[Stephanie Osborne]

Morning chickies,
Looks like it is going to be a great day on the beach, and a dreary day in Colorado. We have sleet weather. Well I am eating my scrambled eggs with lf cheese, and drinking my v8 so that can only mean one thing...I am starting today and not Friday. Wish me luck I am excited to get back on the wagon. DH is feeling much better so we decided to start a day early.

Heather - Kid parties are so much fun. I went to one for my girlfriends daughter once and they had a castle you could jump inside, I am just a big kid can ya tell?

Schatzi - that is halirious about the equipment! SOmetimes I get confused too, I always have to look at the directions on the side of the machine.

angelshine - noon huh? That sounds like my kind of morning. Good luck with your story.

crk05 - thats so funny my DH and I do the same thing with boardgames. We always joke that we are so lame because staying home and playing trivial pursuit 90s edition is our cup of tea lol.

Well I hope you ladies have a great day!

[soon2Bfab]

Wow - 2 pages & it's only 9:30. I have to take df to work....so I'll be back later to catch up.

[Schatzi]

Stephie" Must you be so gorgeous?? I love yer avatar! Where in ColaRAdo are ya? I have family there... in Bailey and Aurora.. Denver area.. a beautiful State!!!

CRk: Sigh, I wish I lived closer to you... I adore Board Games!!! I love scrabble especially

Djett and anybody else: Crockpots...I was gonna get one as I can't find the lid to one I got a billion years ago and only used once... Anyway, DH wrinkled up his nose since he seems to think that everything you make in a crockpot comes out Mushy ..Is this true? I see so many wonderful recipes calling fer a crockpot..

[djett626]

OH, Shatzi! I LOVE my crockpot!!! Yes, some things can come out mushy, but most recipes come out fine. You don't want to put veggies in there and cook them with a lot of water for a long period of time. Soups work great in the crock pots. You can "roast" meats in them. I made a pork loin roast in there the other day that was awesome. I say play around with the recipes and find something that we knock DH's socks off. I would even try to conceal that I made it in a crockpot. I'm sneaky like that though.

[pearshape]

Mornin, Chicks! Geesh! So many posts. Being out here in CA with the time change by the time I get here there are so many people on it's impossible to reply to everyone. Today I plan to do some reading for my thesis and get my hair trimmed. I go home Sunday and am sad to leave my bf but am anxious to get started with the new year and see my furbabies, of course. I'll be back out here in March so it won't be that long of a separation. The quicker I get out of here now the sooner I can move back here for good. Can't wait!!

H-ko: All that food sounds yummy! Can I come over for a dinner or two??

Ruth: Busy as ever! Do me a favor and squeeze Rrromanno's cute butt for me once or twice. (Eeeck!! I didn't just say that, did I??)

Shad: Australia!! A definite check on my "To Do Before I Die" list!

Chipper: Wow! What a whirlwind! Hope everything calms down for ya. Have some tea and go to your happy place, girl!

Cottage: I tried some some tofu noodles made with yam powder and they were yucky. I don't think it was the same brand so let us know how they taste. Love the mock oatmeal, BTW!

Schatzi: OMG!! Fell off the thingamabob ?? You're too funny. I wonder what adventrues are in store for you (and vicariously...us)!?! You are one in a million, babe!

Angel: You deserve a break! I'll be heading for those covers in a few weeks or so! I feel your pain, girl.

Crk: Keep it up! You're so close. It'll be so worth it when you're done.

Djett: You're so good with you're excercize. That's one thing I have committed to do more of this time around. And I'm going to buy my first crockpot when I get home. Care to share some recipes? Prettiest please with sugar free P2 cherries on top?

Kyemom: I am in no place to kick anyone's butt so I will leave that to the chicks that are OP and firmly on the beach. (Plus you're just too sweet )

Stephanie: Hi, I'm Lydia! We haven't met yet. I've been AWOL for a month or so. Love your avatar. You are beautiful! You'll love this diet and you'll feel great on it.

Soon: Have a great day with your bf...excuse me, I mean...FIANCE. CongRATulations! He's a lucky lucky man.

OK, sorry if I missed anyone! Have a great day, chicks!

[Schatzi]

My Pearsydew How I've missed yer daily posts!
When you come back I'll join you with starting Phase 1...DH is joining me ..BUT he insists on reading the book which he hasnt done.. So the **** with him, I'm going to do phase 1 myself if he aint ready !!!

[Joanneg]

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm out in California like Pears, and by the time I get online, there's 2 pages to read!

Schatzi - There are wonderful crockpot recipes out there -- I use mine a lot and very seldom run into "mushiness." Be glad to share. Also check out Scrabble on Yahoo. Both Joe (hubby) and I became addicted to that game!

