That went well

I fully expected to stay the same weight this week, based on a combination of

• past experience
• a weekend with little exertion and
• all restaurant meals for the past couple days.

So I was surprised shocked and pleased thrilled to see a 1.5-pound loss. It'll be nine weeks Wednesday when I put my nose to this grindstone, and in that time I've lost a total of 8.5 pounds. This is what I've hoped for and, more importantly, this is what I've planned for.

Had I stayed the same again this week, I'm not sure what I might have done. I'm just glad I don't have to figure it out. It looks like I'll be experiencing a stay-the-same/lose-a-little cycle, so the best thing I can do is not go off the deep end when I stay the same.

For the record, I was nearly 1400 calories under budget for the week. I went over the limit Saturday, but by only 42. (I shouldn't have licked the caramel sauce from my dessert plate at dinner, heh.) LoseIt! has reduced my budget by 10 calories per day this week. I won't even notice that. And I walked every day this week, for a total of 24 miles.

Our trip went very well. We met up with a couple who live in southwest Virginia. We enjoy their company very much, but only see them two or three times a year, and only when we wives get together to make the plans.

Our home base was Hendersonville, NC, which is a lovely little town and well worth visiting. Saturday morning we went to nearby Flat Rock to visit Carl Sandburg's home, Connemara, which has been maintained by the National Park Service since his death in the late 1960s. The home and grounds are lovely, and have been left intact, as if the family were going to return at any minute.

A grazing Nubian at Connemara.

Many people don't know that Mrs. Sandburg was known worldwide for her dairy goats. Her visitors, who sometimes traveled from Europe to purchase a kid, frequently asked, "And what does your husband do?" Fifteen goats are still kept at Connemara, all direct descendants of the original flock.

We lunched in Saluda, NC, a tiny little railroad town, the main street of which was lined with cafés and shops and galleries. Because we are old, we went back to the hotel to nap before dinner at the Mrs. G and Me bistro in downtown Hendersonville. The menu offered something for everyone and Mr. G came around as we were finishing up to personally thank us for dining with them.

Originally from Great Britain, he had no idea he was chatting up a table full of single-payer advocates. My husband asked his opinion of the American health care system and we got an earful! Appalling! Dreadful! Bloody awful! When he learned the two men at the table were physicians, he began to apologize, but we quickly assured him we agreed wholeheartedly. He, in turn, assured us that the Brits were quite satisfied with their National Health Service, despite what we might hear on Fox News.

I was plum tuckered out when we got home yesterday afternoon, but took a long rest in order to stay up to watch all of the (in my opinion) incredibly lackluster Academy Awards. Hollywood produced some spectacular films this year, but the program seemed uninspired and I thought Seth McFarlane was mean-spirited and a tad too sarcastic. Perhaps that's the way Hollywood is, as well. (Reviews of his hosting gig are glowing, however, so what do I know?)

I was left wishing I'd seen more of the films, especially Les Miserables, Argo and Life of Pi, which I originally had no interest in at all. Nice that they're either on pay-per-view or soon will be.

I was also left feeling great that I stayed up until the last statue was handed out, thus not missing Michelle Obama via satellite, opening the envelope and announcing that Argo had won. I think all the Republicans in the country just stopped going to the movies. Heh.