[Ruthxxx]

Good morning! Come and huddle around the woodstove with a dog on your lap and plan our Saturday. It's ffffreezing out there but the full moon is glorious.

My biggest problem today is finding my car keys which seem to have disappeared. I wonder if the ghost of Lucy is still around. When the sun shows up, I'll bundle up and go check the floor of the car. If they don't show, I'm grounded as they are the only set.

In the meantime, I have two very contented dogs, my oatmeal and apple and lots of coffee. It could be worse!

How is your weekend looking?

[CyndiM]

Good morning Ruth Any luck with those keys? I'm pretty good with my keys but lose my coffee 2-3 times almost every morning! Apparently we are getting that intense cold the end of the week. I am so not looking forward to it.

So I went to bed thinking we couldn't go to the coast this weekend because they were getting a storm south of us and discovered the storm is now coming here too! more darned snow. Guess we aren't going anywhere! I don't mind so much because I have a lot to do around here. I need to reorganize and make room for my new exercise bike before it gets here. That means moving the TV and the cable wires so a fairly involved project. Of course there will also be applesauce, bread and Nessa bars and the crockpot.

Rikki- We have lots of outdoor squirrels here all winter invading our bird feeders. They are well able to deal with the cold. Get those squirrels out of your attic before they really make a mess. They are fun to watch but can be incredibly destructive.

Stay warm and safe wherever you are!

[Pacergal29]

Good Morning Ruth I sure hope you find those keys!

No doggage on my lap, I am sure he is still snuggled under the covers on my side of the bed now that I am out of it.

Not much on tap for me today, laundry and cleaning and that is about it. I went and got groceries lastnight so this weekend would be pretty much my own. Plus it is unknown what we are going to get out of this storm this weekend, we seem to be right on the line for rain/snow/nothing.

Jenn I am so sorry to hear about your job! Try to enjoy your weekend.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I am off to see what is happening in the world.

[TwynnB]

Good morning chicks!

Ruth - uh-oh! Better make another set! I frequently lose mine as well. It seems to be happening more as I get older.....

Cyndi - I'm so excited it's going to snow here!! Time to get out the sleds and to make a fort too!! Ya wanna borrow a 4 and 5 year old to make it more fun!??

Steph - have a relaxing weekend!

Jenn - sorry about the job.

Me - Have to work a bit. The day is slow, and I don't think it'll pick up much with the snow.

Then, we're going to look at a few houses. Our renters in our house in NC extended their contract til May 2010, and I don't think i can handle this rental another 1 1/2 years. We realized with the mortgage rates (4.75%!!!) that we can buy for the price of renting. The market here is still good, we're in one of the top "recession proof" areas on Forbes. We don't know yet...it's very nerve racking.

Maybe I have to go play in the snow to soothe the nerves?!?!

Have a wonderful weekend!

[Chelby29]

Good Morning, Friends,

I lost my keys a couple years ago. Searched and Searched. I finally found them in my then-3-year-old's pocket. Sheesh!

All the guys in the family are going to see the Monster Jam Monster Trucks tonight. My DS is too excited. The girls are staying home and watching Mamma Mia. I'm excited, too. We're making cauliflower soup. Yum! (Just a little off plan -- towards fat, not carbs)

Yesterday's extra appetite cost me a pound today. I hate that. But, I really can't complain. Today is my last day on ph1 and I'm down 9.5. WooHoo!

My day is going to start with an 8:30 Jazzercise Class. My favorite!

I hope you all have a great, warm day.

[me4life]

good morning,

i was planning on sleeping in today but my puppy (boxer btw) had other ideas. doesn't look like i'm doing much today with the possible exception of going and picking up my 10 yr old from her dads. on the plus side i lost 10 lbs in the first week and was thinking my scale was lying to me...but it went down even lower today. still have 4 days left on phase 1.

ruth-hope you find your keys and it warms up out there.
cyndi-good luck on the reorganizing...i have a treadmill now but miss the exercise bike.
pacergal-good luck with the weather i think we're on the line between good and evil weather
jenn-i'm really sry to hear about the job, i went thru the same thing and you'll feel better soon just need to get out there looking and i'm sure you'll find something even better.

[Barb0522]

We leave soon so I can drop Brian off with his Dad for the day while I go downtown and teach a class on Boy Leadership and one on Special Awards. It should be a lot of fun.

[Schmoodle]

Good morning chicks, I'm eating my blueberry buckwheat pancakes (yum!) and trying to decide what order my to-do's should be in - cleaning first, then go shop? Or get the shopping done early, then clean? The kids stayed at my mom's so I'll need to pick them up too. DH is happily holed up in his radio shack with his new radio, so I doubt I'll see much of him today...

Happy househunting Twynn - hope you find something great. We're thinking it's time to refinance, but waiting to see if things might go a little lower, as they're predicting.
Cyndi, I guess things shifted North? I was expecting to see snow this morning but nada here.
Me too Steph, an exciting day of cleaning, laundry, and shopping.
Ruth, hope those keys turn up soon.
me4life, sounds like Ph1 is treating you well!
Sounds like a fun day Chelby. Jazzercise is the only exercise I ever really enjoyed. I used to ge 4-5 times a week when DD1 was little. I'd love to get back to it, but there aren't any classes near me.
Have a great day Barb.

