Good morning everyone! And it certainly is a new day...

Jay

Hi there . . . just a quick . . . off to the Periodontist this morning and since we don't have one locally, it always turns into an almost all day event.

Jay - you gotta be pleased that your efforts paid off! Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Linda - I know how that goes. Our nearest endodontist is 90 miles away, and I have been several times. Not much fun, but at least gas prices are coming down!!! We are down to 2.09 per gallon - it is GREAT!

Hope you all had a good day. I was confident enough of the results last night (local and national) that I actually went to bed on time (10:15 ish). Which was good, since hot flashes woke me up (or maybe it was the flashes AND the cat) at 3:45 - and I had a devil of a time getting back to sleep.

The weather was glorious here - we set a record high yesterday and today (in the 70s in NOVEMBER!!!) so I walked to work today. It was glorious walking along the lake at lunch time as I went from my junior high office to Central Office (which is about a mile or so). I need to bask in that memory, as they are predicting snow for Sunday

My epiphany for today: Every year (or so) I set a new personal goal, and try to devote enough time and energy to the goal to succeed. Last year's goal (well - a year and a half now) was to get to a healthy weight and establish healthy eating and exercise patterns. CHECK. Now it is time for a new goal. Besides maintaining my new healthy behaviors, I have been mulling over the next challenge, and finally reached a decision today. I need to de-clutter our home. My work spaces are great. My car is great. I cleaned, and organized, and pitched in the garage and shed this summer. My house - not so great. Almost 20 years of stuff (much of it belongs to the kids) has left me with bulging closets and lots of "collections", books, hobby materials, and assorted "stuff" that I really don't need.

So, I need to get myself moving to accomplish my newest goal!

There - I said it "out loud". Now, I gotta turn desire into action!

Hope everyone had a GREAT hump day!

Good morning again! Where did everyone go yesterday? Seems like just three of us in here.

Well, CD, I guess you have figured out my "secret" re the election. To those people who were so rude to me when I was holding signs on the street corner, I can say, "Flip me off now, baby!"

I love the idea of decluttering! If only I could put it into practice... I do it from time to time, but I'm afraid that often "the chips fall where they may" and then sit there a loooooong time!

Those trekking poles are sure a good idea! My brother-in-law has them--he's a trekker and a mountain climber. They are also useful for people who can walk without support but have balance difficulties--I've seen older people using them in town instead of canes, walkers, etc.

My work pile has not gone away, but I hope to get one piece out of here today. It's a proofreading project--a two-volume work of readings about maritime history. Sounds pretty stiff, eh? But some of the excerpts are interesting. This one just cracked me up: This guy is talking about how people didn't used to feel they had to lock their doors, but now one does not dare leave them unlocked. Sound familiar? Except that this fellow was a Virginia colonist in the late 1600s-early 1700s! I guess this is a perennial attitude!



See ya!
Jay

Good Morning all, Yes, I've been MiA for awhile. I pop in to read, but haven't really had time to post.

Linda, Good luck at the peridontist. I really need to get in. I keep saying that and keep putting it off.

Jay, how interesting. I think each generation thinks the one they are in is the worst. We need to look back and learn.

laurie, Funny you should mention de-cluttering. I lost the weight last year and started decluttering. I have actually changed my decor. things are much more basic now. If I don't use it, it goes. I've taken loads of things to Salvation Army this year. And, ya know, I haven't missed one of the things I took away. Is there a trend here? Declutter our lives, declutter our homes? Now I wonder, why did I have all those things anyway.

Our weather is so beautiful here. Indian Summer for sure. I picked GD up from school yesterday and we went out for lunch and went to the park for 2 hours. Want some good exercise? Take a 5 year old to the park! It's not going tolast long, but i am enjoying it while it's here.

Make it a good day Freda

Second busy day in a row for me . . . hey, definitely keeps me from being bored; but the eating out gets a little difficult. Tried to make good choices, but no way of actually knowing. Hopefully normalcy shall reign tomorrow.

