[alynn]

Good Morning Ladies DH has just returned from the Sunday morning coffee and paper run. He has started writing down what we spend to see were the money is going and so far this month we have spent $50.00 on coffee. Isn't that incrediable!!! but we so love Tim Horton coffee. It makes you wonder what people who work must spendon lunch coffee etc. I can't imagine being without a car as I'm sure you can't Nikki and soon Chrystal will be in the same mind. I'm so happy for her. I have a friend who has a license and keeps renewing it so she can insure a car for her loser son to drive her around. I keep telling her if she took a couple of lessons for confidence building and drove a couple of places she would love the freedom driving would give her. Sometimes when he is to come and take her out shopping she can wait up 2 hours for him to show. personally I would kill him but she allows it. We had a busy day yesterday. Friday night DS phoned to say they were coming up for the day on Saturday. We made arrangements to meet them at a store a few towns away that they wanted to look for furniture. I was in the grocery store by 8 and by 10 had made soup for lunch and started sandwiches and prepped the salad stuff and made a baked ziti, The store was incrediable. They had everything!!!!!!!!! we walked around and as DH said we have to come back it was to big to take it all in at once. Later a friend of their's came over for a visit and dinner and they all left at 9 or so. The baby was so funny. Mya loves him but is still afraid of him so keft her distance but kept staring at him with her tail wagging. They are going to be great friends.I am tired today so have made the beds and tidyed up but haven't decided if or when I will get dressed Well that's it for now. I will be back later as I plan to play on the computer most of the day.

[aleka]

Good morning,

At the moment, we are having torrential downpours. It has been raining like this since the wee hrs. of the morning. DH has to work today, so I told him to call me when he gets there so that I know he arrived safely.

Lynn, as long as you're really enjoying Tim Horton's coffee, the $50.00 a month is well worth it. What grocery store were you in? It sounds like a great store. DH & I were in Whole Foods Mkt. last week. I just wish we had the money to shop there. Everything is organic and very expensive.

Anne, Nikki, hope you both are enjoying your weekend.

Have a great day everyone.
Ali

[ANNE D]

Good Sunday Morning Everyone

Aleka, I think the pressure is on because of the planned takeover. is as miserable as can be. I am quite sure she is really worried about her job,
and so she should be. It was just one of those weeks were the work was
over whelming. I was absolutely wiped out I hate that so much, when
I am swamped with work, I hardly drink any water because I can't leave
the office to use the ladies room. I know how crazy that sounds but its true.
There is nothing worse that leaving for two minutes and coming back to
a line up outside the wickett with people giving you dirty looks as if to say
where the **** were you

Lynn, I was hearing the guy on weather network saying that we are going
to be getting snow from Monday night to Thursday. I am hoping he is
exagerating You know what they say, in like a lion.........

Nikki, how are things going with you? I am glad to hear you are back on
track. I go through periods of time like that myself from time to time. I
was down another five pounds last week for a total of 20 since the beginning
of the year. I know its slow, but I am determined to get this weight below
200 this year.

Have a great day ladies!!
Anne.

[nikkic]

Good morning,
Lynn, I've been late a few times when I was suppose to pick up Crystal. When I'd take her to the store, I'd come home and have her call me on the cell phone. One time, I forgot the ringers were shut off on our home phones. She finally got a hold of her sister who took her home, but she'd left her apartment key in my car, so they had to come back here to get it. I felt so bad. Another time, I was out feeding the birds. Should have taken the cordless with me, but didn't expect her to be done that quick. So, when she got groceries by herself the first time, she said it was so nice, not to have to worry if she was going to get a hold of me or not (2 times in 5 years, gee). I guess I do understand that though and I know she is just thrilled to be able to come and go as she wants to. She is still buzzing all over the place like a baby bird that just learned how to fly. She thanks DH and me every time she talks to us and hugs us both a lot.
I've been keeping track of how we spend our money, except for what DH spends. I give him a certain amount for gas and a truck fund (none of the truck fund money ever ends up in the truck either). The rest I know where it goes. I spend $30 a month on coffee from McDonalds myself. I've found out that different McD's have different kinds of coffee. The one in our town has extra good coffee. When we were on our little trip, I stopped to get coffee at their McD's and it was so bad, I couldn't even drink it.
I go there after I've done all my stuff for the day. It's my reward. I feel like it's money well spent. I use to spend a lot more on other things that weren't at all healthy for me. Not that coffee is health food, but it's better than going to the casino, the bar or eating a bunch of fast food.

Anne, your doing great with your weight loss Even though your under a lot of pressure, your still holding strong and I am so proud of you We must be about the same weight now. Remember not too long ago, you were telling me how much more you weighed than me. I better get on the ball, your going to pass me by
I sure hope things are better for you at work this week, but I suppose things won't be too much better until the take over is done with. That should be within the month, shouldn't it?

