What's on your (PHOTO) Friday Menu, RNYers?

Happy PHOTO Friday! I want to see everyone's smiling faces today, since I have missed you all! Show yourselves!

Ok, I mentioned that I am here to get "back on track". I want to be super honest about what that means for me... I am 19 pounds higher than my lowest weight, and 15 away from where I felt the best (and let's not forget that at under 5' that is a big percentage of weight for me). I really have the urge to do something drastic because that is what I have done for my whole life. But I have spent a lot of time this year wresting with an "all or nothing" mentality that gets me in trouble in every aspect of my life.

I can't do Keto or liquid diets again, I just can't...

But I also know that I really need to detox from the crazy amount of carbs I have been eating (I've developed a daily cracker habit, not to mention the wine...). So for that reason, I am willing to do a week of zero carbs. I don't want to make it a "challenge" or "contest", because I am too mentally unhealthy about that stuff, but I would love some solidarity, so if anyone wants to do an old fashioned AMAW (All Meat All Week) with me, I would love to have you join me! I'm doing my shopping this weekend and will start it on Monday. If you want to join me to cut the carbs, I'd be happy to have friends with me!

Here I am... Pic 1 is me a head to toe, in some scary sized pants I had to buy so that I had something decent to wear out on Mother's Day. This is a real "fess up" moment for me.

Pic 2 won't let me turn it the right way! But I am showing it anyway, because this is a shirt that Partlypollyanna gave me and it is amazingggg! She is the sweetest to think of me when she saw Queen Dolly!

QOTD: Do you bird watch or feed the birds? We never did, but I got a squirrel-proof feeder for Christmas and we mounted it right in front of the bay window so that the kitties can see our bird friends. The kitties love watching the birds, and we have come to really enjoy it, too!

Yesterday was another day completely on track--well under 800 calories. I am staying off the scale for a few days to avoid being discouraged and giving up, but I already feel a little less puffy after just a few days :)

Good Morning!

I send positive vibes and good wishes to you for next week!

This photo is kind of old now.. it was taken back in April but I realized I don't have anything newer then that (that I would be comfortable putting on the internet anyway.. I take monthly progress pics)

QOTD: most of the other people who live in my building are seniors - there are bird feeders everywhere and the birds and squirrels terrorize my small prey driven pup..

b: fairlife latte

S: 120g cottage cheese, 7.5g PB, 50g strawberries

l: 25g ham, 25g turkey, 2 mini peppers, laughing cow cheese and slice Swiss cheese

s:tbd

d: tbd

S: tbd

You look fantastic! Thanks for showing us how you are doing!

Good mornin JB and thanks for getting us started!

Yesterday ended badly for me. Emotionally I'm just a wreck. I'm starting to see my therapist again next week. She was able to work me in for a lunch appointment since she won't be open again until July. I need to work some things out...that's for sure.

No big plans for the day. I'm going to call the representative for the stimulator company once again to try and get it reprogrammed. We'll see if I can get ahold of someone. Really disappointed in all that mess...can't even tell you how much so.

QOTD: we do feed birds and the occasional bunny. Someone around here let's their bunny around and the neighbors across the street have a few that roam their front yard. So so cute! They also have some baby chickens that can get out of the yard. They are actually cute too.

B: chicken sausage, slice of cheese and maybe a yogurt later this morning - coffee before

L: will likely make some split pea soup and have a piece of smoked turkey sausage

D: probably the same as lunch but may add a tbs of cheese

S: popcorn, PP shake and a chai tea

Pic of me a few days ago and the very close to my heart pic of my niece Rachel. She got three awards yesterday and I'm so proud of her!

So happy for her :)

Hope you feel better this weekend!

Thanks :o)

Happy Fri-Yay all!

This is a re-post from a couple of years ago, but its old friends week, so why not?

One more day until vacation!

I've told everybody that I was going to Massachusetts for vacation but that is only partly true. I am going to Massachusetts for a portion of the week and spending a portion of the week, at home, on a stay-cation.

My last stay-cation went poorly. Perhaps, I am dwelling too much on the negative aspects though, I guess you guys can be the judge.

Ordinarily, I don't take stay-cations because if my staff and clients know that I am at home they will call all day long and I just end up working from home. But, a few years ago, I had some slow time at work with the coming end of the fiscal year and decided to spend a week at home working on a home improvement project.

