~~Week of December 4th~~
 

Good Morning!

I was so hoping Alex would sleep in this morning (he didn't go to sleep until after 10), but no, he was up by 7:30. It's snowing here this morning and when I opened the blinds to show him he got so excited and started saying "Christmas! Christmas!". I don't know where he got the idea that snow means Christmas. It was cute tho.

Today is DH's last drill! I'm so glad this is over. Hopefully we won't have to worry about him being deployed anymore! Now that I'm pregnant I was really hoping he wouldn't be deployed. I so don't want to do this by myself! Yesterday they had a Christmas party at the base for the families so we went. Alex had fun. They had a moon bounce so he would have been happy with that alone! I'm thinking about getting him one for his birhday.

I haven't lost any more weight, but I'm happy with maintaining right now. If I can just not gain any (or much) with this baby, I will be happy.

Stacey: :wel3fc: :welcome:

:wave: :wave:

Congratulation to you and ur DH on your pregnancy! ! :bb: I wish I could have one more..... but three is enuff for me! Ur second?

My goal for this Decemeber month is to lose 10 lbs!!! So far I have lost one pound!! I keep my plans and know it's christmas.. but keep my plans!

Hope everyone is doing well..

hi ladies i am new here. Thought I would join this chat forum. I need some major support/ I have to lose at least 40 pds. I am not doing so well but I am not giving up. I started seriously just before the holiday. I just do not want to gain anymore weight. I have a wedding in feb. I would like to loose20pds. I hope I can do that. I am doing ww on my own. I have been a member forverer on and of. I know it has to be me for it to work. I have a thyroid issue, so I know the weight will not just fall off. I have to work really hard. I just want to be healthy for the kids. Just wanted to say hi. I will be stopping in to chat.

Hello...Well no loss but no gain..Oh well...better next week!!! Would love to drop 20 lbs in the next 2 months and be at goal...I want to be thin by the time we take family pic at Easter..THat is my goal!!!

Hello to the Newbies!!!SCG--we are almost neighbors!!!

Well off to bathe..We attempted Christmas pics and K screamed like a hen!! I guess to Albuteral and the 101 fever didnt make for great picture time...Oh welll...maybe another time????
Have a great evening!!!
RR

Hi All,

I have been MIA because our computer at home is busted...got a pretty bad virus, not sure how. Anyway, now we need to get a new hard drive. :( We have two, but DH said he's got to designate the new one as a back up or something like that. I hope we don't lose everything. There are a lot of pics on there that cannot be replaced. :( I tried to get on mom's PC, but hers kept having to close IE. I hope she doesn't have something too. I'll try to come back and respond later.

Hello Chickadees,

I made Gumbo for dinner last night and I did a wonderful job! It was so yummy. I made brown rice to go with it instead of white rice and even that didn't hurt it. (I really hate whole grains. I love white bread and white rice!) I'm trying very hard to be good. I wish I liked the whole grain stuff as much as the bad for you stuff. I had leftovers for lunch and my tummy is happy now.

RR: I'm sure you will be able to get to goal. Sorry the little one isn't feeling well. Hope she is better soon.

Lauren: Ewwwee. Bummer on the 'puter. I got a Trojan a couple months ago (and you know me, I'm paranoid about this stuff! I've no idea how I got it.) and it took Andy TWO DAYS to get rid of it. Even with all of the virus protection we have, it wasn't being picked up. He had to run special virus stuff to find it. It was called Vundo and it's a monster. It did all kinds of stuff to me.

Molly: A maintain is much better than a gain! That's how I'm looking at it right now.

Hope everyone is having a great day! :wave:

Hello all,

I just wanted to jump on and say hello, I am in between classes and a meeting right now. I am not doing good, and havent update my tickers any. This is the last week before exams and I am really stressed out and the parties and everything aren't helping.

It also doesn't help that I am not on a regular schedule, it doesn't look like next semester will be regular either. It is only 166 days till graduation. (yea!)

Lisa

Lisa hang in there you will do fine. Thanks Molly and RR for the welcome, I hope I do as well as some of you. The gumbo sounds awesome. I made a chicken dish today in the crock and the kids had seconds. I made it with all low cal no fat things so I am sure I stayed in my limits too.I have yet to record. Today got away from me. I will do it after the kids are in bed. Good luck ladies

Hi All,

DJ - :welcome: Sorry I didn't get to you sooner! Good for you making somethign LF that the kids like too! We have a recipe thread stickied, if you'd like to share the recipe!

Lisa - Hang in there girly, you're sounding a little discouraged some days. :hug:

Karen - Good for you eating your whole grains! :cp: Gumbo has seafood in it, right? Not sure the name of the virus we've got. DH still has to order the hard drive. Think I'm just going to tell him to suck it up and call Norton.

Lauren, thanks! :hug: I guess I am discouraged, stressed and generally wanting to move on with my life. It doesn't help that I have been going to school straight through since Jan. 04 and I will not be done til May 06. That doesn't sound like a long time, except I have taken full time hours all the way through, and this semester and next semester I am taking 15 hours. That is stressful. Sorry if I am venting alot.

