South Beach Diet - Monday Meanderings

and before coffee even :) Good morning :coffee2: It's another very fall-like day here and I'm off to meetings all day.

Today is our first anniversary but the week is so hectic that we decided to celebrate last night. We went to one of our favorite nice restaurants and discovered the menu was completely different. I was afraid I wouldn't find anything but actually ordered 2 "small" sides - ratatouille and sauteed broccoli rabe. It was a ton of food, very tasty and didn't send me off plan at all. DW had a beet, spinach and feta salad with a side of homemade hummus. It wasn't the dinner I planned but it was perfect.

I am officially counting down to vacation now. Saturday morning we leave after breakfast for a whole week at the coast. I am looking forward to bird watching, walking, riding my bike and renting a kayak. I can't wait!

How does your week look from here? Stop by and say hello before you head out into your busy week.

Happy Anniversary, Cyndi! I'm glad you were able to enjoy a nice celebratory dinner, despite the menu changes, and still stay on-plan. I know you're looking forward to your vacation and hope the week flies by so you can get on with it!

I'm wide awake and alert on this Monday morn. I had a sample packet of Starbucks coffee and decided to try it this morning. Wow, is it ever strong! :eek: I'm not sure if I like it, but it's perfect for a Monday, LOL!
I have a long day ahead, starting with my regular hairdresser's appointment, and heading over to the farm afterwards. The girls start a new season of Cotillion after school, which Maggie is very excited about since she's finally old enough to go. Audrey also has a special piano lesson for her upcoming recital that we have to squeeze in to our schedule. It looks like I'll be putting a lot of mileage on the car today!

Good morning!

Happy anniversary Cyndi! :) I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner out. And I don't blame you for counting down - that vacation is really close now!

It's cool and drizzly here this morning. I'd rather have sunshine, but it's so much nicer inside the school now that the weather has cooled off.

Enjoy your Monday, friends. :hug:

Edited to add
Good morning Linda. It sounds like you're going to be one very busy lady today! In some perverse way that makes facing my 'indoor recess on a Monday' seem like less of an inconvenience. At least I won't have to be watching the clock and driving around all day. :lol: I hope your day goes smoothly and quickly.

Good Morning:sunny:

Thanks for getting us started, Cyndi! :congrat: Enjoy your busy week as you count down to vacation! BTW-you motivated me to find a spot for the vitamix. It's all settled in. I don't buy often, but I've been thinking about this for several years now.

Linda, I hope that extra strong Starbucks powers you through a busy day! Have you noticed that Survivor is going to be on Wednesdays now?

Heidi, Happy school day! I'm glad to hear you've decided to focus on losing again. I've been taking a break, too, and am thinking towards fall, too.

Me, had a draining day yesterday. You might remember the friend I helped move this spring...well the divorce proceedings aren't going well. I spent the afternoon with her, came home and went to bed. Ug! Fortunately, I have water yoga today and lots of paperwork afterward, so I'll keep myself busy. Have a great day, everyone!

Good morning and Happy Anniversary to Cyndi! That holiday will be wonderful.

Cottage, Maggie, wee Maggie, is now in cotillion?! She is growing up too fast.

Heidi, indoor recess. :( I remember those from my teaching days and wish that part of my memory was gone.

Debbie, sorry about your draining day. Friends' problems really can affect us. Sleep is a good cure.

I'm feeling cruddy this morning although I did sleep well. Part of the problem is chili for supper last night that was incredibly salty. Like an idiot, I decided to throw in a packet of salsa mix that was hanging out in the cupboard. It made for for a hot and salty dish - the hot I can cope with but the salty part ... I may freeze it to see if that helps. Today will be a big water-drinking day as I try to flush away three pounds of water weight which I am really feeling. Water and loads of veggies are on the menu.

Since it looks like another rainy day, I'll hang out at home and get odds and sods done. I may even start putting away summer clothes, keeping out some for Italy, of course. Another niggle to do will be finally finishing that darned quilt so I can get it to Victoria's Quilts to be finished. I guess it's time to do yellow stickies for my own jobs as well as the Mill accounting ones. My monitor is wreathed once again!

Happy meandering Monday. :cofdate:

Happy Monday all!

Congrats Cyndi. And I hope you get fabulous weather for your vacation.

Linda - Cotillion? That is quite a busy life those girls lead. And you with them.

Heidi - I hope school is going well and the little kiddos have settled in.

Debbie - I hope the water yoga brings you some zen after yesterday.

Ruth - I read something once about putting a potato into too salty food to draw the salt out. (You toss the potato, of course.)

I need to get motivated to clean my house today. Maybe. But first, a bike ride. There were lots of muddy spots yesterday and they make me very nervous. (Our trail system runs along a stream and it overflows the banks during heavy rain.)