Jay - LOL - thanks for the perspective. You assumed correctly that I would have attributed that quote to recent times. We only started locking the house when we leave a few years ago. I had my car vandalized at night when we were home, and after that - we started locking everything. I think having a large dog and living in a very busy neighborhood probably gave us a false sense of security. Growing up and living in a small town, definitely does skew one's behavior when it comes to those common sense practices.

I've been around these parts long enough to have a good sense of many chickies political and social issue "bents".
And, you are a prolific poster! Your posts around 3FC are always worth reading, so I was pretty confident in my observation.

Freda - I think you are on to something. The extra weight and the extra "stuff" are probably both related.

Your comments are encouraging me to put together a plan. While I made some attempts and cleaning closets and cupboards over the last year, they were really more organizing attempts and didn't result in enough stuff being removed.

I think watching my Mom go through the "stuff" after SF's death has influenced my decision, as well as DS2 moving back home.
I hope you enjoyed today's weather as well. It really was nice, but there is a chill in the air tonight. And they are predicting sleet for Saturday. I really don't like sleet.

Linda, I hope that your weigh in goes well. I do understand about eating out. It IS hard to make good choices. If only the restaurants would all follow NY's lead and post calorie and nutritional information regarding their foods. ahhhh...

Another typical day at work for me, a bit less crazy - which was a blessing. However, the after work project turned out to be fun. Our Parish Assistant was supposed to order cloth grocery bags with a logo. We pre-sold them a few weeks ago. Well, she was having a terrible time trying to come up with a design that would work and meet the specs of the company, so she threw it to me. I haven't done much graphic design as of late, and it was fun to get those creative juices flowing again.

Hope you all enjoyed your day today!

Good evening everyone. And congratulations on a great election. I am sure we all will be waiting to see what is to come!!

Jay your job sounds interesting but I am afraid I might have trouble with all that reading. I would get so side tracked if I worked from home. I get side tracked enough here!!

Laurie I did a big downsizing when I moved. I had a garage sale and made $500 from stuff I did not even know was there and did not need. Then I sent the rest to the salvation army. I remember tackling my closet and for a small closet I took out so many clothes. I think I had 5 green garbage bags full. I need to do it again. I keep holding onto these clothes that I like that do not fit. They are so out of style by now. Think I will do that this week as I have the week off next week.

I am the same about cleaning. I do not know what they mean by spring clean. But one summer I took one room at a time and "deep cleaned it" I certainly felt the house was clean. I was expecting a visit from my brother and he did not show up but the house was really clean and fresh for the summer. I would like to have wood floors as there is something about carpets that just seems to be dusty. Big $$ to do that now adays. Maybe laminante.

Freda nice to hear from you. Enjoy the nice weather. It is wet and chilly here. Finally got out some long pants. Hate to put those capri's away.

Linda I love going to the peridontist. I wish we all got a third set of teeth. I would take such better care of them than the ones I have. We had such bad dental care when we were young. But you know we never locked the house. I think we went to the lake and left it open. I never owned a key to that house.

Things with me are going along. I am working at this food plan. Something I just realized is that I have always taken packaged meals for work. I was finding my cooking a little bland. But then I realized that I have been eating flavor enhancers and chemicals for so long that I have forgotten how to cook. So have invested in a bunch of new spices etc. Even baked some garlic the other day and have it stored in the fridge. So many add on flavors are full of sugar. Boy when you read the label it is unbelievable.
So I am still trying to figure it all out but it is getting easier. A lot of cooking but I guess that is what we were meant to do in the first place.

We have lost the idea of eating real food. Such a novel idea! I am not 100% sugar free but getting there and I am feeling good about it.

I read this comment the other day." if I am not eating a planned meal or a planned snack then I am not supposed to be eating" I liked that thought.
I am a grazer and really trying to teach myself that there are 3 meals a day and a snack at bedtime. The meals are hugh so there is no threat that I will starve to death between them.

Thanks for your suggestions Laurie about the healthy snacks but what the idea of this plan is, is to only let the lion out of the cage 3 times a day. I think once I get there it will be better for me. Snacking to me just seems to turn into endless eating. I am a true food addict so this is supposed to work. Nothing has yet.

