Off and Running

I love that first day of school, new notebook, brand-new-sharpened-pencils feel that comes with Monday morning. It's full of possibilities and so appealing to my optimistic soul. So this morning I got up before the alarm and had finished breakfast and was on the running trail before 7 o'clock. What a great way to start the day and the week.

When I got back, I took a quick tour of my garden babies. Here are a couple pix of some of the current

stars that I promised to show you.

That's a knockout rose, my day lily bed, and some hellebore (the green flowers) and a coral honeysuckle.

My Spring Focus goals are going along swimmingly. I wanted to lose 12 pounds between May 4th and July 4th and so far I've lost 9.8 pounds (as measured at my 'official' WW weigh ins). I set a goal to drink 8+ cups of water daily and, except for a couple of days where I knew I wouldn't be able to get to a "facility" easily, I have done this. I think this is a keeper. Having this habit keeps me feeling full. If I get the urge to munch before meals, I have another glass of water and lose the urge. It also does a great job of flushing extra sodium (like from our splurge dinner out at P. F. Changs!). I've also been keeping better track of my portions for a couple of weeks. This has gone okay, but I think the exercise has served its purpose (to make me more aware of the correct portions) and will go back to using my best judgment.

My new short-term goal will address exercise. I want to do some intentional exercise every

day; something over and above the normal exercise I get going about my everyday routine. I'll continue to do my running (week 8 of C25K) 3 or 4 days a week. I'll also bike 13-15 miles a couple of days a week, go to the gym to lift weights 2 or 3 times per week, and do exercise on my Wii Fit as a last resort if I have not managed any of the other three options in a day. I enjoy the Yoga and the Tennis (the Grand Slam Tennis is miles better than the Tennis that comes with the Wii console). I think I can manage every day. I have previously tried to exercise five times per week, but I want to ratchet things up a bit.

My darling grand babies are here (not the garden ones, the human ones). E, dressed in a sparkly, Disney Princess costume, is sitting on her little green potty and watching Sesame Street. J, is in his high chair attacking some chopped strawberries with gusto. I'm going to sign off and play now. Bye!