Ali, is your bad weather over with? We got some cold air coming down from Canada. Nothing like what Lynn and Anne have to deal with. It's just in the 20's and windy. Still, it's a big difference from the mid 50's we were just enjoying. This time of year, you never know what will happen.
I was looking out at the squirrel feeders yesterday and I told DH that they are all over weight. This one was sitting in the food bowl and his big butt was hanging over the sides. guess it's all the sunflower seeds and corn I feed them. I will have to stop feeding them when spring is in full swing. There are 6 of them out there now. If I forget to put out their feed, they run around the rails of the front porch, sit on the back of the chairs out there and actually look in the windows. The cats go nuts.

Got to go give Leslie a run for her money. Wish that Walk Blaster would come already. Nikki

[aleka]

Good morning everyone,

The sun is shining today. We really had a good storm(s) come through during the day yesterday. We even had a tornado watch out, which I didn't realize until I watched the 6:00 pm news. I am glad I didn't know about it earlier because Lacee & I were here all alone, as DH was working. I wouldn't have been able to relax the whole day. I do have a plan in the event if we do have one sometime down the road.

I'm going to lunch this afternoon with my former neighbor on the street where I lived in NH. Her and her DH bought a place in the same city where I live. They called a few weeks ago to let us know they were here for the winter. Her and her DH are our age. So, we'll see how things go. We weren't that friendly with them in NH, just passing acquaintences.

Anne, you are doing so fantastic with your weight loss. 20 lbs. is awesome!!!! Congratulations!!!! How much longer until the new company takes over the reins at the hospital? Hopefully things will be less stressful for you this week. Many years ago when I was working full time, one of the departments in the company I worked for, told the women that they could no longer use the ladies room between lunch and their breaks. One of the ladies brought in a litter box and some kitty litter to get her point across. It worked because they were allowed to use the ladies room.

Nikki, we used to feed the squirrels when we lived in NH. When the squirrel box was empty they raided the bird feeders. So, we made sure the box was full. We used to get a kick out of the ways they used to try and get to the bird feeders. They really are smart. I've only seen 1 gray squirrel since we've been here. We have a few cats that live outside and they're really fat, I hate to think what their food source is.

Lynn, hope you had a good weekend.

Have a great day everybody.
Catch y'all later.
Ali

[alynn]

comic sans4purpleGood Morning All: First of all Ali, when You change nthe text and size of your text how do you do it? I can't do it don't know why Nikki we also drove Jena for her first 2 years of college. It was such a releif when she got her car. Her father never allowed her to take a bus. We had the trailer by than and when we left depended on DD's shifts at her part time job. I also have been meaning to tell you about a Wallmart in Quebec, anyway they got a union into the store so Wallmart has announced they are closing the store. This will not be the end of the story because the Quebec government will wade in and after that count on the Canadian government to join the fray. It will be interesting and I suspect that Wallmart will win. We will be painting DS's house at the beginning of May. They are going to gutt their new house so they have been able to have the 2 houses for 1 month. D-in-L wants it painted. new ceramics and hard wood floors in before she moves in. I don'e know how much painting I will do as the last time (November) we painted their house I was in bed for a week with my back. As Anne said it appears we are in for a 3 day storm starting later today. DD just emailed and said the Go trains were all screwed up and she hopes this isn't a sign of the times for this week. Well for the first time in a week I am off to Curves. I can hardly wait I have really missed it. Anne congrat's on your weight-loss!!!! I will weigh in today so hopefully I have dropped a poiund or two. We have never kept track of what we spend but I guess DH has WAY to much time on his hands Thhis morning he walked to the corner store and back a distance of about 3 miles to get his paper. If he is going to walk I think he should do it in the middle of the day to break his day up a bit. Anyway I guess I had better go DD just emailed me again to get off the damn computer and call her Later

[aleka]

Hi Lynn, For an easier way to change fonts, size, & color, click onto your USER CP at the top of the page. A page will open up, to the left, click on Edit Options. When that page appears, scroll down to Miscellaneous Options, (it's the very last box on the page). Click on the blue thingy with the "v" , a box will appear with 3 options listed. Click the very last option, "Enhanced Interface" Then click Save Changes. When you go to post, you will notice a new tool bar, and all you have to do to change the font, size, & color is just click those little arrows and you're all set.

It's really neat!!!!
Your DS and DIL sure have a lot of work ahead of them before they move into their new house. It sounds like you've got some painting to do too. Have fun a Curves.