And I put the scale away and will not weigh till the first. I am really trying to get in touch with my body. Do I feel good or do I feel stuffed. Do I feel like I am taking care of myself. This is hard. But it has been a lifetime and I am trying to stay in the day......

Hope you are all having a great evening......Jude

Hello to the slim me, CD, meowee, hijude!

I finished that long book on maritime history. I just had to get that one outa here! It will take a month to get paid for it... Meanwhile my other projects await my kind attentions... Oh, it could be worse, I could have just been elected president... in this economy...

Been to the gym... did some biking and then some weights. I'm upping my weights--I need to build up my muscle a little more. It had got too easy at the level I was at.

Beautiful weather today! Went for my morning walk and it was lovely.

I can't believe it's the weekend already. Gee whiz! Shouldn't there be more days in a week when one is behind?

Hope you are all planning a good one...

Jay

Hi all - a quick flyby. Gotta get bills paid and dinner made. I had a strange thing happen today. Somehow I got on a weird mailing list because a subscription to "American Baby" mysteriously started arriving. Now, I don't even have any grandchildren, and my baby is 23 I also got an offer for 3 free years of "Parents".

How very, very strange ...

Have a great weekend all

Must be because you look so young and fit, CD . . .

Hmmm... I guess they know better than to send me any such stuff!

Are y'all having a good weekend? I just got back from dinner out--first time in weeks. We went to Perkins, and my partner brought a piece of pumpkin pie home. It does not have my name on it, and that's a good thing.

I went swimming today as a break from the gym. It sure felt great! I always feel so good after swimming.

See ya later!
Jay

Linda I don't think that is it. Who knows HOW I ended up on the list. I haven't even bought a shower gift in ages.

Jay - I used to love to swim! That is probably the one thing I would love about a gym membership. They are building a YMCA in town and it should be completed in 2010. I might just have to join!

Swimming in the lake in the summer just isn't the same as swimming in a pool. Ooohh - I just remembered - I have a hotel stay before our Thanksgiving trip - I could take my suit!

Funny, how that never dawns on me. We travel frequently and I never pack a swimsuit. All those years of not wanting to wear one in public - old habits die hard. I think I'm gonna go throw the suit in my suitcase so I don't forget it!



I spent 6 hours cleaning one closet today - ONE closet. Granted, it is under the staircase and was piled floor to ceiling with "stuff". It is now missing 5 bags of trash, two totes of recyclables, and 6 bags of donated items - and - the weird thing is - it still looks full

Hope you all had a great Saturday! Our snow melted but we are supposed to get more tomorrow

Happy Saturday to everyone. I am off work for a week. Yes!!!!

I plan to try and take some time to get to the gym etc this week. Hoping to make it an abstinant week. Have no work stress to use as an excuse.

Well Jay glad you could handle the pie as I certainly could not. Not yet anyway. I have a good healthy dinner planned and a movie for later. Been out shopping and Laurie I have a closet that I am going to clean this week too.
Get rid of the clothes that I would never wear again.

Does anyone here ever use a pressure cooker to cook meals. I am thinking of getting one. I find it hard to get stuff ready for work when I have to make 2 meals to go. Cuisinart has an electric one on Amazon. May order that.

I am learning a whole new way of cooking. My biggest surprise was the withdrawal from all the flavor enhancers in pre packaged meals.
I used to buy a lot of frozen dinners to take to work and they pack a huge flavor surge but of course it is all chemicals and flavor enhancers. Found that very interesting. Still working on the sugar. So far today I am sugar free.....

chat later... Jude

Hi to all, I went shopping with my DD today looking for wedding dresses today. She looked absolutely beautiful. Thank heaven she never picked up my eating habits. I caught a glimpse of myself in the triple mirrors and realized I really need to get busy. I want to look beautiful for the wedding. So I need to get busy working out and eating much less. Maybe cleaning out my closets will help the process. I hope so.
Winter is sneaking up on us. No snow yet,but it is predicted. Have a great weekend. Lori