The 220 from walking yesterday held this morning!!!! My morning weight, which is the one I record in the fat ass chronicle, was the same as my walking weight from yesterday. There may be a chance I drop below 220 this weekend. I sure hope so. I need to get to the greenhouse and repair the fence this morning.
Updated the MAAVS web site with the latest convention info. Got the descriptions of the presentations and entertainment which I added to the site. Afterward I went to the greenhouse and fixed the barbed wire fence across the pipeline. They cit both strands of wire which I repaired and supported in the center with some electrical pipes. This seems to be a good repair. Tried killing some fire ants along the foundation of the garage. Lib brought the Ambrol home and we walked up the hill to try zapping some up by the birdhouse. Next step was to go to Agri Supply for a trailer. I didn't like that the new trailer was 5 feet wide instead of 4 but it will do. I had to buy a 2 inch ball, then borrowed one of the tools in the store to loosen the old 1 7/8 ball. I hand tightened the new 2 inch ball and hooked up the new trailer. Bought a new pin for the receiver because I didn't trust the old pin. Used the clip from the old pin to hold the hitch latch in place. Did not have lights for the trip home in a misty rain. We stopped at the Farmers market on the way to AgriSupply and got our produce for the week. Dinner was Silverbrite salmon from Krogers along with broccoli and sweet potato. As a diet buster I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. At least it wasn't half the bottle. Before dinner I drove to the lake and walked around once then went to the library and picked up a new novel by Elizabeth Adler, "There's Something About St Tropez", a 7 day rental. Much reading to do.

Went to Lowes this morning to get nail gun nails and air hose fittings. Met Coleman there when i was checking out. Dropped the wood off at the greenhouse and found all the spotlights were broken. Need to repair the fencing and put a second fence up in the front to keep people out. Hooked up the compressor and hoses then tried the air stapler. It worked well. Later I fired a couple of 8d nails using the framing nailer. I may get a trim nailer to work on the house fascia and soffits. Weight after the 4.4 mile walk was 220. This is finally good news. The bad news is that September has not been a very good month, I'm only down about 3 pounds for the month. Dinner was crab cakes with tomato and lettuce. I'm pretty disappointed that we're not eating veggies but instead all this other gunk.

The compressor, the air hose and the stapler arrived today. The compressor is heavy. I filled it with oil, installed the air filter and briefly ran it. I need couplers for my air hose since it doesn't have any and none came with the compressor. Home Depot orLowes should fill the bill. Wall Street is doing great. All my preferreds are performing above par. Net portfolio is at a high. Now it's time to sit back and collect the divvy's. Did the 4.4 mile walk today and finished the Gemma Bruce book. I looked this author up and found her bio. Former dancer with Thyla Thorp turned writer. Dinner tonight was spinach lasagna. Watched the elimination show on Dancing with the stars tonight then watched the opening of the NY Philharmonic. They have a new conductor, alan Gilbert. I wasn't too keen on Renee Fleming's choice of songs. My weight is holding. with luck I will see 219 by Oct 1. I hated the AVSA web site tonight. Still have nothing but crap for the convention.

It was pouring rain when Libbie put the garbage and recycling cans out. I was happy because the scale reads 220.5 this morning. This is a new and satisfying low. I want to be under 220 by Oct 1, whether it's 219 or 219.9. Northern called that my nail gun is here. This is dumb. It costs $159 in the store of $99 online with free delivery to the store. I'll pick it up when I go out to get the groceries this morning.
Picked up the nail gun. They ended up giving me two. I tried protesting but the clerk was insistent. I left with two. Bought gas at BJ's for 1.39 on the way to the grocery store. UPS will come with the air hose and pneumatic stapler tomorrow. Fedex is bringing the compressor tomorrow. UPS delivered the SlingBox today. I'll use this to transmit Sarasota cable to Apex.
Watched Dancing with the Stars tonight. It wasn't too bad although I was hardly interested. Dinner was Tortellini with marinara sauce.

