Hello, November Buddies! I know I'm a few hours early but Monday morning and afternoon are going to be very busy for me so I'm taking this opportunity to get things off the ground! I just saw Wanda's post that Britt will be back soon! Isn't that fantastic news?! Did everyone have a great weekend? How was the eating? Well, mine was grazing, eating things I had no business eating and I'm feeling it tonight! Is your weather as hot as ours here? WHEW!! Thank God for AC in cars and houses! This morning we took off for the water park. We have passes for it and an amusement park but it was too hot for that. We were there early enough to actually ride some of the water rides without waiting in line for hours! We had the best time going down huge, winding slides in inner tubes and in a rubber boat. I love the big Wave Pool but my husband won't go to the deep end and "ride" the wave! I could stay there for hours! There's also a big, winding water feature that just carries you along, I like that one too but it was crowded by the time we got there so we didn't spend as much time there as usual. I wore a tankini today and once we got there, I took off my t-shirt I wore from the parking lot. Because of my healing arm incisions, I did wrap a towel around my shoulders and arms like a shawl when I was walking from attraction to attraction but standing in line at the rides, I just tried to keep my arms close to me so I wouldn't shock anyone! The dogs had cabin fever and were giving us fits to go somewhere when we got home. It was just too hot for the Bark Park or a walk so we took them to what they know as "The Dog Store." That can be PetCo, Pet Smart or any of the local ones. They love to find "free" food under the bins or out of torn bags and they love to get treats from the clerks. This evening I grilled steaks and veggies outside and we ate sliced tomatoes (local, so hopefully we won't get sick!!!) with that and it was DELICIOUS! Funny I've never had any problem eating steak but most breads, rice and even couscous bother me! Ok, scale report! Mine is exactly the same as last week. I went up a little a couple of days but 129.50 keeps coming up on the scale. I'm happy with that. Oh, let me report a compliment from my husband today!!! At the water park we saw all types of bodies and I've always been pleasantly surprised that so many women of ample proportions would go there and walk around in their swimsuits. I used to swim in a suit plus long t-shirt as recently as last summer when I weighed around 145. I was still too self-conscious of my body! But back to my husband's compliment. When we left, he said: "You look better than 99% of the women there, including the young ones!" WOW! I've gotten more compliments from my husband in the last 6 months than I've gotten during our entire marriage! So, have you had any WOW moments lately? How are you doing on your food intake? What are your recent or ongoing challenges and what solutions have you come up with? Today we shared a lunch at the water park. My husband chose the burger over the chicken but neither were healthy! I did eat some fries but I gave him the majority of the burger and I took 1/2 of the bun off the part I did eat. I'd had a protein shake for breakfast and part of another later this afternoon so with the steak, I had plenty of protein today. Too much fat but I'll get back on track tomorrow! Preplanning my food and tracking it closely are still big hang ups for me. I do it and then I just get too lazy. I keep a running total in my head but I know it's too easy to forget something or underestimate how much I'm eating. Ok, let's hear it from the gang! CeCe

I wanna be "HOT"!!!!!!!!!! Even better though. My hubby bought me a diamond necklace (that actually fits around my neck now) for my 40th birthday next month! I guess I'll take that over being "hot" any day of the week!

Wow, Chrisy--what a great compliment! I can't imagine my son saying that to me, but I know he is happy for me. I agree about the surgery being much safer now than years ago. I only knew two people that had it and they both died from complications. Look how healthy and strong we are! Times HAVE changed! Wanda

I didn't know you are a weldor! That is so great! I love to see stereotypes broken. You are a lovely weldor! I'm so happy for your daughter. I would love to be able to give my daughter this surgery. It would change her life (and maybe she would leave the drunken, cheating bum!). If I ever get an extra $30,000 that's what I would do with it!

You can have my scale too I get WAY too obsessed with weighing myself. I've never gone beyond once a day but dang if I haven't thought about it a time or two. I have managed to stay off the scale since Sunday. I can't remember now if I put that in my plan or not this week, to stay off the scale for seven days. But I do agree it's good to weigh at least once a week to make sure things aren't going nuts and you have no clue. It keeps us honest at least with ourselves. I had to go two months without a scale last summer and in some ways it was nice to not obsess about it and in other ways it was a concern that I wasn't keeping track of where I was. Good luck finding the tennis shoes Corinna Q