Finished 3rd day of P1 - and we both have enjoyed it. Of course, we've been off the last 3 weeks and I've been able to fuss and cook. Saturday we start back to work and are generally out of the house by 6AM! One good thing we only work about 3 weeks out of the month. Still, I have to try to figure out a "quick" breakfast - maybe something we can take with us. We got in the habit of stopping at McD's for a breakfast sandwich. No can do no more! Any suggestions for a quickie breakfast we can take with us???????????

Have a great day everyone and will check in later!
Joanne

[Joanneg]

Hey Ruth,

It worked! Thanks for the help with my tracker!

You guys are really great! I get such encouragement reading all your post and browsing thru recipes!

Thanks again!

Joanne

[djett626]

YUm! I'm working on my veggie intake and I just had some of the "popcorn cauliflower". It was pretty good. I'm making progress... green peppers and onions in my omellette this morning and cauliflower for a snack!

[anchor weight]

Morning chicks! Just a quick drive by for me to let you know I'm down 4 pounds this morning! Wooo Hoooo I've been very OP the last couple of days and that combined with working out must have made the plunge.

[FrugalChick]

I was up at 5:50 am. Lynne hollered that Kitty was in her room and she HATES Kitty in her room. Since the alarm was due to go off in an hour anyway, I decided to wake up. I got plenty of quiet time before DH and DJ woke up.

We are doing tons of work today in preparation for tomorrow. We're taking a trip into Jacksonville, FL (which ends up being an all day trip -- about an hour and half drive each way) We are going to a curriculum store that I've never been to before to look at some books (actually touch and read...not having to browse in a catalog! yay!) I'm also doing laundry and going to clean up so I can come home to clean house tomorrow (I love that clean house look and feel...I just *hate* doing it! LOL

[Tammy70]

Good mornin' ya'll

Man, by the time I get on here there are so many chickies I can't reply to everybody!!!! But that's a good thing, the more on the beach the bigger the party!!!!

Took DH to the doctor yesterday and he has bronchitis, flu, and strep. I asked the doc if she would give me a preventative shot and she just looked at me and said to call if I get to feeling bad. Everybody around here has this mess. She put him on 3 different meds. I just hope I don't get it!!!

Kind of depressed today. I know TOM is coming in a few days but I gained 5lbs!!! Its strange the way my weight effects my day. Logically I know it's no big deal, but I've been racking my brain thinking of what I've been eating and it's not bad. I did eat a few handfuls of nuts yesterday but surely that wouldn't have caused a 5lb gain? I'm just thinking what the H***, why not have that (fill in the blank). But I have resisted, telling myself it's only the depression talking.

I've been so stressed out, so I guess I'll chalk that up to the depression. With my brother living w/ us and having to financially support him (but he's got a job now, and we just have to wait for him to get caught up with his bills), DH sickly, and this weight issue. I don't know which way I'm going lately.

Sorry, just venting a little bit. I think I'll go hide at my desk and avoid human contact for the rest of the day.

Ya'll take care

[2BFIT1]

I woke up late today~fighting off a cold or something. There's no way I can address everybody right now but I hope you all have a wonderful day

Tammy~~Hang in there, things will get better.

Schatzi~~ You are the bomb I use my crockpot occassionally but I use my dutch oven even more (Le Creuset). It can be used on the stove or in the oven and does fantastic for braising meats and poultry. You can brown and cook in the same pot. I can slow cook on the stove and the food doesn't stick at the bottom and it's great for stews and soups, too.

Gotta go eat brunch since I missed breakfast and take some Dayquil, then it's laundry, etc.

[Stephanie Osborne]

Tammy,
It really sounds like this situation has you down in the dumps! I know it feels bad now but I am sure there are many good things about your situation. I mean you do HAVE a DH, and you are not the one who is jobless (thank goodness.) That extra poundage might be water weight from being close to that TOM. Do you feel bloated at all? Stick with your routine chickie and if you need some support just logon here

[Barb0522]

2BFIT1 - Hope you feel better.

Tammy - If those nuts have salt on them, then it could be water retention. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Hope it gets better soon.

Schatzi - I have two crockpots that I use quite often. There is a Wendy's Chili recipe that I posted here that I make in my bigger crockpot. I just fill it with water once it has cooled and let it soak and it cleans easily. As far as the liners, I am on a crockpot recipe email list and the concensus there was that most people didn't like the liners. Sometimes they melted and leaked. I guess it may depend on how hot your crockpot cooks though.

Heather - I've used Birthday Express and they are very good. They are more expensive that the local Party City though so I try to buy things like plates, etc there since they will let me return unopened packages and then I buy harder to find things like maybe a special pinata at Birthday Express.

I don't have time to respond to everyone but I do need to say that you can customize home many posts show on a page. Go to Quick Links then Edit Options and Number of posts per page. Mine is set to 40.

For me, I am feeling fine today. Last night my fever was pretty high so it must have been a virus. I definitely didn't stick to phase 1 yesterday (in fact the flatbread DH got me for dinner probably didn't even qualify for phase 2) but I am back on plan today.