Still holding at 221 which is good because we had BLT lunch yesterday and then pizza last night. Nice to see the weight hold, it was not a flash in the pan. I visited the printer this morning and learned about their color copier. Sent in a JPG of "the once and future violet" and they made 25 color copies for $1 each. Lib and I picked them up - they are gorgeous! I went home and made up a bunch more signs for the MAAVS convention. Dinner was yummy. Libbie put the remaining Marsala chicken breast over some whole wheat linguine. After dinner we watched the Pete Seger birthday and then Dancing with the Stars.

I achieved 221 this morning. The light eating the past few days combined with a 4.4 mile walk each day did the trick. This is happiness. Not much time to walk since we had to leave at 1 for a 2 PM Swan Lake. We got there early so we enjoyed sitting out by the fountain with a view down Fayetteville Street and the capitol in the background. There was a large group of young ballerinas getting their picture taken in front. The weather was perfect. I really enjoyed the performance, especially the ending water scene. It was a spectacular effect. afterward I walked to Krogers to return the Visitor DVD we watched te night before. Libbie made her outstanding pizza once again. We watched the Emmys in the evening, especially the red carpet fashions.

I had high hopes for this mornings weigh in but I's still a very fat 222. I wanted to get down to 221 but it didn't happen. Need to make it happen tomorrow morning. Lots of eMail today. Linda Owens agreed to host the Presidents reception. We now have speakers but no topics. Richard is a royal pain in the ass. He quit again this morning according to Judi. Kathy Lahti wants directions to the hotel which I'll work on today. I started studying the software that makes this blog work. I'm going to add a function to compile a years worth of entries into a file.
While playing with the php blog I found the Blog Backup Menu item that will serve as a model for my compiling.
We went to Krogers and got chicken, whole wheat linguini and cheese for our dinner fixings. Libbie cooked the chicken breasts in the TJ's Marsala Simmer sauce which then went over the Linguini in a fantastic meal. I added shaved pasmesan to my meal, Libbie added provolone and mozarella to hers. after the meal we watched the Visitor on DVD.

I weighed in at 222 today. Walking in the rain yesterday and not snacking turned out to be worth it!!!! It's been a long time since I had a loss. This morning I retrieved the Condon tape from the garage for Libbie and I'm digitizing it as I write this. Earlier I dug up my trailer ball and oiled the nut so it turns freely. I'm going to use it when I buy a trailer if it fits. Newegg had a special on the Slingbox Pro. $228 speaks to me so I ordered one. We'll see if it's possible to redirect Comcast TV to Downing Place from Stoneybrook. I don't want to spend anymore money this month but the price was compelling enough to go for it. Dinner was seafood sausage and Broccoli. I liked it but of course Libbie didn't like it. I read my book some more this evening.

This is a rainy day. It's also dark and gloomy but warm. Crawled under the back bumper and installed the trailer hitch. I used the hydraulic jack to hold the hitch up while I installed the screws then tightened everything with my new socket set. I noticed the new set did not include drive extensions so I used my old ones. Tried the Cranberry Vanilla yogurt for lunch today. It was delicious but I'm trying hard to reach 220 by Oct 1 so did not have anything else. I went walking in the rain at noon - it was a light mist so I carried the umbrella but did not use it. Did the full 4.4 miles in the misty rain. Dinner was the last of the eggplant Parmesan. Listened to a classic Ruocchio Dutchman on CPE tonight while reading my new book, Who Slept on My Mattress by Gemma Bruce, an authors alter ego.

The divvy's I was expecting paid off today. I took in over $1500. UPS delivered my trailer hitch. It was well wrapped in bubble wrap. I used a box cutter to unwrap but not ding the black enamel paint covering the bar. IT seems to be sturdy and well built. It came with screws and lock wahers but not regular washers. I went to Lowes after dinner and picked up 4 large 1/2 inch washers. Dinner was a yummy eggplant Parmesan that Libbie made today. After dinner I went to the previously mentioned Lowes then started reading a new library book.