Talk to you later,

Ali

[alynn]

Thank's Ali I guess it is time for me to start playing on this site. I now have another problem I must of done something wrong when I was printing your directions and got a redirecting box that says "your subscripton from this thred has been removed" How do I fix that? thanks in advance. Later

[nikkic]

Good Evening,
Ali, thanks and Lynn, thanks for asking. I've always wondered how your change the font and color, but I never remembered to ask. Look at me I'm my favorite color
Lynn, I don't know why it would say your subscription was removed. I think when you post on a thread, your are automatically subscribed, so maybe since you've posted again, you're subscribed again. Sometimes, even when I know I'm subscribed to a thread, I don't get emails that there are new posts. I try to remember to check daily, or I can be days behind.
Lynn, I saw that about the Walmart up there on the news. It seems that no matter what anyone wants, Walmart gets their way in the end. Our neighboring town is mostly Dutch and they never had any business open on Sunday. Not even a gas station or grocery store. Nothing. I think there are 15,000 people in that town. Anyway, Walmart kept pushing to have their store open on Sunday, even though the town had a local ordinance that clearly stated that no businesses would be open on Sunday. In the end, Walmart went to court and won. That was less than 5 years ago and now, there are all kinds of stores open on Sunday over there. The place has gone to the At least I would imagine in some peoples minds that live over there. Personally, I like that you can now get a tank of gas if you need it, but I'm not as religious as they are.
How was Curves?

Ali, I don't think cats can kill squirrels, unless they are babies. At least not the squirrels we have around here. They are too big, can crawl way up in the little branches and they have an attitude. They don't seem to have any fear of our outside cat, Tony. Tony was laying on the front porch yesterday and the squirrels were setting in the feeders, about 10 feet away.
They did start to raid the birdfeeders this morning. I had to hurry up and fill their pans. They are fun to watch.
Hope your lunch date was pleasant.
I've been meaning to ask, are there flamingos where you are? Do they just live in the marshes? I've seen them at the zoo, but it would be different if a bunch flew into the backyard for awhile.
Talk to you all tomorrow, Nikki

[aleka]

Good morning ladies,

Lunch went pretty well yesterday. We ended up going, you guessed it, shopping!! I bought 2 more pair of capri pants. I find them so comfortable and they're great down here when you really don't want to wear shorts someplace and you want to stay cool. I found out that she and I have quite a few things in common, we have the same taste in clothes, we seemed to have picked up the same capri pants.

Nikki, Lynn, glad I didn't screw you guys up changing your options. I just happen to come across this in a post on another forum. I always wondered if there was an easier way to change colors and fonts when I've seen so many posts with different colors in them.

Lynn, I also heard about that Walmart in Quebec. It will be interesting as how it all turns out. It seems that Walmart wins at everything anyway. A lot of people don't like Walmart, but it seems a lot more people do. How did things go at Curves?

Nikki, your favorite color! There are flamingos down here. The only places I've ever seen them is a bird sanctuary. There is a place in Sarasota called Sarasota Jungle Gardens, that have flamingos. When we were there at Christmas time, DH was taking a photo of some lights and had to go near the pond area that housed all the flamingos. They were rather upset with him, started making some noise, and a couple of them started to advance towards him, but not fast. I have never seen them in anybodys yard, except for the plastic ones, which I have 2 of. My girlfriend has always said that anyone who lives in FL has to have pink plastic flamingos in their yard. So, when she visited she gave me 2 pink plastic flamingos. I honestly didn't think she'd do it, but she did. I named them Harry & David after one of our favorite gourmet food stores.

Anne, how did your first day back at work go? Hope everything went well for you.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Catch ya later,
Ali

[ANNE D]

Hi Everyone!!!
Its snowing like crazy. I am taking a couple of minutes to touch base.
Nikki, you are weigh (pun) thinner than me. You forget I gained a load of weight when my dad was sick etc. I started this
year at 255 I am currently 235 and my first goal is to lose 36 pounds.
I was really bad this weekend though. I bought some of these low carb
icecream bar thingys and polished them sOOOOO, that was a mistake.

Aleka, work is a drag, what can I say. We are so busy I can hardly recogonize this job anymore. I am here alone until noon each day so when
the wickett gets busy......It is really touch dealing with patients and trying
to do the bank deposits ( 5 different bank accounts) and posting all the
figures to the g/l. Sometimes I get a burning pain down the back of my
neck which I know is stress.

Hi Lynn, I bet you are drinking your Tim Hortons on a day like this!!!
How did it go at curves?

Anne.

