Yesterday evening we finally pulled out our existing stove to check the plug to make sure that we have the proper one when they bring my new stove! T minus 6 days until I have a new stove! Under the stove was about a billion of those cat toys...the bizzy balls. (the plastic balls with a jingle bell inside). Ok, maybe not a million, in reality we counted and there were 16 of them. We didn't think about it and just threw them over our shoulder into the living room. The cats went nuts because voila...new toys! We didn't think anything of it until we went to bed shortly thereafter. Lil' Mertz LOVES LOVES LOVES the bizzy balls and can play with the same one for HOURS, or until she loses it under a piece of furniture (or stove haa haa haa). In the past, I've actually had to get up in the middle of the night to remove a bizzy ball from Lil' Mertz' playful attack, simple because she rips through the house like a lunatic, with that stupid little bell jingling merrily. Last night, I didn't even attempt...because she had 15 of them. And she played ALL night. Jingle jingle jingle! In and out of the bedroom, into the bathroom, in the kitchen. The cat was EVERYWHERE. JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE! Finally at around 6AM, she must have succeeded in either losing the last one OR strategically hiding the last one and she was ready to relax. Of course that was when my day started. BOOOOOO

BUT, against the odds of sleepiness, I got on the exercise bike and rode for 60 minutes. It wasn't a fast ride...or even all that strenuous. I did 14.11 miles.

Ohhh so that brings me to my challenge for this week. I am to take an outdoor bike ride for 12.5 miles OR an exercise bike ride for 20-25 miles. If I do not complete one or the other of these tasks, I will need to send my 'penance' to my weight loss buddy. My penance? MOney. Cold hard cash! $20 bucks. Not enough to break me...but I don't like to part with my moldy money!!!!!

The updated stats for my yearly Activity Points goal......487!!! (65 this last week)

Water retention.....tis a funny thing. Sadly enough for women, it happens like clockwork once a month. But even beyond that......I drank diet soda all day yesterday. I may have had one or two sips of water throughout the day.....but mostly soda. By yesterday evening, my rings were so stinkin' tight.....water retention. I didn't weigh myself this morning, but I know that the number would not be a true depiction of my weekend efforts because of my water consumption, or lack thereof. So I'm drinkin' up today! All of these healthy habits really do go hand in hand! :-)