Jo-anne -- weclome back. you are always welcome!

hi all -- my shift key is havin' a problem, so no caps.

i hope to get some more yardwork done today, but everything's wet from even more rain...

Hello Heather, Hi, Jo-Anne, welcome back.

It is another pretty day. Maybe too pretty. We need some rain now. First it drowned our garden and now it is being cooked!

I cooked my first balck-eyed peas from the garden this morning. well, they are cooking now. DH can hardly wait. LOL!

My son came yesterday to see his dad for Fathers day. He brought some tomatoes out of his garden. He also brought us enough BBQ ribs for lunch. Yummy, they were delicious. I only ate a small one. I could have eaten all of them. LOL! There were no leftovers so I won't be tempted. DH polished them off.

Today is that cleaning day, so I should get back to it before the day heats up more. I turned the air on in the back of the house for the first time this morning. I can't work in that oven! We run the front unit and the bill will make you cry every month. Can't afford to have them both going.

Hope you are having a wonderful day........XO Ruth

Morning ladies,

Gee, is it Monday already? They come about much too quickly. It certainly turned into summer over the weekend. We didn't do much. The dogs didn't even want to be outside. On Saturday, Spanky and I had our lesson and that went well. But it was hot work for both of us. I got the extra paving stones I needed and had a nap. My big accomplishment for Sunday was to get all the stones down so I could place the steps for the pool. That was not fun given the heat and humidity and I was wishing I had gotten this done much earlier in the year. But it allowed me to get into the pool which was fabulous. I made my time in the pool workout time with lots of strengthening exercises.

Food was within control so that's a plus for the weekend. I'm still struggling working in extra cardio work on top of all the other physical work that I'm doing around the place. Just having enough hours in the day plus the energy is a challenge that I'm not meeting very well.

Better get busy. to all!

Just reposting from #215, in case anyone missed me

Hi ladies, I know it's been a long long while since I've been here, BUT I am ready to begin again. I finally resigned from my job a week ago, and I have never felt so much freedom as I do now. I must admit that I have hit my highest weight as of last week Monday, at least thats what the scale said at the fitness center. the number is 340 BUT not for long. I did get in 3 days of exercise (125 minutes) and many hours of housework. Since last Monday I've been cleaning, re-organizing, and re-arranging everything in my home and I am just about finish. I feel so free, like a newly hatched Butterfly

Thanks for the welcomes

Hi Jo-Anne! Good to see you again and that life is going well for you. Good job on all the exercise and house cleaning. As much of a drag that cleaning house can be; it really can be a boost to the morale to see the accomplishments. At least that what I keep telling myself. Good luck and look forward to reconnecting!

Ruth, I LOVE black-eyed peas! I love cooking the young beans, while they're still green, until they're crisp-tender, then chilling them in a bowl of ice water. Once I drain them, I toss them with home-grown tomatoes and thinly sliced red onions. I dress them with good olive oil and a little lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and some crushed Greek oregano. And that's my lunch. Oh, have to add a hunk of homemade bread to soak up the dressing at the bottom of the bowl at the end. Yum!!!

Today is a big, difficult day for me. It's when we tell the boys about the divorce. I need strength to not fall apart during the process, to be wise in dealing with the ex, and to not add to the trauma the boys will experience starting today. I'll be glad when today is over, so I can concentrate on healing for my family.

I don't want to feel compelled to stop along the way to get something to eat. I have to drive three hours to get to the vacation house where the boys are with their father. I have planned to stop at Starbucks on the way out for a big glass of unsweetened iced tea and their spinach feta wrap (240 calories). That should hold me until I get there. I think I want to go out for lunch when I get there (I don't want to eat with that man - I don't believe in having a meal with someone who upsets me so much) so I can make a healthy choice.

So, the rough patch will be the return trip. I've been having visions of KFC and pizza (and lots of butter) in my head for the past few days. This is a reaction to the stress. I think I might turn the radio on for the return trip, some really loud classical music. (My favorite alternative rock radio station went off the air last month and I'm very disappointed!) I'll get bottled water for the trip home. I'm sure to get genuinely hungry, right around Sacramento, so I can make a wise choice and stop for a salad somewhere. No eating in the car on the way back.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Georgia

Georgia, I hope things go smootly for your trip. That has to be difficult for you. Try to not let your soon to be ex upset you. If you can maintain a cool reaction, so much the better. It will drive him nuts to see you in control. Men like to see us go all to pieces over them. Good vibes coming your way. Ruth

Spring challenge results for 6/21 are in!

