[Mudpie]

Did you all realize there are at least 85 pages of Japanese themed shower curtains on a website? The mind boggles.

This new house thing is kinda a fun - but expensive!

Dagmar

[CherryPie99]

Originally Posted by paperclippy

Jen, thanks for the tip about the groceries! I have been stocking up the fridge with turkey for sandwiches, but DH keeps eating it all.

Men!! Also - if I'm not annoying you with suggestions - the slow cooker could be your friend! Grab a whole chicken, rub with a few spices and slap that sucker in the slow cooker (breast down) and 6 hours later you have a PILE of cooked chicken that you could use for sandwiches or mix in with some instant brown rice and veggies!

Mmmmm now I'm getting hungry!

Jen

[krampus]

Hello Maintainers -

I've been in Chattanooga/Atlanta since Sunday, just came back today. I visited a friend there and it turns out her family has multiple boats, several spare cars, yacht/boat club membership, and lives in a huge condo on a lake. Had a lovely time, wasn't too badly delayed flights-wise today, just sat on the tarmac at ATL for a while waiting for the rain to let up. I didn't leave myself enough time and had to SPRINT through the airport. I wouldn't have been able to do that a few years ago! *flexes*

[alinnell]

I'm home.

I've attempted to read all that I've missed, but I'm here on hour 'IDK" and too tired to figure it out! Basically we woke up 9 hours earlier (and at 3:30 am to catch a flight) than this side of the earth and sat for 15 hours on two aircraft to get home and then sat for almost 3 hours in a car. Unpacked. Laundry in process. Dinner in the oven (after sending DS out for ingredients so I could pay bills).

We're going to try and stay up to our "normal" bedtime so we'll get back on schedule ASAP. We did nap for 30-45 minutes on the long plane trip.

When we left a fire was burning in the mountains above our desert. As we returned, we saw smoke emanating from an area just northwest of that area. Only 4 hours later and it's over 2500 acres with mandatory evacuation orders for three mountain communities. So sad.

My only question is this--why do European airlines have such WONDERFUL free food and drink? US charges mega bucks for a dry, tasteless sandwich and they wonder why we complain. (We flew KLM today and on my last trip a few years back it was Lufthansa.)

[TriciaV]

I'll try dipping my toes in here. I followed a link to this forum a couple of weeks ago and like it pretty well. The height and weight profiles were what drew me.

I was considering returning to college this fall, then got kind of all or nothing about it but now I'm weighing the part time option.

I like cooking, Firefly, Dr who, and conservation. I guess I'm going to school for speech language pathology. We started a renovation 3 years ago, but then my husband went to law school.

[Mudpie]

Tricia Welcome to Maintainers! We're a friendly bunch so dive right in.

Dagmar

[Mudpie]

The tile store experience did not go well yesterday. I walked around and around, looking for something I could afford. Then I spoke with the person at the desk. She took me around and flipped through some of her stacks and stacks of samples. Then she asked me what I was prepared to pay for mosaic tile for the backsplash. I replied, she blanched, and then kinda ended up wandering away from me and talking to another store employee.

It took me about 5 minutes to realize that she was politely telling me I couldn't afford to shop there. I waved a cheery good bye and headed for Lowes - where I had originally intended to get my tiles.

The staff there were very helpful and polite but all the tiles I liked were discontinued or not available in the colour I had selected. I finally suggested the staffer go help someone else and began wandering. Then I started looking up at the displays of how some tiles were being used.

Black and white! I would design my own backsplash using matte 2 x 2 inch black and white tiles and use 4 x 4 and 3 x 6 glossy black and white in the shower enclosure. And the floor would be black, flecked with mica-like particles. AWESOME!

In the past I would have headed directly to the grocery store from the fancy tile place and bought and choked down a dozen big cookies in my car, consumed with shame and embarrassment.

Not now!

Dagmar (the tile )

[ICUwishing]

Hi, TriciaV! Congrats on your big loss!

