As I sit here reading blogs, I'm also listening to the LiveAid concert which is airing on my local PBS station. Right now, Tina Turner and Mick Jagger are on singing "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and I'm flashing back to July 1985. Wow. In July 1985, I was fresh out of high school and ready to face the world. God I feel old. Like "they" say, if I knew then what I know now..............

As my profile correctly states, I live in Hatfield, PA. Hatfield, PA is located about 35 miles northwest (40 min) of downtown Philadelphia, PA. I commute to Philly every day for work. Summer is always interesting especially if you love to people-watch like I do. See, my building is directly across the street from the new National Constitution Center, 2 blocks up from Independence Hall & the Liberty Bell, 2 blocks over from Betsy Ross's house and 1 block over from Ben Franklin's grave. Cool, huh? And, now, just like 20 years ago, Philly is in the international spotlight again for Live 8. Perhaps you've heard of it.

All I can say is -- I'm getting the hell outta town!

All the Philly natives are leaving the city this weekend. We're all heading "down the shore" (which means driving to the New Jersey and/or Delaware beach towns). Hubby and I are heading to Rehobeth Beach, DE tomorrow and staying until Monday morning. I'm a bit nervous. This is my first overnight getaway since starting NS and I'm looking at 3 full days of eating "on my own". I have been eating out occasionally while on NS, but not every meal. Yikes. I hope I make the right choices and stay within the right portions. I guess all I can do is my best.

Happy July 4th Weekend! We all deserve a 3-day break from the daily grind. And, if you're heading to Philly for Live8, have a blast - Philly Rocks!

I don’t accept compliments very well. As a matter of fact, I was never very good at accepting a compliment. I usually feel that the issuer of the compliment is “just trying to make me feel better” and doesn’t really mean it. I guess I have to work on that.

My husband is out of town this weekend. He and my dad went to some kind of Ford Thunderbird car show in Carlisle, PA. He asked me to go, but quite frankly, I’d rather put hot needles in my eyes than go to a car show. But that’s a whole other story………

Anyway, when he called to say hi, I asked how he and Dad were getting along and was Dad “probing” him with questions about me. (My Dad is constantly thinking that I’m keeping things from him). They were getting along great and yes, Dad mentioned that he was concerned about my health, specifically my weight. Chris told him that I was concerned also and was in the process of “doing something about it” and doing pretty well at it, too.

Next day, I relay this conversation to my friend and co-worker and she promptly says to me “You look great! You’re practically anorexic!” Enter doubts about her sincerity. I mean come on, anorexic??? Me??? I tell her “thanks for the compliment” but “she’s way wrong since I am still way over 200 lbs.” She thinks I’m lying. Go figure.

So, later, I’m thinking about how I “handled” the compliment thing and decide that I still need to work on it a bit more. Somehow, I always manage to make the person feel like crap and wonder why they even said anything in the first place. It doesn’t matter what the compliment is. Usually it’s about my hair (which, incidentally, my mom never likes). But, sometimes it’s about my ability to do something, or about how I always seem to find the perfect gift for somebody. And, while I feel great about it later, I feel so uncomfortable about it when it happens that I blurt out something really stupid and negative almost like a deflection or block.

Maybe I don’t believe that I deserve to be complimented.

Why is that?