I felt a lot of good vibes from multiple sources come my way today, and I wanted to thank everyone for keeping me and my boys in your thoughts and prayers today. It was a difficult day for us, but at the end of the day, my older son told me he thinks he's going to be just fine. The younger one took a stab at keeping us together as a family by suggesting a bowling excursion. I wish we could have done that, but we were all feeling a little too raw after the family discussion. But I also believe he's going to be fine, because he tends to follow his big brother's lead.

After I got home tonight, I looked at my horoscope. I always look at it at the end of the day, just for fun, to see if it rings true. Today it said, "Just when you're rolling along, an issue pops up. Deal with it and get going again." I think that's good advice.

I did pretty good with the eating all day, until I got home. I totally passed up all the fast food today!!! I'm proud of that much, because it was a rough day. But I was famished after having skipped meals and more than made up for it...potato salad, mini bagel and butter, sauteed mushrooms with sour cream, and a Pepperidge Farms apple turnover. Talk about comfort food choices!!! I'm back on the wagon tomorrow.

Georgia

Georgia - glad you felt the positive thoughts. You have been dreading this for some time - sounds like the older son will work through this and help his brother. Hope you have a less stressful day today.

The scale isn't budging for me but I'm holding firm with exercise and eating. One of these days it will. Terri - thanks for the recipes - some of them look great - there are 2 on the menu this week.

The quartz flagstone patio project is in holding pattern - last night after a 50 minute water workout I was too pooped to work on it - it may have to wait until the weekend - didn't help that it was still high 90s at 8:00 last night.

Have a great day - be sure to drink plenty of water in this heat.

when it rains it pours and we are in a flood!! On top of hubbys health issues my dad is now in the hospital. He is a stroke patient and has pnemonia and UTI and another undetermined infection. The dr stated that he is a very sick man!! He is a super strong willed man and is not going to give up easily.

The men are working on stripping the back half of our roof this week but with temps in the 100 degree range they are stopping early so its taking forever. I sure hope the painting goes faster!

Food is pretty good. I have been eating pretty much what hubby is eating. I do cook different veggies for me. The garden is really coming in fast. I am truly enjoying it and love getting the smiles from neighbors and family as we share it. Still waiting for our first ripe tomato.

hugs to all

Good Afternoon Ladies!

Georgia, I can't imagine that telling the kids was anything but awful, but I suspect they had an inkling already, giving the living situations had changed. Hope it goes rather more smoothly from here.

dgramie, more to you! I will continue to send good vibes and prayers your way!

And a big to everyone else.

It's HOT in Mid-MO! Not just hot, but terribly, horribly mind-meltingly HOT for June! 96 degrees and a heat index of 107! It's been about that bad since Friday, getting a little worse each day until today, and Friday, Saturday and Monday I was outside in it ALL DAY! Literally, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday setting up for the Renaissance Fair, then Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and yesterday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday was my air conditioning day...hooray for AC! I'm actually glad to be at work, at least there's cool air here!

So my days off were hot, sweaty and generally miserable. But I do it every year, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. One things for sure, although food was HORRIBLE - all the time - I am fairly eager to get back on track. Fat and hot do NOT mix! Not to mention that I tried to find shorts and THAT was an ugly experience! So...back on track! Gotta get moving to get some of this weight OFF MY BIG OLD BUTT!

Gotta run!

Good morning all you lovely people. How are you this morning?

dgramie, So sorry about the latest bad news. It is good that he has a strong will. Maybe that will see him through a tough time.

Hello Miz Lil, Don't melt yourself out there. I don't know about Mo. But is is hot as hades in Ga. right now. Keep cool!

To everyone else, Have a great op day. I am trying to do that myself. Ta for now, Ruth

Morning ladies,

Seriously, why do people live in the state where the humidity is so high? Gads, that's such a downer about summer. I can handle heat but am really not having fun being soaked for just walking outside.

The humidity has set off my allergies. I'm having trouble clearing my brain this morning to get work done. I could use a big nap and its only 9 am. I've been getting up early and doing housework this week. I have been determined to get the house cleaned this week so it won't be so hard to be ready for guests on 7/3. I've also been working on it at night too and its amazing how much can be done in short bursts of time.

I'm off for more coffee now and maybe stick my head under cold water. Wouldn't that be a surprise for my coworkers??

to all!