Dagmar, I love the browsing part of renovation. Agree, once money starts to exchange hands, dreams die. I will be visiting a kitchen/bath design store later this month to begin the process of figuring out my master bath - I have a $ target in mind that was based on the other bathroom, but I really haven't added up what I think this is all going to cost. I know I'll if I do, so I have been putting it off! I found an app called Houzz for my iPad; that little spot is going to cause me some sleepless nights.

allison, welcome back!

Jen, thanks again for the reminder that chickens and crockpots go together magically well. We have been searching for an alternative to lunchmeat - duh!

Not much going on here; DS and I will be running the Crim 10 mile on the 24th. This Sunday morning there is an unofficial 10 mile training run on the modified course, I figure I'd better go see what I'm in for! I think this is either the 4th or 5th time I've done this one in 20 years, and I swear every time I finish one that I will never run another step.

[alinnell]

Welcome TriciaV!

I'm from Utah originally. And I have a friend who is a speech therapist. Where do you go to school?

[traveling michele]

Sounds like you were very successful Dagmar!

Welcome Tricia. My dd is going to school to be a speech language pathologist. She returns Tuesday to the University of Arizona as a Sophomore. My house is a huge mess with her piles and suitcases everywhere. It sounds bad but we are both ready for her to go back to school!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip Allison. Hope the jet lag isn't too extreme.

[TriciaV]

Thanks you are a friendly bunch! I'm going to the U of U working on prerequisites. I had wanted to apply to the masters program this year but will have to be patient.

I got a digital meat thermometer that stays in the meat while you cook it and I can actually enjoy chicken breast roasted now. I used to overcook everything.

[Shannon in ATL]

Hey Tricia! I love Firefly, anything Joss really, Star Trek in all generations, X-Files, Supernatural, am just now getting into Dr. Who. I'm not sure how I missed it, but somehow I did. Welcome aboard!

So. I'm fussy and irritable today. My weight is close to 3 pounds up from last Friday because I had some extra salt though my calories were at or below maintenance range all weekend long. This plus some work stuff plus some head congestion pushed me into a chocolate chip cookie at lunch. A 440 calorie chocolate chip cookie. That is really going to help with the weight spike. Bah.

[silverbirch]

Shannon, please will you tell me the diameter of that chocolate chip cookie? 440 kcals is so ginormous. You could run a power station with those. (You know all the US's overproduction of corn which is made into HFCS to get rid of it? Has it ever been suggested using it as biofuel in power stations? Just an idea floating into my mind.)

[traveling michele]

Originally Posted by silverbirch

Shannon, please will you tell me the diameter of that chocolate chip cookie? 440 kcals is so ginormous. You could run a power station with those. (You know all the US's overproduction of corn which is made into HFCS to get rid of it? Has it ever been suggested using it as biofuel in power stations? Just an idea floating into my mind.)

I don't know where Shannon got it but that's about what they run at Starbucks and they aren't all that big. I'm glad they post the calorie counts because they do deter me! Studies have shown that most people ignore posted calorie counts and still order unhealthily but they do dissuade me! However, I was at a restaurant recently and no counts were posted and I succumbed to a cookie. Ignorance is bliss?!?!

I was going to go to Zumba today but couldn't get motivated. I went to bikram this morning so I still worked out. I go to Arizona next week and likely wont workout there and then go back to school the following week so I'm trying to get plenty of exercise while I can.

Speaking of exercise, there is a woman at bikram yoga that I think is an exercise addict. What is that called? I'm assuming it isn't my place to say anything to her. We exchange hellos and a few words here and there but I don't know her well. She does bikram multiple times a day (each class is at least 90 minutes) and often goes for runs between classes. I just feel sorry for her.

[Shannon in ATL]

Birchie - this cookie came from Panera Bread, I'd say 6-6.5 inches in diameter, so 15-17cm I guess? Pretty thin, but big. I can see them powering a substation.

Michele - that woman makes me sad inside. Unless maybe she just likes it?

The eating didn't stop with the cookie, and now I feel kind of icky.