Three kids in a tub

Lots of bubbles

This time, I was more careful about how much soap I put in

Josh and the girls came over the next day

Oliver got to hold his littlest cousin. Hannah looks dubious

It is winter here again, damn it. Two inches have fallen already with more to follow. And it won't melt any time soon. Still as it is so cold, it was not that slippery so I could run a little.

Between two years ago and last year, I had slowed down significantly. Yeah, I had gained weight between those times but now that I am so much lighter, I should be Ms. Speedy. But I am not. Yesterday, I ran fresh meaning I didn't do an hour of the elliptical trainer and weights before I went out. I tried to concentrate on my form and at least for the first half of my long run, I was able to do it faster than 2 years before though not by much. And my weight! I keep thinking of it as a giant spring that with increasing effort I am pulling slowly back. If I were to let go for a second, boing...all fat again. I was obsessed with that this weekend. I had been good all week with no weight loss to show for it and then I let go for a second (2 glasses of wine! veggies with fattening dips!!) and suddenly 2 pounds more appear. How will I maintain this?  I am back to where I was in the beginning of the week.

Finally good news. In the accident I had now more than 13 months ago, I broke 2 teeth. My medical insurance is supposed to cover this and supplied me with names of oral surgeons. But oral surgeons don't repair broken teeth with intact roots (had painful root testing in which the dentist applied electric current in various places to see if there were live nerves). It would have been easier if I had needed implants, which would be much more expensive but less hassle insurance wise. I had to wait to get an out-of-network exception, which I did. A year of phone calls due to denied claims because the dentist didn't supply the proper medical codes because there were no medical codes. I could never get the same person twice to settle this. Three weeks ago, I finally got the person who is specific to my former company who got me the out-of-network exception. She sounded so helpful and hopeful saying she dealt with cases like this all the time, no problem, She said she would call me in three days to tell me whether the dentist supplied the right paperwork. Yay!  But she never called. I was going to demand to speak to her this week at some time, couldn't wait, but the dentist called today to say all has been paid. I can throw out pages of notes each containing some 30 digit code of each conversation. One less hassle.

It was the weekend with grandbabies with all except Maya being around. We will have Maya tonight. Shanna and her kids spent the night. They wanted the Jacuzzi. I had made artichokes for them, which my kids loved. I make a buttery lemon, garlic, soy dipping sauce but they refused to try it. Allie and Maya love artichokes but they weren't there for them. More for Shanna and me. (see weight gain).

I have 3 pairs of cardinals looking for seeds in the snow. I threw some sunflower seeds right outside our patio door so they would come up. Tessa was here this morning for a closer look. Out in the wetlands during my long run yesterday, I could hear the sandhill cranes. Once rare now they are more plentiful than the herons and egrets. The vultures are back. Plenty of clean up for them.