[alynn]

Good Morning All I wish I had a Tim Horton's coffee we are still trying to dig out so had to make do with my own. It is beautiful here today but the wind is picking up so the roads could get dangerous later. I have to do a little house work today but all in all I think I will do as little as possible. If I can't get out I will do WATP's later. After being unable to exercise last week I found that I stiffened up a lot. Talking about birds did you know that there are white ducks. Yep saw a few last year and our neighbour told us what they were they are called winter ducks. I like seeing ducks here because we are in the town limits they can't be hunted not like our ducks at the trailer. Curves was so busy yesterday everyone was there incase it is a few days before we can get out. Do any of you ever watch the Ellen show? The ladies at Curves were saying how funny she is and I have started to turn her on and listen to her as I do my thing and she is very funny. She puts me in a good mood. Well I guess that is it for now. I will be back later as it looks like I will be in for the day. Later

[nikkic]

Good morning everyone
Ali, I'm glad you had a nice time with your new/old neighbor That would be nice to have someone to go shopping with occasionally. DH really doesn't like it when I go shopping. He says I have enough of everything as it is. Then, he says, your losing weight, so why buy new clothes? Men, just don't understand that shopping is a basic, intrinsic need of women. We are hunters and gatherers after all from way back in the stone age. Hey, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it
Anne, your still doing great with the weight loss. When your going through a really stressful period like you were with your dad, it's hard to even think about cooking and then lots of times, you don't have the time or your not in the right place when it is meal time. I've noticed that hospital food isn't the healthiest there is either, at least not here. You'd think they would pay more attention to that. They have restaurants in the larger ones here, I suppose yours do too. They are mostly fast food places, like McDonalds and Hardees. Although, McDonalds does have some really good, healthy salads now. I saw where they are going to expand their menu and include fruit salads with walnuts and maybe even more healthy things in the future. That would be funny, going to McDonalds to eat healthy, what a thought
Lynn, I've never heard of white ducks. I love Ellen, but I hardly ever catch her show. I felt so sorry for her when she came out and then everyone seemed to turn against her. I liked her old show too. She can think on her feet and has a very good sense of humor that is so funny and cleaver.
I've got my exercise done, working my way through my laundry and really haven't got much planned for the day. Later, I'm making some Broccoli Cheese soup for supper. Not something DH will go wild about, but I've been wanting to try this recipe for awhile, so he will have to suffer throught the experiment.
HAVE A GOOD ONE , Nikki (got my coffee)

[aleka]

Hello everyone,
DH had to go into work fairly early this morning, and I'm sitting here with my 3rd, yes, 3rd cup of coffee.

I had a non-productive day of shopping yesterday. I'm looking for a pair of denim capri pants (pedal pushers). My MIL got a couple pair for herself in this clothing store we both frequent. I found some, but they came to my ankles, and that wouldn't do. I did find some stretchy denim ones, but they seem too heavy for FL. I was going to stop at another store on my way home but, I had battled stop and go traffic both ways, it was around 1:00 pm, and I was starving, so came on home.

Anne, you are doing so great with SSizing. When my Dad was sick, out of stress I went off of SSizing, and just haven't been able to get back doing it again. That is so wonderful that you were able to get right back on it. SSizing is still in the back of my mind. Maybe if I do it 1 meal at a time. How much snow did you get? I saw on the weather map that alot of the Northeast was getting that same storm.
Lynn, I think I've seen white ducks in NH. I'm picturing a white duck with a yellow bill. Years ago, and I'm talking a lot of years, we used to feed the ducks. There was a little mom & pop store across the street from the lake that used to sell stale bread to feed the ducks. Every Sun. morning we'd go buy a loaf of the stale bread and sit on the stone wall and feed them. Then they passed a law that you couldn't feed them anymore. I've heard of the Ellen show. I really like her, but I rarely turn the TV on in the daytime, so I haven't seen her show. I used to like her TV sitcom when it was on.
Nikki, shopping for women is good therapy. Even if you just poke through a store and not buy anything. When you're losing weight is the best time to buy clothes. You don't want your old "fat" clothes to fall down around your ankles.

Hope you all have a great day.
Bye,
Ali

[alynn]

Good Morning All: Ali I loved you using the term "pedal pusher" because that is what they are. DD allways laughs when I use that term. Yes you have seen white or winter ducks Ali. It is still snowing here, the little flakes so the accumulation is only about 8 inches in the last day or so. The Curves diet is very similar to SSing except the full fat thing. I have been using her recipes but not the full fat stuff and they are still good. Do you girls in the US get the Heinz vegetables sauses? I have started using them and they jazz up the veggies. Today for lunch I am having a chicken greek salad from the Curves book. I am still sticking to the veggie and protein thing and keep low carb bread in the freezer for the times I just to have bread but it isn't in front of me making my life miserable I think I lost weight faster SSing but am afraid to switch in case the full fat thing would put some weight back on. I couldn't weigh myself yesterday because new members were being processed but tomorrow I will and hopefully I will see a couple of pounds gone. DH is doing taxes not a happy time, wish it wasn't snowing so I could get out of here away from him Well I guess that's it for now. Later