Good morning from the frosty Canadian semi-wilderness. I heard wolves early this morning and then heard two silly little dogs join the chorus. Those two would be just a snack to their wild cousins! The moon was still around but it was darn cold (26º) out there at 5 - "essence of winter sleep is in the night."

Yesterday was very relaxing with lots of quilt preparation happening. I even kept my cool at the Bored meeting which was short, allowing me to be home before eight. A miracle!

Today I have a dental appointment in Kingston for 11:30 and hope to pick up a few things while I'm there so will need to hit the road early. Both dogs are due for a bath and trim with Holly at 2:30 so I'll need to hustle home. Wendy is not coming to do the garden until tomorrow which kind of clears my day.

My house smells wonderful this morning with a big pot of applesauce simmering away. I hope to dry some as well - I did the sage crop yesterday and have enough sage for all the Christmas turkeys in Delta! I always feel the need to stock up in the fall - Harry used to ask "Are we expecting a famine?"

Stay warm and smiling today as you tackle the Wednesday hump.

Good morning!

Mmmm, I'm coming to your house so I can enjoy that aroma of apples cooking, Ruth!

I'll be right back, I want to get the laundry finished before I leave this morning, and the washer just stopped.

Good morning

Ruth - I did the all day applesauce thing Monday. Love the smell. The leather from that is really good but I warn people that it involves a lot of time. Hope there is some time for appreciating the fall weather and dog cuddling in your plans too

Cottage - You and Ruth are the energizer bunnies of the daily chat I am so slow in the morning. How is Maggie doing?

I was indulging myself this morning checking out prices to Florida. We are talking about skipping holiday gifts to each other and taking a short birding trip this winter. I already found a resort I love - on the beach and on the island we want to be on, kitchenette for healthy eating, and free bike use. Can't get much better than that. Oh, and a direct flight so we won't end up in Chicago (rule #1, never fly through Chicago in the winter!). Something nice to think about during my hectic day

Work is as busy as I knew it would be and my boss doesn't care (there's a surprise). I mentioned yesterday at our team meeting that I'm feeling a bit buried and her response was "well if you don't get to things right away, you don't". Sure, tell that to the people who call me back repeatedly because I haven't had a chance to return their calls, etc. Ah well, enough griping for one morning. I'm hoping to get there early today so maybe I can leave on time.

Meanwhile it's seriously heading toward winter here. We have several friends who have already had s*** I hope ours holds off for awhile.

I am definitely back on plan and slowly taking the excess poundage off. I'm really enjoying the spin bike which should help me be more motivated to exercise. I've been missing my walks and using that as an excuse to be a slug.

Hope your hump day is shaping up to be smooth and bumpless

Good Morning

Hi Ruth and Cottage. Mmm...the aroma of applesauce AND sage is enhancing my fall mood this morning. I am making the shift, although we harvested over a gallon of cherry tomatoes yesterday. I find my knitting helps.

Ruth, have a safe trip to Kingston. Thanks for the nice greetings for the day-I do plan to stay warm and smiling today.

Cottage, good morning, see you soon.

Hi, Cyndi. Your trip to Florida sounds great! My bro is in Key West and we haven't been for a few years. It's certainly been on my mind. Sounds like the workfront is just as you expected...glad to hear your weight is coming back down.

Me, up knitting early, and tossing in a few chores in between. I have to create exercise today, since I don't have any classes. Bing needs a rabies, so I may drive up the road to a vet who gives a discount to the rescue group. These are my days without any big outside commitments and I'm trying to enjoy it and not feel guilty by remembering back a few weeks when it was hard to breathe.

Have a great day everyone! I'm up for another OP day.

Happy Wednesday! Today is my anniversary! Married 9 years to my wonderful hubby.

Ruth, I have to admit, I would love to sit in your kitchen and smell apple sauce. Auston won't eat the store kind. Wonder if he would eat homemade? Probably not!

Cottage, Hooray for done laundry!

Cyndi, One February, I had to travel to Plantation, FL for my job. I left cold, dead, stark Birmingham and flew into a beautiful, lush, green paradise. I cried when I had to head back to Birmingham!

Debbie, My FIL gets a 7-in-1 shot from the Farmer's Coop for our dogs. It saves a trip to the vet. The dogs really don't want to go.

Me: We found out yesterday that one of the kids in Auston's class has probable swine flu. Yikes! I don't want that sickness in my house! Bring on the germ-x!

I waded through most of the pile of stuff on my desk yesterday. Still have a little more, but the major stuff is done. I'm hoping for an easy day one day this week! Hope you all have a great day, too!

I'm back, and just sitting down with my nice bowl of oatmeal w/chopped apples and walnuts and another big mug of coffee. I have the last load of laundry in the dryer, baked a meatloaf for Jake's supper, and have a big pan full of cauliflower, delicata squash and portobellas roasting in the oven right now. At least I won't have anything to do when I get home this evening.

Chelby, Happy Anniversary to you and Jeff! I hope Auston has gotten his flu shot!

Debbie, I hope you get to enjoy your commitment-free day!

Cyndi, your vacation plans sound wonderful! Now you have me thinking about a mid-winter vacation. I am sooo not ready to hear that s*** word yet!

Good morning!

Ruth-- Oh how I love applesauce! I've never made it but my great great aunt used to make it for me. I miss her... and her applesauce. She passed away 2 years ago this December. I shall have to see if my Gran has her recipe. Of course, I'm sure it has sugar in it.. I may have to tweak, but the one thing I loved the most was she made it chunky. MM mm Good! Hope yours turns out fantabulous!

Cyndi-- HAHAHAHA!! "never fly through Chicago in the winter"... Someone should have told me that back in 98. I took a trip to Connecticut from Wisconsin and flew into Chicago both ways. On the way home... we had a HUGE storm and I ended up stuck in the airport overnight. (I had no cash, no credit card, no nothin) Twas NOT fun.

Lexxiss-- Do you find that knitting is somewhat meditative? I have crocheted blankets before... always found that sort of needlework to be very meditative for me. Though, so is doing dishes and playing Dr. Mario LOL whatever works, I guess! I've been wanting to get into cross stitch again. I was never great at it, started in high school... all that counting. lol but I'm sure it's progressive. I saw an episode of one of those daily court shows once where a woman had these absolutely beautiful cross stitch pieces. HUGE and framed and with different kinds of thread, yarn etc. They were geishas I think. I was thinking to myself.. you can do that with cross stitch!? I wanna do THAT! lol

Chelby-- I'm hoping and praying that you all stay healthy! And happy 9th anniversary to you and your hubby! I think a story about your engagement.. or your wedding.. is in order! Or tell us something special about the hubby!

Hi Cottage! -- You have been busy busy this morning! I don't know about you but I need an hour or two after I wake up to chill, drink coffee and just.. well.. wake up! lol I find if I don't get this time, I am very unpleasant most of the day. LOL

wow. I talked a lot today. I'm going to be stopping by the clinic this morning, my granny is in town for a dr. appt. It will be nice to see her. She's very supportive of most things, and I talk to her every week, sometimes twice... so she knows I've started "dieting". I'll be happy to tell her how on plan I've been! She has diabetes and so we both know I'm a prime candidate for it... and we both know it's important for me to get that sugar out of my system and to regulate my blood sugar, drop this extra weight and exercise. Other than that, it will just be nice to hang with her, even if it is at a clinic lol.

Hi Gothik, sometimes I'm very chatty, too. I'm so glad you've become a regular here. Sounds like a great day for you as you say goodbye to P1 after doing so well. I do find knitting very pleasurable. I'm pretty new to it, but I made 60 hats for our troops last year and got good at repetition. This project is a new one for me, so I just stay basic with the stitches and work on the pattern. I like crossstich, too.

Chelby, Happy Anniversary! Enjoy your favorite Wednesday. I recall you don't have to teach and can go right home tonight.

Ok, I am reluctantly putting down my knitting and heading for the pool. It's actually fun working out in the rain, though. I should be finished with my project later and I will post a picture...

Good morning,
Definitely not Indian summer here anymore.

Ruth - enjoy your day in the big city.

Cottage - you are always so organized in the morning.

Cyndi - hope your day goes better today. I got stuck in Chicago once overnight with no luggage, the airline gave me a toothbrush and I had to pay for my one hotel. Hate Chicago airport and Atlanta too.
Chelby - its pretty scary about the swine flu. Hope Auston is resilient.

Debbie - I should introduce you to a friend of mine, she is up early (4a.m.) knitting every day even though she has carpal tunnel and had surgery for it.

Gothik - Its so lovely that you enjoy your granny's company. Enjoy her as much as you can.

me - I'm off to a guild meeting this afternoon and DH is off as I speak for his annual physical. I am so glad that he goes, it took me almost 40 years to train him this way.
take care
Sophie

Gothik, My hubby and I aren't church goers, so we didn't know where to have our wedding. He proposed to me at a state park that had a quaint gazebo in the woods. I said, "We need a gazebo!" He built the most perfect gazebo at our home, and we got married in it out under the trees. It was a wonderful day. Four years later, my FIL accidentally burned it down. Oh, well...

Sophie, My DH has been to the doctor twice since I've known him! He is 'anti' the doctor!

Debbie, I love going straight home after work on Wednesdays. I reminded Auston I would be home tonight and he said, "I love when you come home after work." He's so sweet! Of course, that makes me feel guilty for not coming home those other nights of the week. Sheesh!

AWW! thats sweet! and as far as the uh.. accidental burning... I'm sure there's a story there. lol

So I figured out... starting tomorrow... if I lose 2 lbs a week... I might be able to to make it to 220ish by Valentines Day.. Is it a reasonable goal to figure at least 2 lbs a week if I'm doing cardio and eating right? I KINDA wanna push myself... I know 1-2 lbs will be typical but if I shoot for 2... I think it will keep me on plan and working out better than if I make the goal too easy.

Think I'm gonna start work out goals as well. Last night I bookmarked a site for a beginner's strength training.. and I'll be starting Zumba at the YMCA next week. As soon as I find my ipod I'll begin walking again.

Any thoughts? ideas? criticisms?