for Judy!!

I'm back! :biggrin2: We had a GREAT, FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL, AMAZING, MEMORY-FILLED trip!! The "reveal" in the car on Friday night went EXACTLY as I planned... after driving for awhile (at this point I was CRAZY waiting for one of them to ask the big question!!) ds FINALLY asked, "Mom? Where are we going?" and I shout out (definitely louder and more spastically than I intended) "SURPRISE! We're going to Disney World!" and I'm shaking & laughing and the two of them don't believe me (which I expected) so I tell them to look in the back & there they see the luggage, and then I gave them the cards from their aunt and then they begin to believe me and THEY start flippin' out and jumping up & down & it's total chaos and I'm STILL managing to keep the car on the road!! Of course ds starts text messaging his new (first!) "girl-friend" and long story short it turns out she's flying to Orlando w/ her family to visit her g'ma and we're all on the same flight! So that was fun & funny @ the airport & flight. We land & get our luggage & start walking to the Disney bus area and out pops my sis, their aunt, from behind a big pillar -- more surprise & happiness erupt! Saturday we went to Magic Kingdom & Epcot; Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom & then over to Magic Kingdom for it's "extra magic hours" for resort guests only -- we ended up riding rides 'til 1am!! It was so empty that we could just walk right on to every ride & ride them as many times as we wanted!! It was soooooo much fun! Monday dd & I went to Magic Kingdom so that she could get her "Disney Diva" makeover (hair, nails & makeup) & then we went to Hollywood Studios to meet up w/aunt & ds. The whole trip was magical. We laughed CONSTANTLY and had so much fun. We did everything we wanted to. We ate everything we wanted to, too!! We flew home on Tuesday, into a big ice storm here in the DC area. Our flight landed @ 9pm and I was worried about driving... guess I didn't have to worry so much because my car battery was DEAD!! Another L-O-N-G story short... after much freezing waiting for the car care service for a jump... back & forth between the car & airport... FINALLY someone jumped it & it started. (DD was totally freaked out by all this... we did almost end up spending the night @ the airport, which for some reason has her still upset...). Well, now I'M scared cuz' it's 1am & I've got to drive in the ice storm!! So instead of trying to make it the hour (w/out ice) drive to our house, I drove slow & steady & SLOW to my mom's house, which is closer to the airport. I was shaking so hard the whole time (good thing the kids couldn't tell!)... I don't think I could've physically driven the whole way home anyway! So we get there after 2am and I'm so wired that I can't sleep but the kids crashed & slept 'til 11am yesterday! It was still sleeting but we made it home about 1:30pm yesterday (schools were cancelled, which was good for them!). I've just been trying to chill out & do laundry & sleep since then. Today is back to "normal" day -- except that DS didn't shovel & salt the driveway as I asked him to 87 times yesterday, so now I'm frozen in as our driveway is a sheet of ice straight down the side of a hill into the woods!! Lovely. Guess we ARE back to normal... I request a teen to do a chore & he doesn't do it! Ha ha! I had such high expectations for this trip... and I'm so glad to be able to say that I wasn't disappointed -- it was really even better than I imagined. Now the big question is... when can we go back????????????????????????????? Will post some pics later!!

Oh my gosh Violets... It's FINALLY Friday, Feb. 8!! I've been waiting for this day for more than 10 WEEKS!!!!! I barely slept at all last night... I was like a kid on Christmas Eve!! And even right now I'm just a jumble of excitement!! I'm actually shiverring with all the pent up expectations & secrets!! My son kept asking me, "What are we going to do tonight, Mom?" this morning before he left for school (because we'd been talking about maybe going out to dinner :tongue2:)... that about KILLED me! I managed to squeek out "I dunno... something fun." in a low-key manner... when I really wanted to shout: GO TO DISNEY!!! :drool: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! I've got as much prepped as possible as far as packing goes... I'll probably be finished w/that by 9am!! Then I need to vacuum & clean the kitchen + mop the floor... do any of you clean your homes before you go on a trip? My family thinks it's odd, but I can't bear the thought of coming home to a messy house! I figure that'll take me up 'til about Noon... so I'm going to lunch w/2 friends as a distraction... it's either that, or I'd just sit going crazy (ier) staring at the clock as the minutes s-l-o-w-l-y tick by... DS gets home @ 3:30p, dd gets home @ 4... & I'm getting them into the car as soon as possible after that!! I am soooooooooooo freakin' out right now!! Good thing I don't have a blood pressure check this a.m.!! Re: the clothes... I got 1 pair of denim capris & 1 pair of cotton khaki capris and 4 tops... sizes from 14-16 to 18-20 for the tops, 20 jeans & 22 khakis... odd or what?? I'm a triangle. Oh, then the jean capris fit well in my legs (ugh, I hate my legs!) but were gapping in the back of the waist, so I hand-sewed 2 darts and now they're great! (Did it while I couldn't sleep last night!) Ok... am off to get dd ready for school... will try to check back... sure I will just to have something to do!! I'm serious... I feel like I might heave or something... this may be the last secret I ever try to keep... I feel it so physically!!! I am going crazy!!

Good morn, vi's~~ Well, all my posting time was taken up reading yesterday's posts, as I didn't get to check in even ONCE yesterday! I think that's a first! Oh my! Know that when I'm not "here" that I AM with each of you in spirit!! One more day!! And wouldn't you know that ds is home sick w/a stomach bug today??? !!! :eek: I'm still going to zip out & look for some clothes for me... just more quickly than I'd originally intended. This time tomorrow I'll be packing and really freakin' out!! I can't believe I've kept this secret for more than 10 weeks!! When we get to the hotel tomorrow night, my sis has told me that she's buying me a drink @ the pool bar to celebrate this accomplishment -- NO ONE who knows me EVER thought I could keep it quiet!! I'll try to check back later... ((hugs)) everyone!

Hey Girls~~ ((Jenn))... purple thoughts & prayers for you, your mom, your gram & family during this time... & hurry -up thoughts for the job!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!! The bracelet is gorgeous! Glad your feeling better... hope dh is well soon, too! Judy -- Here in Md we've got "kinklings"... probably the same type item... basically fried dough covered in powdered sugar or glaze... mmmmmmm... glad today is the last day for them!! Pam -- Warm up the Mouse for me!! Enjoy your trip!! Terri -- The classes sound cool! TracyKS -- Good luck w/the boss training! Kat -- Enjoy the snow! Be careful! Hi Haydee, Suzie, Janie, TracyK, & everyone else... Crazy busy this week trying to get ready to go on Fri w/out it seeming like I'm doing anything differently or organizing to go anywhere... NOT an easy task!... This a.m. I did sneak the kids' clothes to pack & hid them in my closet... if either one asks for a particular item that I've taken, I can just magically "find" it & then replace it w/something else on Fri... but if they don't... then I'm ahead of the game! hee hee hee! I enjoy being sneaky! Of course, I have basically NOTHING to pack for ME! -- Yikes! I am going shopping for capris/tops on Thursday... nothing more motivating than waiting 'til the last minute, huh?? Time to dash... make it a great day, Vi's!

We'll be quite the group of snazzie ladies in TX, won't we... taking care of all our "beauty treatments"!

My dad was "dying" for 2 years... I fly out to Arizona & he dies that night! So I fly to AZ, get there @ 9pm, have a drink, go to bed, get woken up @ 3am by my sister's phone call, and fly home. To this day I still ask which one of my family members told him I'd gone to have some fun for a few days... I'm willing to bet his last words were, "Watch this!" as he expired, knowing it'd mess up my plans! (I'm only 1/2 joking about that!)