Anyways back to work.

Lisa, don't apologize! Silly girl! :hug:

Hi ladies I hope all is good. I am going out to dinner tonight with some friends I am so afraid that I will blow it. I do not even want to have a cocktail, which is hard to believe with me. I love to have my wine, but I am afraid I will let my graurd down and have more wine or eat more soooooo just water. I did not work out today.I am so bummed. I can not go tomorrow either. I hope I can get something in. It is hard for me to motivate myself to do it at home. I hope you have a Good day ladies

DJ, just eat half and bring the other half home. I know it is hard when you go out with your friends, I end up talking and not noticing how much I've eaten. Just try and be concious. Have one drink and then switch to water, or be the designated driver. Good luck. Do you have stairs in your house? Maybe, purposely carry stuff up one at a time. I do that, especially since I cant get to the gym this semester.

Well I went and am very proud of myself. Yes I brought half back.I had steam rice with beef and brocc, and I drank about 10 glasses of water. This never would have happened a few weeks ago.sso changes are for sure occuring. YEAH. I need to go count my pts it may be a low pt day tomorrow. Oh well I am still happy even if it is babysteps. Thanks Lisa for your advice. Hang in there with school.

Lauren---Gumbo can have any meat in it...Chicken and sausage, andouille or seafood...Just remember---gumbo is not complete without okra and file' in it!!!:D :D Karen--brown rice is all I use!! Yummy--I am hungry for that now!!
RR

DJ thanks.

RR, EUWW! I must really be a northern gal. That sounds gross. I was in TX once, and I didn't like okra. I haven't heard of andouille, what is that?

Lisa

What the heck is that?! And although I've never had okra, it doesn't look very good, and I'm not sure I'd like to try it. I'm such a Jersey girl! :lol:

DJ, Good for you!! :cheer:

Hello everyone!

RR: That's why I said mine should be called some sort of soup! I don't use file' either. I use either Tony somebody with a C's cajun blend or Emeril's seasoning. And I use a roux. DH decided he wanted to pretend we were a hibachi restaraunt the other night, so I made steak (cooked at very high temps in a cast iron skillet) and fried rice. I have to say, it came out fairly well! I used brown rice, eggs, onions, butter, a little sesame oil (just a couple drops), soy suace and a sweet rice cooking vinegar wine. I can't remember the name of it. I was surprised at how well it turned out.

Lauren: file' is a seasoning blend/thickener. Let me explain about okra. If you cut it up, salt it, coat it in cornmeal and fry it...it is awesome yummy! Even my picky DH likes it. And he hates most veggies. If you boil it on the other hand, it gets slimy! It looks like clear snot coming out of it. How's that for gross? The slime, however, is a thickener, so along with the file' it thickens the gumbo. Gumbo is actually an african word for Okra. That's why my concoction doesn't count as gumbo. I use a roux to thicken mine. I use chicken, smoked sausage, and shrimp. The only other ingredient is onions, yellow and green. Most people use the holy trinity: carrots, peppers and celery (sometimes the celery is replaced with the peppers) and, of course, onions. Andy doesn't like them, the person who taught me didn't use them, so neither do I. BTW, Cracker Barrel's okra is just OK. It's not the super good kind. They use a heavy breading. I will have to have you over for dinner during okra season!

Lisa: andouille is a cajun dried sausage. I am not fond of it. I've used it in a couple recipes and I never developed a liking for it. I prefer chorizo, which is a spanish dried sausage. How did you have the okra prepared? It's two different veggies depending on the method used! See above!

I hope everyone is having a super day! :wave: :wave:

Wow, thanks for the lesson in southernism Karen! :lol3: Now I have a wonderful visual of snotty okra in my mind! How do you pronounce file'...like, filet?

Gumbo Yummy... I always add okra in my gumbo.. even file... We re having seafood gumbo on Chrsitmas Day.. add file and okra too!

Lauren: it's more like feelay.

Tricia: I'm sorry, I wouldn't eat yours!! I just can't do it. And the odd thing is, I like pickled okra and fried okra. I just can't do boiled. Do you eat okra and tomatoes? UGH! That's disgusting too. My Dad always had a garden and we always had purple hull, black-eyed and sometimes crowder peas. I like peas. My mom loved to put okra on the top of the peas and ruin the whole darn thing!

LOL You ladies are too funny. I am a total Northern girl too. My gumbo has seasoning and rice and smoked sausage. That's it. lol More of a caserole I suppose. Never had okra and don't plan on it any time soon. We'll be having ham for X-mas dinner.

Molly I am with you!!! I will be having ham as well. I guess we are the yankees of the group. :rofl: Thats okay with me though.

Karen -- I never actually ate it. I was four when my uncle got married in Beaumont, TX. All I remember is they kept a pot on the stove and when it got low, they would add more, and they ate it at every meal. -- gross!!!

Well I have one more week (finals) and all I have left is 3 more papers, finishing up an art project, finishing a take-home final (5 essays) and 1 test, 1 project for history class. All in all, not much more. I think I can have it all done by Sunday afternoon except for the history project and the art final. Those will be done in class. Then a month of vacation :woo: :woo: :woo: Not that I am excited or anything.