Did the groceries today as well as all the rounds. Went to the DMV to find out about Libbie's registration. All is OK. Next stop was Northern to look at framing nailers and trailers. Meantime, Libbie found a trailer at Agrisupply for $399 but we don't pay tax there so it wins!!!! I researched nailers and compressors online. I decided on a Northern framing nailer and a Hot Dog compressor by Makita. The Makita is $120 plus $50 shipping refurn online or 220 plus 8% tax at Northern. I may just get the nailer and compressor from Northern unless I can get it 0% interest at Home Depot. Dinner was rotisserie chicken, sweet potato and left over wine from Saturday. Nice meal. I'm looking for mypreferreds to pay today - should be around $1500 from CEG, PHR, SGZ and BAC.

Did the whole 4.4 miles today. I'm trying to get back on track for the weight loss since I've been flat for 2 weeks and went out to a few restaurant meals and had wine many times. Wake up Fat Ass!!!! Ordered a trailer hitch for the Corolla. Found one on eBay for a reasonable price that just bolts to the frame. The frame already has holes and welded nuts. Amazingly, I got a tracking number later in the evening. Dinner was pasta and TJ's Marinara sauce.

I went to Krogers today to return Doubt and rented Sunshine Cleaning because it had Amy Adams. Not a bad movie, not the greatest either. We were left hanging at the end. Earlier in the day we walked around Seagroves, went all the way out to 1010 and back in at Vintage Grove before cutting across to Seagrove again for a 2 mile walk. We met Bonnie and Oliver again. They said closing is Sept 25. Libbie made her super pizza again this evening.

Had breakfast in the kitchen this morning because the carpet is still damp and we don't have the furniture back in there yet. When Libbie came home we moved all the furniture back into the room. I did a 4 mile walk then we went to Frsh Market and picked up Hawaiian Salmon and a Shiraz Zinfindel blend wine that they were sampling from Toasted Head winery.
Later in the evening we watched Doubt with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams that I rented from Krogers earlier.

Heard from Judi. Dale is going to fly to Norfolk and speak at our convention. I asked Richard for a sentence on each speaker but no dice. He said maybe he'll send something Sunday. In the meantime, the Woodlands gave us a sign in web page for making reservations at our $99 rate. We went to Julie and Julia this evening in Apex. I really liked the movie. I find it hard to believe we have a stadium theater here in Apex. This afternoon Chem Dry through Home Depot came and cleaned the carpet on the back stairs and the Playroom. It didn't look too bad but I want to take care of it properly. Dinner was sliders using bean burgers and the Hawaiian sweet rolls from Tuesdays Violet club meeting.

I worked on organizing pictures and folders on Traviata which has been in a messy state. Libbie and I walked up to Seagroves. Lot 67 has sod and a nice steel fence separating it from the pond. This gives us a nice walking space without trespassing however part of the pond has a steep slope. Tried to get opera tickets at Brier Creek but they were all sold out. Found out that someone purchased $5,000 worth of tickets in one buy. They are totally sold out. While at Brier Creek we used the rest of our gift certificate to get dinner at Carinos. I had eggplant Parmesan, Libbie did also. This wiped out our gift cert, had to add $10 more which included a tip. When I got home I was able to get tickets to Tosca and to Hoffman at North Hills online.

Did not walk today but I cut up and moved the fallen tree in the front yard. It fell while we were away in Florida in late July. Hauled the logs down to the creek. I wanted to eat lite tonight so dinner was a BLT.

Surprisingly I have not heard from Vladimir overnight. He must be busy somewhere. Today is a disaster for eating. I had some donuts in Krogers then when I got home Libbie had the violet club here. The meeting was nice but I had a cheese danish and a large lunch with many glasses of sweet tea. The eating binge continued in the evening with another danish and two helpings of bean salad. Whew. I fine tuned the MAAVS web site today, need to check on room availability tomorrow since a few want to start working early. Did not walk at all today - no time. Will have to make up for it tomorrow.

