2 pounds from my goal!

I can't believe that I'm only two pounds from my goal! Of course, that's only my initial goal. Once I reach 150, I'm going to set a new goal of 145, and if I get there, I'll decide if I want to shoot for 140. That's the absolute lowest I'd go - anything less would, I think, be unhealthy and impossible to maintain. Wish me luck!

I guess I need to finish accounting for our St. Louis trip. On Tuesday evening, Jerry took us to this neat old ice cream parlor called Crown Candy Kitchen. It was such fun! It was wonderful to see him again - he's just such a kind, affable teddy bear. I'm so glad he's in my life, even if I do only see him once in a blue moon. And Nick warmed right up to him. The two of them sat together at dinner, and had a high time together! I got some great candid shots of them laughing together. When I get a chance, I'll be sure to share those. Anywho, CCK is such a neat place! It's all old-fashioned and vintage-y, and it has great sandwiches and ice cream treats. They even make their own chocolates. I had probably the best egg salad sandwich I've ever enjoyed, and we all had huge, decadent ice cream treats, because, really, how could we not? :) It was a very enjoyable evening. Later at the hotel, I squeezed in a workout, but I had to cut it short, because my stomach was still too full.

On Wednesday, we headed to the St. Louis Sciencenter (yes, that's how they spell it). It was pretty neat, though it can't hold a candle to the City Museum. Really, nothing can. We had a good time exploring, though. We saw an interesting exhibit called Monsters Alive, which was about creatures and monsters in the movies, and how they're made and the animatronics involved. We also saw an Omnimax film about dinosaurs, which we all really enjoyed. Wednesday turned out to be a rainy day, so we had to nix our plans to go to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Instead, we went to the home of my cousin Jessica's fiance, Brian, and had dinner with the two of them in addition to my cousin John, his wife Sarah, and their two kids, Claire and Evan. It was fun! I enjoyed bonding with my cousins, and Nick and Claire really got along well, since they're the same age. We all shared good food and good times, and we were really tired by the time we got back to the hotel. No workout that day!
John and Sarah invited us to attend Evan's birthday party in about a month, so we're looking forward to that.

Thursday was rather blah and gloomy, and we were tired and didn't really feel like doing the Cathedral Basilica or Trader Joe's, so we just headed home, stopping for lunch at Cracker Barrel and making it home around 1 p.m. So, that was our trip!

Yesterday, I had an errand-running extravaganza and bought, among other things, a yoga mat and a flat-panel computer monitor. I got a great deal on the monitor, and we're really excited about getting rid of our bulky, outdated one. I also got some paint to refresh our faded shutters, and started pricing treadmills. Staying at hotels and using their treadmills has really made me want a new one. Mine works fine, but it's 9 years old, and the technology is so much better now! My treadmill is so incredibly loud, and I'd love a new one for its quietness, more accurate controls, and built-in fan. I'm not in a big hurry, though, and will take my time shopping around.

Today is all about TCB - laundry, online business, etc. Hope you're having a great weekend!