Well it is time for me to get my butt off to bed so that I can be to work early in the morning. :sssh:

Lisa

Girls, Girls, Girls!!!
Gumbo isnt gumbo if it isnt dripping with snotty okra!!:carrot: :carrot: :carrot:
I enjoyed the lesson Karen!!! U R nominated as the historian of the group!!
Totally acurate!!
RR

Ohh gross! I am soooo glad that I am up north. I don't even think they sell it in our grocery stores. If they do, it is the frozen variety. Molly do you know?

Well back to work.

:lol: Lisa, I have seen frozen okra in the grocery store...I think I'd eat brussell sprouts before I'd touch okra! :yikes:

Lauren, that's bad too. I am a very picky eater, I won't touch Brussell sprouts either. I don't like many veggies or fruits.

Lisa

I like brussel sprouts! <ducks, runs and hides>

:rofl: OMG Lisa you are cracking me up! And yes they do sell fresh okra in the grocery stores. I used to work at Cub's as a cashier. Didn't sell it very often but every once in a while I had to ring it up. About the same time of year we sold a lot of chitterlings (pronounced "chitlins") and if you don't know what they are I'm not going to tell you cause you don't wanna know!!! BLECH!!! That's all I'm sayin'. :ink: (this is a clue) Anyway... I like brussel sprouts too Karen!

Total eww RR on the snotty okra comment. LOL I am not eating anything that even resembles snot!

Good job on the loss Annie! Keep your mind to it and you will do it! (and having the ex around doen't hurt!) :carrot:

Hey All,

I tried a recipe I saw on food network for brussel sprouts once, because it looked really good. I bought fresh ones and everything. Didn't like them.

Molly, the closest I'm gettin' to chitterlings is scrapple! :lol:

It's snowing really hard here. I'm at work...darn 4WD. We've got like, 6" and it's still coming down hard, although I think it's supposed to stop by noon. The roads are a mess, they've barely plowed! :tantrum: What are they thinking?!

We have DH's holiday party tonight, don't think it'll be canceled because the snowing will be long gone by then.

Annie, glad you got there OK! Fill us in when you can! How is DH doing? Have you seen your kids?

Have a great day all!

Lauren ~ it already snowed here in Ohio. We got 6-7". All the schools are closed. Yay! I like it when the kids are home. I'm hoping to put them to work helping me clean the house so we can decorate this weekend! :D

I don't really like fresh brussel sprouts. You would think they'd be better but I prefer frozen. Sometimes with fresh you get nasty bitter ones. Yuk!

Have a great day everyone and BE CAREFUL!

Molly, I heard there were parts of our area that got 8 9". Unfortunatly, Lourdes didn't close. UT did though. The best part about that is I don't have class or work on Fridays. I have heard of chitlins, and I know it is a southern food, probably wouldn't like it. Is it like greens?

Lauren, what's scrapple? Probably wouldn't like that either. Give me the stuff that grows in Ohio. The only way that I will eat green beans is green bean cassarole. I am told that this is an Ohio dish so if people request the recipe I will post it.

Okay, time to write papers.

Lisa, chitterlings are like, pig parts...or something. Only saw them once...I know they sell them in tubs here. BLECH!!

Scrapple tastes kind of like sausage, but it comes in a block, usually frozen, and you slice it. Some people eat it with rye bread and baked beans. I like it sliced thin a possible and fried crispy. I always thought it was a Pennsylvania Dutch thing, but not sure.

OMG, I feel like a food historian this week! Chitlins are pig intestines. I've never had them, never intend to have them. I've heard horror stories tho, about how god awful bad they smell while cooking. Thankfully I've never been exposed to them.

Lauren: I've never had scrappel either. No one was ever able to tell me what's in it. Sorry you had to go to work today. I heard the roads were awful. This was not a surprise snowstorm. I wonder why they weren't out plowing. It doesn't look like my road has been plowed yet. We are a tertiary road tho. They usually keep us plowed fairly well.

Lisa: Glad you have today off! Hope you get your papers written without any major trauma!

Molly: I've never had fresh Brussell Sprouts. I am that way with asparagus. I usually HATE mushy vegetables. I prefer canned mushy asparagus. Pretty weird.

Here's a handy guide to Scrapple

Ohhh gross! I don't think that I would like it either.

I am Irish, we like our food boring, bland, and generally normal. (Like potatoes.) This is way to much for me.

Lisa, do you like sausage, like brown & serve? Tastes almost exactly the same. I certainly did not need to read the ingredients...will probably spoil me on it for awhile, but if you just don't think about it...LOL

I do like sausage, polksa kielbasa, italian sausage, do I need to go on? lol I especially like sausage if you mix it in a skillet along with potatoes and cabbage, salt and pepper to taste. Yum! Again that is a very Irish dinner.

I also like Italian food, but not to spicy. Mexican is iffy, it depends on the resturant. I am very picky about my Chinese food.

Well now that that has been said, I definitally have to finish this paper. (I have the cover page done) :lol: