Tuesday April 4

So sorry to read about your cousin. Very sad! My brother was burned by a pressure cooker that exploded (his error) and that was awful. I can only imagine what injury an exploding propane tank could cause.

Prayers!

Did a rotation in a burn center. That is awful pain. Praying.

Great job, Liz !! Can't wait to hear how your "talk" with your boss goes. Paula.. glad my girls are 30 & 28. Parenting never ends, but the HS days are rough.

Okay. Non stop rain and flood advisory until the weekend. Two days of some sun and high 50's, then back to drenching rain. Yellow lab..rain... mud...AGH! I NEED sun induced endorphins !!!

Sun, sleep, serenity, all !

Greetings Merry Maintainers

Carbon, glad you are seeing the sun. I still think you are courageous to go walking in lashing rain when you do. Sun = better mood= better food choices.

134.5 today. Not so good. Tacitos last night as request of DH. Must have chicken tonight. At least DH took Chip on a long walk.

Interesting discussion about going in drag to the prom. Hope it goes well. I have a friend who's daughter is in cosmetology school in Hollywood where many go on to work in the film industry. Maybe thats a career for your son, Paula.

Joey stay with it and good results will come. Of course, I am not getting my extra pounds off so easier said than done. And today is another gallery day which means sitting and walking in circles and dusting. That and watching the Plaza show. Our gallery sits across from the town square which is a park and a gathering place for homeless people and oddballs. Sometimes they get in fights and I have had to call the police more than once. None have ever bothered me but it gets busy there on a calm summer day. Also people doing juggling and hula hoops and other harmless stuff. Even yoga and martial arts.

Shel I think your scale is possessed. Needs an exorcism. So does my refrigerator.

Peace and Joy. Diane S

Diane - DS#2 does want to become a make-up artist. We are looking at schools in NY, CA and Chicago.

My niece graduated from MUD in NYC and loved it!!! http://www.mud.edu/programs

P.S. so sorry about your cousin's injuries Joey. WE are all thinking of you. Wish we all could send skin. Hug those grandsons. Diane S

Okay, I'm back - taking a little break before my friends show up with their old dog that I used to show. Will be a nice visit, but the dog is rather difficult to groom! My elbow already hurts, so trimming Elvis won't help it any.

Shrink session yesterday was positive. Clearly the new med is making a noticeable difference. We talked a bit about it and she wanted to know if Ron noticed a change. I came home and asked him because he hasn't really said anything. He burst out laughing when I asked him if he noticed and said, basically, yeah, duh... He said I'm playful again, which I haven't been in a long time... who knew???? My opinion...I wish I had known that I have been suffering some level of on and off mild depression for years. If this is what people without depression feel like, damn! I will take it. I don't have that euphoria I had the first few days of increased dose, but I sure do feel at ease in my skin and better able to-go-with-the-flow, look at things with a water-off-a-duck's-back sort of feeling.

As for eating and losing weight: Epiphany! NO MORE GETTING BACK ON TRACK! The mindset of getting back on track for me is punitive. It means I've been off track eating things I should not eat - that in a sense I have been bad. Also, getting back on track does not involve a positive based approach plan for me. It's a strategy filled with don'ts. Instead, I am putting together a plan with which I can live to lose weight and then maintain. I am hesitant to take this approach because while I have said things like this in the past, I still have really had the punitive approach in the background as my guide. I am leery of the work involved in this approach. I'm scared by the fact that developing a plan will force me to acknowledge some things I don't want to deal with - specifically the feeling that I will lose the one last comforting (but detrimental) habit I have left that helps me cope with life's stressors; positive and negative alike.

Great news on medical front is that I finally passed intake with the psych department. I went through the first stage and that psych decided I should talk with the ED intake psych. Had that phone appointment yesterday and it was deemed that I don't fit a mold for any of their groups, so I will meet on the 19th with the psychiatrist I had hoped to see in the first place. It will be interesting to see what he has to say and what his take is on Vyvanse.

And that, my friends, is my story for today.

117.5, calories 1023. What the heck - up a pound? I thought I had a good bathroom day. Still getting used to maintenance.

I talked to my boss about a compressed work week. Basically I would work Mon-Weds 10 hours, then 1/2 day Thurs and Fri (early - done by 10 or 11). That way I would have the rest of the day with DH. And in the summer when I usually take Fridays off I would be off fully those 2 days. My boss said he is fine with it but has to get an ok from his boss. I told him that either I do this, go part time or retire now.

Layoffs tomorrow - I'm dreading the discussion with the individual I have to let go.