I�m nervous about next week. I�m not nervous about the company. I love my sisters and their kids. I�m not nervous about traveling with Day-Hay. She and I can handle ourselves and we are both seasoned travelers. I�m a little nervous about keeping up but I�m far less nervous about that than I was before I started exercising so regularly this summer. I�m nervous about whether I�ll backslide.

Although I haven�t talked about it much, this summer is the one when I decided that I had to take back control of a few things. My weight had gotten out of control. My lack of activity had gotten out of control. I wasn�t feeling good about myself and I was tired all the time. When I got on the scale at the doctor in the late spring and realized I was at my pregnancy weight (the one before delivery), that was it. It was time to do something.

Some people jump into dieting. I decided that dieting was unlikely to work. I�d tried it once or twice before but I hadn�t stuck with it and actually had ended up weighing more than when I started. I just decided to do more exercising and watch what I ate. I had a small cupcake on my birthday. I had a small piece of Mr. Philately�s pumpkin pie. But I don�t do that much or have big pieces. I eat more fruits and vegetables than I ever remember eating. I eat less bread than I ever remember eating.

I also have been much more active. Some people like bicycling but this summer has been too warm for me to do that. When it�s been a reasonable temperature, Mr. Philately and I have walked. Other days, I�ve done aerobics tapes in the house. I�ve done dance tapes. I�ve re-acquainted myself with Jane Fonda. I�ve tried other tapes. I don�t buy them; I take them out of the library. (One side effect has been that I have been reading better books.)

And I�ve benefitted. I�m more fit. I�m almost 15 pounds lighter. I�m only approximately three pounds from my pre-Kat weight. (Most fun of all, I�m going to need a major shopping for pants for fall.)

Mr. Philately has benefitted too. He fits back into his jeans. He is eating better and getting more exercise. Day-Hay is not sure that she benefitted, I suspect. I won�t have long conversations when exercising and we haven�t had pizza in a very long time. I insist that the living room be picked up every day so I have room to exercise without the added burden of having to clean first. Sometimes she joins me with the exercising but mainly she stays out of my way.

But I�m not sure whether a week away will cause me to backslide. San Antonio is too warm a place for lots of walking. Lots of children all over is not conducive to using the television for video tapes and the living room for exercise. Still, I�m more concerned about the eating. Lots of children tends to mean lots of junk food. Wandering around Sea World means lots of fast food.

Willpower, I need you now!

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