Have a great day everyone.

brrrr
We've been sleeping with the windows open and haven't put the heat on yet. Kierie thy name is tin woman!
Happy Anniversary Cyn :)
Cottage sound's like you're jet powered this morning!
Heidi I agree with you don't mind being inside on a day like today
Debbie I have been there! Take care of you and rejuvenate!
Ruth feel better! maybe you can add some ingredients to the chili to disperse the salt?
I have a 4 day week this week DH and I are taking friday off to go to the city. I have an eval for a bike then we'll probably do a museum and lunch.
I made crack slaw last night with chicken thighs was going to have it for lunch but my calories before dinner will be too high to have dinner
So Lunch is now dinner and I'm augmenting 1 of my snacks to make it lunch worthy
ok I'm running late Time for this Kier Krispy (snap crackle pop) to get moving!
Kierie

Good Monday morning, beach chicks. I will be meandering back to court today, but not until 9:30. I am going to be spoiled by these late mornings when the trial is over.

Ruth, too early to put away summer clothes for us. It's supposed to be mid-80's today, but the nights are really cooling down. When do you leave for Italy?

Debbie, jealousy for the vitamix! I so want one, but gosh they're expensive.

Have a great day, Heidi.

cottage, is it those little packets of instant coffee? I love those. I carry them with me when I travel because you never know what kind of crappy coffee the hotel will have. They don't taste anything like instant.

Cyndi, I'm glad you had a fun anniversary celebration. Countdown to vacation, hurray!


We spent the weekend in Va., my company had its picnic at King's Dominion. Fun, but we are all tired this morning. Court through Thursday, I think. Hope everyone's week is off to a great start.

ETA: Good morning, Kierie and Karen!

Good Morning Ladies

Football was fun but really hot this weekend.

Cyndi Happy Anniversary!!!

Ruth Italy sounds fabulous.

Debbi Hope you get some rest today.

Linda Cotillions sound fun.

Karen I need to get motivated to clean too. Hubby is off this week so hoping he will do some of the big projects that need to get done.

Have a great day everyone.
Tammie

Good Morning ladies,

I'm about to head to the eliptical. I had to get my breakfast in first. My workout partner wasn't feeling well this morning and says she may come by later. I hope she does. The longer you stay away the harder it is to get started again. I had trouble getting in my weekend exercise this weekend. I was just in a lazy mood. I got a little in, so that isn't too bad.

It's time to start the week off right. Hope everyone has a sunny day!

I thought I was up early this morning but you all beat me as usual :)

Its Monday again and as much as I am looking forward to vacation- I am not pushing it because I am not ready to go back to work! I have been doing some soul searching on what I may want to do for the rest of my life and I am pretty sure I want to own my own business and unsure about what business that might be... but I have a few ideas bumping around in my head!

Today will be full of staying on plan, cleaning, and I am thinking I need to hook my coffee pot in now :coffee: nice chilly morning here for it! who would imagine the 53 this morning will turn into almost 90 this afternoon! I'll enjoy it while I can. Think I will tell DH I will bring his lunch this afternoon and we can go to the park!

Happy Anniversary Cindy. It's not a good start to a Monday for me.I'm still suffering from my Dad's abuse. I was sobbing in a dream begging God for help due to what he did. Can you believe he blamed me for molesting my sister all because she went to the authorities and his job was lost? And he wonders why I have trouble staring him in the face! Forgiveness has been hard for me, as it was sooooooooo frigging dissappointing what he did and my Mom just stood by and added her own drama! I thought about sleeping in today but I know that is not healthy and besides I have an appointment with my psychiatrist at 5. Have a good day y'all.

FO, I hope your day is improving.

Mine is. The sun came out and I seem to have a new lease on life. It's too early for SAD but still ... I threw a lot of chopped up tomatoes in with the salty chili which should help things.

As soon as the sun came out, my work crew showed up to start building a porch roof at the Mill Museum. I took them ham and cheese sandwiches and some donuts and milk for lunch. Bob's Diner is now on "winter" hours which means he's closed Monday to Wednesday. :) I should open a 3-day cafe!

I have persuaded the dogs that we don't need an afternoon nap today - now to persuade myself and get that darned quilt finished.

My day is coming along fine due to supportive friends.

Just got invited to the football game tonight. And the tickets are for the penthouse suite with catering. Darn! Temptation is coming. And I will be tired since it is a late game. Off to ingest some caffeine now and will eat a healthy dinner before I go.

FO Will be praying for you!
Ruth hows the quilt?
Karen you can do it! think of how good you'll feel when you exit the football game unscathed by food.
or get some Salt and pepper cashews they're my new crack!