[Jenskihere]

Today is my turn. I got a call last night that it looks like I will be losing my job on Monday. I work part-time from home as a computer programmer. I work for a consultant and our biggest client was bought out and all funds were "frozen" for the time being. My boss called yesterday and said stop working on that project, they are done. He is going to find out Monday if this is a temp freeze or if they aren't gonig to be taking our software anymore. IF this is the case, I will be out of a job because I worked only on this account and there won't be enough work for me to do.
I am freaking out. Not only because I am losing a job I LOVE, but because I have been working at home, on my own schedule, so I can be here for my kids. So I either need to find another job that changes all our schedule, or I stay home for a while and we cut way back. DH isn't worried and said we can make it work, but I am so depressed and can't stop thinking about it. I think I am going to go out today as see if I can find a part-time job in the evenings/weekends for now.... makes me feel better that I am working a little!
Dentist apts today. Lots of snow that needs to be cleared off the drive first.
Pray for me that Monday brings good news and this worrying is for nothing. (Which I doubt.... but trying to stay positive.)

[Pearlrose]

Good morning chickies,

Jenkishere- I will be praying for you this weekend. Try not to stress out too much.

Ruth- Hope you find your keys.

Hello to everyone else I have been online too long this morning and need to get going.

Great news for me- finally sold the Blazer on Ebay now just waiting to see if the buyer will come through and pay. The person who bought lives about 4 hours north close to Chicago so we shall see. Not much on my plate today did grocery shopping last night to get out of the way.

Have a great day ladies!!!

[hmacneil6]

Jen - I'm so sorry....I will be saying prayers. I hope it all works out!

Good morning ladies! I can't believe that it's already the weekend! I was SO NOT GOOD last night. I found out that my chiropractor/nutritionist is moving to Vegas this weekend which kind of sent me into a tailspin. I came home after the appointment and ate lots of pretzels and ww raspberry newtons. Then, we went to a restaurant for a friend's bday and I ordered PASTA Not good!!!! Today will be better and I'll get my control back! Got a whole lot to do on the To Do list.....I'm actually going to write it all down so I don't forget. And hopefully tonight DH and I will get out to see a movie, we're trying to see Milk. I hope we make it!
Have a good Saturday, ladies. I'm going to probably sneak back in tomorrow to see how things are going.

[ellie6388]

Morning!

I am so sorry to all of those facing job lose, I can't even imagine what a stress that must be. I'm a SAHM but DH is in heavy equipment sales so his company is really struggling and cutting back, luckily it doesn't look like he will lose his job anytime some but we are definitly praying and looking at other jobs/options JIC.

No snow in Florida, high of 74 today. I'd like to have a little winter.

Day 4 on Phase 1 for me today. I'm feeling good and really making a point to get my dairy in and eat some beans, it's been pretty easy since the bean portion is so small. I've been having a cup of milk with SF nesquick which I'm really liking as I've NEVER been a milk drinker, and a cup of NF plain yogurt with Nesquick or SF jelly mixed in. I need to invest in some SF syrups, maybe when I go to the city- we live in neighborhood, outside of a tiny country town. So we have to make trips to the city.

I saw that a couple of ya'll are from Alabama, I'm about 45 minutes South of Dothan.

[Chelby29]

Jenskihere -- I as so sorry! Hopefully, the freeze is temporary.

Schmoodle -- We didn't have a Jazzercise class close to me either, so I got certified to teach! I have great muscles under my layer of fat. My goal is to lose the fat!

Ellie6388 -- Remlap is about 35 miles north of Birmingham. We go through Dothan when we go to Panama City Beach, my favorite place!

[ellie6388]

Chelby- My family is from B'ham, dad grew up in Homewood, mom in Vestavia. My husbands headquaters is in B'ham by the airport TEC- tractor and equipment co. We live in a neighborhood right off of 231 half way b/t Dothan and PCB, it's called Compass Lake in the Hills.

[raebeaR]

Hi, Jenn, I'm so very sorry about the job. Losing one's paycheck really is one of the scariest things in the world, and it messes with you in bad ways. I will just share one experience (mine) in the hope it will give you a bit of encouragement.

I was fired from a job for the first and only time in my life in 2003. It wasn't my performance -- in fact, the boss said I was a stellar performer. But, as he put it, "I just don't like you." And that was that. I was out of work.

Because of that experience, I resolved to never let one person have that much control over my fate again. I already had a part-time business working from home. I got busy and built it up to a full time business while working part-time to keep some extra money coming in. Now my home-based business is all I do.

This is a fantastic time to take stock of what really matters in life and choose new, more promising directions. I know it's very, very hard to view a lay-off as an opportunity, but sometimes it really is. If you can tease out the silver lining, it might end up being the best thing that ever happened to you.

Meantime, figure out your worst-case scenario, take help where it is offered and use whatever assistance comes your way. I wish you every happiness and every success as you move forward!!

Rae