I�m sorry to have left my throngs (three) of regular readers in the lurch for so long. I had no idea it�s been nearly a month since I updated. Unfortunately, there�s been nothing of note to write about. I�ll give it my best.

I�m pretty jazzed about the weather here in the Mitten. This has been the nicest April in a number of years. We�ve had steady temps in the 60-70 degree range for the last week or two and that suits me to a tee. Very unlike our usual season of frigid temps, spiking 80 and 90 degree days, bookended by massive snowfalls and flooding. I�ve taken to walking the dog in the evenings and on weekends, getting her used to a mile or two jaunt where the Husband and Boy are more likely to go for the quick fix. She shows her appreciation by remaining glued to my side whenever we�re in the house together. She prefers to be outdoors these days, though. She has a spot she lies in where she can see most of the yard. She�ll look very still but on closer inspection you can see her nose constantly working on the smells. She�s a sniffer, my dawgie.

Honestly, I�m totally in love with my dog. I thank Husband all the time for letting me have her, but I�m honestly a little pissed that he made me wait so long. Why didn�t someone tell me I was dog people? Having a dog is awesome! Yes, there are now new layers of highlights to all of my clothing, and the whole poo issue is rather nasty. But how can a person not be in love with a creature that misses them soooo muuuuch every single day! If I leave for an hour, it�s like I�ve been gone for days. If I�m out of the house, she walks from room to room looking for me. I am her people. It could only be cooler if she did anything useful at all. She doesn�t bark or fetch or play with toys. I can�t even get her to consistently lay on my feet to keep my toes warm. But boy, she is good at the lovin�.

Things are going well on the weight loss front. I�m missing our WW leader, who has had her baby and now is banished until she loses her baby weight. (I�d have to look into the legality of that, if I were her, but I�m not.) We have a temporary sub until May, then a more semi-permanent sub. I don�t care for the temp sub. She is stick thin and bird like in her appearance, where our usual leader was built more like a woman. Also, Ms. Temp only lost 20 pounds on the program. I�ve said before, I don�t think that�s enough to make you qualified to stand up and talk about the struggle. I�m fighting the good fight to lose 100 pounds and I�m supposed to believe you know what that�s like? (Which is probably why they have special meetings for members who have large amounts to lose. Unfortunately, they don�t have one in my area at a convenient time. I guess that means I�m stuck with stick woman.) But the guy coming in next month is a man and he was our leader�s leader (our grand-leader?) so he should be good.

Anyway, I�ve hit a couple of milestones and managed to get through Easter without gaining weight. I bought some new summer duds, as most everything I had was too big. I�m especially pleased to notice myself (finally) losing inches around my middle. (Makes me wish I�d measured myself at the beginning.) I�m trying to focus on things like that so I can get a real idea of what my body is doing. I don�t want to be bad-body-image-girl and think I�m fatter and/or thinner than I am. I just want to appreciate the work I�m doing and the progress I�m making. (I�ve lost around 15 pounds this year, which puts me almost on target for the 60 pounds I�d hoped for in 2006.) Easter was difficult and went on a little bender, but I�m picking myself up and dusting myself off and going back to doing what works. No harm; no foul.

As usual, with the warmer weather, there�s a flurry of activity coming up. We have Husband�s birthday tomorrow and a fun get-together with friends next weekend. It�s barbeque season, don�t �cha know? Work is deathly slow, so hopefully I can commit to keeping in touch a little more. I�d like that, wouldn�t you?