My Lenten resolution

Last year, I gave up coffeeshops.

That was a stupid resolution.

Yes, it saved me money; at the same time, it made it that much more of a challenge for me to drink my daily green or white tea.

This year, I'm not buying any clothes.

I have plenty.

Of course, that is one of the best things about having lost weight -- clothes went from being a nightmare, from something I didn't want to think about, to being fun.

Maybe a little too much fun. Oh, it's not as though I've spent a whole lot of money, but I have spent more time on shopping than I should. Besides, my size has stayed relatively stable. (My falling skort is more a symptom of my goofy shape than additional weight loss.) I need to lose more weight before I genuinely need any more clothes.

15 hard minutes

I didn't have a lot of time to run today, so I upped the intensity. Which was nice for a change.

Wardrobe issues: Running faster makes my skort fall down more. It's irritating. I'm also realizing that I'm finally losing more of my chest. Just in time to need new running hardware, running hardware that costs $75. But I'll stop complaining.

No more skirts: I need to stick to jeans if I want to continue to lose weight. The skirts are too darn forgiving.

60-minute run

There was nothing unusual to report about today's run. It was great to get out there.

I felt lucky to have started pretty early, as by 7:50 a.m., the sun was already beating down quite a bit.

I might get my running partner after all, as Paul is trying out the treadmill. Right now, he's tons quicker than me -- but I can jog for a much longer period of time.

Happy Birthday!

February is the month of birthdays at my house. All the men in the family are born in February. Today is the poor youngest boy's birthday.

So there have been many festivities today.

The best part of having a 6-year-old from my perspective is that I can now legally leave any single one of my children alone in a vehicle in the state of California. Not that I would necessarily do it. There's so much hysteria here.

Once I left my then-10-year-old alone in a car -- his choice and perfectly legal -- while I ran in with the other three kids to take care of a quick errand. It was spring and not particularly hot. I could see the car from the business, which was in a good neighborhood.

Some woman (young and "professional" and probably childless) came in, asking me "Is that your son in that minivan? You need to go get him."

"He's 10," I said, icily, and went on with my business.

Ironically, it is the nicer areas of town where this kind of harassment is more of a concern. I really hate the trend of coddling to kids.

Nutrition basics: I've gone back to basics on the eating plan. My weight isn't creeping up -- as I'm undoubtedly more muscular -- but my Size 8s are getting tight.