Well, how are ya'll coping with being a half century? Most of the time I don't feel it and or think it until one of my relatives passes away or mom informs me of some other thing in my past that got torn down or rebuilt. Happy fat day Richard!! Pat, yes, please have someone forward the updated list so I can receive a letter. Thanks for informing us. Easter here was spent helping my friend out on their farm building a few new chicken coups and moving some machinery around. We're getting ready to reuuild my buddys engine (Ford 460) from the oneton dually. They have exocit goats also and they follow you round like pets. The pigmy ones are really cute. There is one tan and brown (Duncan is his name) and he is lovable. Their gots don't stink either. I went home with some fresh eggs and goats milk. I love it when its real cold and fresh. I did however make my traditional yellow egg cake with chocolate icing. I set it on a gold platter couvered with green cocoanut (for grass) and surround it with individual egg cakes with fondant icing and decorate the entire mess with a mixture of real (candied) flowers and some made from the icing. Its always a hit. I took it to Jimmy Caters house one year and all they said was, "golly, this Yank can sure bake!".

I'll accept that! Hiking is one thing that I have not made time for that I really miss. Note to self.

I try not to eat like a pig, but I'm not on any kind of diet. I'm still hiking, though--so I guess that takes care of some of the fat! Acceptance takes care of the rest.

Zone eating is good stuff. very well rounded. I have zone bars in my desk drawer at school and usually have one in my purse. I don't feel guilty if I snack on one when I'm really hungry, and in a pinch I have used them for meal replacement. Though a couple hundred calories isn't much.

Thanks for the birthday greetings! I enjoyed myself without an ounce of guilt. Gerda's mother is an excellent baker and will be back from Florida next week. My favorite ethnic German dessert is bienenstich. It's delicious and there probably is a bienenstich in my near-term future. I haven't had coffee since last October. A slice of one and a cup of the other could be just what the doctor ordered.

Carbs really are the devil though, aren't they? Brian King pushed me toward The Zone's view of eating about 18 months ago and I have adopted that as my core beliefs for eating smart. It was the first time that Gerda realized that she has consistently been eating too little protein. We are all healthier now.

Happy Birthday wishes from me too, Richard! Mine's coming up on the 22nd. Fifty seems like something that should be marked in a special way, but so far I haven't thought of anything I really want to do. I'm not much of a party person! (Maybe it's not something to celebrate.)

Happy Birthday Richard! That's definately a cake opportunity. Especially if you ran this a.m. Even Weight Watchers lets you eat more if you exercised that day.

Happy Birthday Richard, hope it is a good day! We had a good trip through the south and a great visit here with my older sister for Easter weekend. I am now going to take a couple of days of down time and then will be flying to GA this weekend for a few days of house hunting and meeting with some friends. On the subject of diets, Rich and I were faithfully on the South Beach diet from Aug. to Dec. and had success and felt good. We got away from it around the holidays and then when he left to start his new job we didn't have the support of eachother and the routine was gone. I will get back into it though as I feel I am a carb addict and need to stay away from them. I would never diet on my birthday though Richard, so go for it!!

Maybe today is a fat day, Roland. I have now been 50 for the last 129 minutes. I ran this AM and feel pretty good.