The first day of the project went well, me and Marilyn worked calmly together and made good progress on the demolition aspect of the job. It was inordinately hot for September but that didn't really matter because we have central air and a whole house fan. After dinner, we went to bed. Somewhere, deep in the middle of the night, we both woke up gagging from the smell of a skunk. We turned off the whole house fan, closed the windows, wrapped our heads in blankets and managed to fall asleep for a few more hours.

The next day, we continued the project. The yard was still kind of smelly and Marilyn seemed distracted but I didn't think too much of it. In the afternoon we broke off work and went to an end of summer festival in a neighboring town. We got home fairly early and I went into the family room to watch TV. Marilyn came up from the basement and said to me:

"there is a poop in the basement window well"

non-plussed, I said "OK"

"I think its from the skunk"

still not understanding, I said "Is the skunk in the window well"

"No, I think it went into the pipe"

Finally starting to grasp the magnitude of this problem, I asked "Where does the pipe lead?"

Yes, where does the pipe lead? Six feet down, narrowing from six to four inches, and then both left and right at 90 degree angle. Then enveloping the entire house and connecting to our two sump pumps which are, wait for this, inside our house.

Apparently the skunk had been chased by a predatory animal and fallen into the window well. When he realized that he couldn't climb up the sheer steel face of the well, he decided to enjoy a bowel movement and then climb down into the pipe

Let us pause to reflect on how I am now situated. Its Labor day weekend, 95 degrees out and we have a direct PVC line from an angry, trapped skunk into our partially finished basement. Portions of the house now have a gagging, chemical smell. Tears are being shed. Calls are being made to our home insurers. Mortgage balances remaining are being researched. Marilyn's productivity on the improvement project flagged. Even Kelly may not be able to find a silver lining here.

The next day featured calls to animal control, (who told us to call a plumber), calls to plumbers (who were at their Lake Houses enjoying the long weekend), traipses around the house to see which rooms smelled to which degree, and as much time spent outside working as was physically possible. My youngest sat mysteriously half way between the window well and the sump pump playing video games, seemingly impervious to the smell.

Nights were spent in a stifling skunk sauna. Neither the air, nor the whole house fan could be turned on for fear of spreading the smell throughout the entire house. We lay on each side of the bed trying desperately not to touch each other and waiting for a breeze to bring some air into the room. On Tuesday, the plumber did come out and we entered the next phase of the staycation.

A video line was run into the pipe which confirmed that we did, in fact have a dead skunk in the French Drain. Several options were presented, the first of which was a root removal tool, and the most extreme of which was hiring a backhoe to dig six feet down and remove the portion of the pipe containing the skunk. As an added bonus, the backhoe option would likely require destroying the driveway and landscaping of my neighbor's brand new house. My neighbor's family is tremendously nice, but by occupation, he is a litigation partner at a downtown law firm.

The root removal tool was not successful, but did in fact, raise our hopes that it had been so. Unfortunately, as later video work showed, it only moved the skunk into a different part of the pipe. Many days, dollars, and tears were spent wondering whether the root removal plan worked.

Finally, on the Wednesday after I returned to work we resolved that it was time to bite the bullet and get the excavator guy in. One last Hail Mary was tried. Two septic trucks were brought to our house. One truck connected to the drainpipe that the skunk crawled into and began to suction. The other connected to the next window well and began shooting clean water into the pipe. Between the pushing and pulling, the skunk was finally extricated. I passed out 100's to the workers like Pac Man Jones at the Doll House. The driver knocked on the door and asked Marilyn if she wanted to see the rodent. She declined.

The next few weeks were a blur of bleach, vinegar, whole room de-ionizers and smell tests. By Thanksgiving, I was comfortable that the skunky smell had gone away.

QOTD: Only when we have hummingbirds.

Pictures are Peonies and Rose of Sharon. I will come back later and try for a person picture as requested.

Happy Hour needs to be under control as tomorrow is Murph. I'm thinking white wine.

Breakfast: omlette

Lunch: Salad

Dinner: wine, cheese, charcuterie.

LOVE THIS!!!! I've missed you!!!!!

OMG I remember this story! It's hilarious! (well, for us anyway - not for you and Marilyn!).

beautiful flowers too!