Thanks knockout!

I will have to catch up later but wanted to say hello!! Im still Amy from Atlanta, still fluffy but will get defluffy one day. Happy to report that as fat as I am, the majority of my labs came back great today!!

Good evening, everybody. :) Just stopping in to make my rounds before I have to sign off for the night. I share my wireless card w/ a co-worker and she has run up our usage this month, so no more worktime visits for me until the next bill comes around. :( Oh well.

Cyndi - Happy Anniversary!!! Your dinner sounds yummy, actually. I've never had broccoli rabe before...I've heard it can be an acquired taste. I'm interested in trying it, though. ****, I'll try anything once...sometimes twice just to make SURE I don't like it.

cottagebythesea - Sounds like you had a busy busy day. Hope you got everything squeezed in that you needed to. ;)

Heidi - Eek...I don't know how you do it w/o AC in the schools. I remember it being like that when I was in elementary school, but it also wasn't nearly as hot as it is nowadays. :( Here's to staying cool. ;)

Lexxiss - Sorry to hear that your friend is having a difficult divorce. It's so unfortunate when things can't be settled amicably, but I guess it's not always in the cards. Sounds like she's lucky to have you as a friend to help her through it, though. ;)

Ruth - Hope you're feeling better by now. Never fails for me, either...I always mess up a recipe when I've got a ton of leftovers...LOL Hopefully the tomatoes you added will help. ;) Good job talking the dogs out of the nap...I never have much luck w/ my dog. OMG, she is SO spoiled...she will pace up and down the hallway and whine until me and my mom BOTH come back and love on her. LOL

WaistingTime - I have heard that, too, about the potato. Never tried it, though.

Kierie- OMG, I am SO jealous of your weather!!! We are nowhere NEAR putting the heat on for at least 2 or 3 more months, I'm sure. I'm not complaining, though, b/c at night lately we've been enjoying temps in the low 70s and high 60s and that's been really nice.

Schmoodle - I've always wanted to visit VA. I've heard it's beautiful.

djett - You ain't kidding!!! I thought I'd NEVER get started back going to the gym this time around...but now I'm borderline addicted. LOL Good job getting in some exercise this weekend, though. ;)

rdw1 - Haven't seen your photo before...you are so pretty!!! Good luck in deciding what path you want to take. Owning your own business is a lot of hard work, but if you're determined you can do it. ;) I had a friend that tried it w/ a restaurant but he didn't want to put all the work in. Of course, he didn't succeed.

FoodObsessed - I don't know your entire family background, but it sounds like you REALLY need to sever some ties w/ some of your family members. Good luck. Hopefully your therapist can help you deal w/ some of those issues.

Fluffymamma - Welcome back, Amy...congrats on your lab work coming back w/ good numbers. That feels good, doesn't it??? ;)

As for me, court was canceled for today but I've got to go in next Monday for the same case. I knew the guy wouldn't plead out. Oh well. BUT I did get to keep my doctor's appointment today. Bad news is that my doctor says I can't eat shrimp anymore. :( I only started having a problem in my mid-20s but it's been getting worse and worse. Now I start having trouble breathing when I prepare shrimp. Sucks, though...I loooooooooove shrimp. :( The good news, though, is that my doctor is so pleased w/ my progress in my weight loss that he actually high-fived me as he left the room, LOL. My BP was down to 101/69, so he lowered my BP meds to 3 times a week and changed the medication as well. He expects to take me off of it completely in 4 months when I come back to see him.

Aside from that I've done nothing, really, except work out and then go back home and take a nap. Debuted my new haircut at work and everyone really likes it, so that's good. I've decided to let it grow out so I can get a totally new style when I hit goal (I don't like having long hair as a big woman b/c I think it looks like you're trying to hide behind it) and I told my hairdresser to do whatever she wanted. So it's short and spiky and I actually had to go buy some shaping spray. It took me two times before I finally figured out how to style it properly, but I've got it now. ;) And I dyed it, too, finally...so I feel a million times better.

My scale at home put me at 270 today...the doctor's office had a new digital scale and it put me at 277.2. Of course, I weighed nekkies at home, though...LOL

Anywho, I'm signing off for the night. Hope you ladies are having a good one!!!

Hey Natasha, I was thinking about severing ties, will take a long hard look at doing so even though I will forgive, for my sake, not theirs!

Hey Natasha, I was thinking about severing ties, will take a long hard look at doing so even though I will forgive, for my sake, not theirs!
I don't normally recommend severing ties w/ family b/c I think it's sad for families to be estranged like that (and I speak from experience)...but some situations are just SO toxic that it's really needed. And I think that yours is one of those, unfortunately.

Thanks, natasha!