Today was MAAVS day. I spent the time updating the web site and communicating with people. The event schedule is finally on the web site along with the hotel info. Still don't have speaker info and we're missing a third speaker. I also wrote the convention article for Vladimir and sent him half a dozen pictures to use with the article. It was a full day and hard to believe so little can require so much. Dinner was TJ's frozen eggplant Parmesan. Libbie cleaned the house today because violet club is meeting here tomorrow.

Went into Kroger's for milk and a newspaper early this morning. The nice girl in tight jeans was not working today. After the paper I did some MAAVS convention stuff then went out to cut up more of the felled tree. Hauled all the logs and a few of the bayberry bush branches down to the pile. This completes the side yard tree. Still have a big tree laying down in the front yard that needs clean up. After taking a shower, Libbie and I went to an open house downtown at the RBC tower. The condos are beautiful but no birds and yard. The floor to ceiling glass and decorator furnishings look like something out of a magazine or movie. We met an old gentleman who was from Manhattan and has lived here for 4 months. Libbie made her outstanding pizza again. She also photographed my portrait in the front yard for the AVM. After dinner I completed a bio for the board of directors listing in the AVM.

Another nice day. It's getting a little warmer. I spent some time this morning organizing music and magazines on Traviata. Went outside and dropped the dead pine next to the driveway turnaround. I let it fall with the help of the come along next to the row of bayberry bushes, half of which are dead anyway. Did a few wheelbarrows of logs moving them to the pile in the back on the other side of the creek. Kept working until exhausted then I took a shower and got dressed for dinner. Tonight we had salmon and veggies with a single glass of Shiraz. We're getting better.

A nice day. I have a lot to do today so skipped the walk temporarily today only. Worked on the MAAVS schedule and put it on Google docs for review by the group. This was a big deal since I had to call the Woodlands to get details on the banquet and cash bars. I also transferred a lot more of my files off the old Manon. I believe I'm done transferring files and data. I worked on organizing the playboy centerfold collection using LinPha on the server. This program works better than expected for displaying art or playboy. We left at 6 for First Friday. It was also Friday night of Labor Day weekend. I-40 on the way downtown was stopped in several places. We got off at Saunders instead of Gorman because of the congestion. Parked in the Public garage near Caffe Luna then walked to first Visual Arts where we had wine and crackers with crab dip then toured some of Artspace. Voted for a Rocky Alexander painting as our favorite then worked our way over to the restaurant. We had a nice table in the corner in the window. Libbie had just remarked that we never sat in the corner by the window. I had grilled tuna with veggies. We shared an Irish Bash desert which was chocolate encrusted cheesecake with chocolate syrup drizzled on. Afterwards we walked back to City Market to listen to the band but they were on break. Got home at 9:40.

Weight is at 224 this morning. I'm going to work on getting rid of the extra pound or two today. Started my day by researching using a PHP function to compile my musings blog. I want a PHP script to collect all the individual daily entries into a single text file for each year. I'm going to move on from Joyce starting today. There's no looking back. I'm looking forward to weighing less than 200 by the end of the year but doing the Math, I realistically will be 210. It would be 24 pounds in 17 weeks or 1.4 pounds a week to reach 200. Less than a pound a week will be 210 in 17 weeks or 3/4 pounds a week. I'll keep what I'm doing and see where it leads. Exercise along with reduced intake should help.

Finished scanning the army books and one family book today. Good deal. I'm rolling along on this stuff. Tried more Google searches for Joyce but no luck. Researched picture frames today. I would like a frame tethered to my computer that I can update over USB or Ethernet. This evening I ordered a new Timex watch from Amazon along with the eat this not that book. Dinner was salmon and broccoli.

Did the grocery runs today - went to Trader joes then Winn Dixie. Afterward I walked the full 4 miles. Need to keep working on the weight. Finished a story for Ruth for the AVM. I was going to work on the MAAVS web site and convention but got derailed. Joyce is still very much on my mind - it's so sad. I fully expected to see her again some day and now I never will. Dinner was the pasta I picked up in Trader Joes today.