[Jane]

Good morning, ladies,

Linda - glad Cindy was so happy with the cabinets! I know I would be glad to come home to such a wonderful surprise. Yay for the rhubard plants from your friend's father. We have some that grows wild in our yard, and usually my friend Marquita comes and gets it, since we aren't fond of it. Did you have fun at the bbq yessterday?

Pam - it sure does make a person feel good to get rid of unwanted stuff around the house, and those that buy it at Goodwill will be so happy you did. How nice of you to make pot pies for the momma from your church! Sounds like you are a very giving person. A big YAY for the new pick up. Neal has a big Dodge Ram, and I drive it only if I have to. It's so big, it scares me. Guess you can tell I'm a transplanted city girl, huh? lol.

Coralee - gardening is such good exercise! I don't know about you, but I've been using muscles that I didn't even know I had! Do you put out a vegetable garden?

Tammy - aww, thank you. ((HUG)) Please come back and post more often.

Carol - hope all is well for you.


This weekend went by so fast! Madison and I spent most of it outdoors, and we got a lot done in the garden. I was so sorry to see her go home last evening, and she was just as sorry to leave.

Today I'm cleaning house. It's really been suffering since I've spent so much time outside. My floors need mopped and swept, and every surface in the house needs dusted.

Good weight loss news - I'm down 2.2 more pounds, for a total of 16.2 now. I seem to have a pattern going on - a slight loss one week, then a much better one the next. Oh well, whatever it takes, right?

Have a good day.

[MaezieZ]

Good Morning!

The scale didn't move, but I didn't move much yesterday either--I hate Mondays!

But I'm giving up soda for now and I already see the difference in my cankles.

I was officially made permanent at my temp job yesterday so now I have no good reason to stress eat right now.

Hope you all have a good day,

DZ

[TamTam]

PamVery nice of you to bless the lady at your church with pot pies, I know she will appreciate them!

Cottage by the SeaI see a lot of recipes for rhubard, it that good? It must not grow well in the south, because we have never seen it and it is not in our grocery stores.

We are "off" today, which means dishes, laundry and paperwork! I hope you all have a blessed day

[chicpanda]

Hey y'all
DZ - what are "cankles" ??? same as puffy ankles?

I was planning to have a vegetable garden until I budgeted it. I think I figured wrong, however.... the cost of water, fertilizer, insecticide, bedding plants, sterile soil and peat moss is more than the cost of buying lots of fresh veggies from the local farmers market. For those of you who are farmers, did I get it right?

I am growing a herb and spice garden. This year I will include ginger. I am also going with a tropical fruit tree and maybe a macadamia nut tree.

Went to a house party on Sunday. I had a great time. I was able to hear most of the conversations. The hostess was very considerate and offered food that was diet appropriate. There even was 6 week old baby Jordan for us to dote over. Much conversation about grand babies and babies in general ensued.

Haven't been walking much and today is too good a day to pass up. Off I go.

[MaezieZ]

Hi Chicpanda;

You guessed right--my calves run into my ankles with no definition unless I'm very dedicated to a healthy lifestyle. Thank goodness for pants!

I have always had them to some degree even when I was young and skinny. I think my body retains water very easily.

When I figure the cost of the garden; the few vegetables I get that aren't eaten by critters cost a lot of money. But I do it for exercise and therapy as much as anything. We pay a flat rate for water otherwise I wouldn't even attempt it. It's kind of like the fish DH catches, very pricey per pound when you consider the boat and all the equipment.

[TamTam]

Hubby and I have a deal. I cannot weigh myself for 2 weeks as it suggests in the Paul McKenna book and he has to slow down his eating as also stated in the same book, so we will see. Acutally I am bad about weighing in every day and this deal with him may help break that cycle. God Bless. Tammy

[Pamb]

Tammy I agree with not weighing every day, have you ever heard of the Prism program? after the first few weeks you don't weigh till the end of your each 'phase', it has phases you go through each 6 weeks long. hopefully your 'deal' will help you both.

I laugh about your cankles! I figured right away what they were. I think my feet and ankles are my 'slimmest' body part! got those from my mom! I have given up soda too, I had gotten into the habit of grabbing a coke whenever I was in town.

I garden too, and we farm, but as we are organic we don't use any unnatural products, and because we have animals we have lots of fertilizer! I don't think I save any money by doing it, I go to the farmer's mkt here too, I like knowing where my food comes from, I always ask if it doesn't say Michigan grown and then I ask where it came from anyway.

My rhubarb has survived the winter and my chickens! So soon we will be enjoying some. I always freeze some to make a strawberry/rhubarb pie for my mom.

DZ, great news about the job!

Well, I am watching my grand daughter for the last week, later we need to got help her daddy load out some wheat we are selling, he is on his way home from taking a load of organic soybeans~if you use any organic soy products you may be eating or drinking some of our beans! The wheat we are selling conventional as there is no market for it organically right now and the guys want to empty the bins. I still have some hard red wheat that I grind for our use and to sell at the farmer's mkt. Starting Sat I will be walking with some friends, I have to drive to town to do it, but if it makes me walk I will do it. then on the off days I can walk here or on my treadmill.

Well, dishes to do and wheat to load! Have a great Wed.

Pam

[Jane]

Good morning, ladies,

DZ - a big to our little group. And a big YAY for the permanent job placement.

Tammy (CatholicCajun) - I like the deal you made with your husband! My hubby Neal tends to wolf down his food, and he is on seconds before I finish my plate. He's tried to slow down, but always goes back to gobbling, lol.

Coralee (chicpanda)- I'm like the others about gardening - it can be expensive, but the veggies taste is soooo good, and I know for sure that no chemicals were used on them. Exercise and fresh air is a bonus! You mentioned being able to hear the conversation at the party. I'm sorry if I missed that you are hearing-chalenged! Is this a recent thing, or from birth? Oh, how I'd like to hold that baby! It's been awhile since I got to nuzzle a tiny one, and I'm ready!

Pam - we rent most of our acres to a neighbor, and he grows wheat, corn, watermelons, and cantaloupes. Neal and I put out a big garden of our own, though, and have many fruit trees. Nothing like home grown produce! Yay for you, walking with friends. I've been driving to town, too, and walking. I haven't asked anyone to join me, yet, but I really should do that for accountability. Too bad you aren't my neighbor, lol.

Today I'm going to clean out my van, and need to do that before the temps get too hot. It's supposed to be 86 degrees, so I'd better get at it!

Have a good day!

[MaezieZ]

Jane: Thanks for the welcome !

Pam: I know I shouldn't weigh everyday because it affects the way I feel about myself for the rest of the day. I really feel let down when I'm eating better and exercising. I still haven't realized how tough it is to lose weight when we're older. Walking is my favorite exercise and I have to drive to my hill walking spot--I don't have time to do that during the week.

My job is very sedentary also so I really have to work on ramping up the exercise when I'm at home. I'm also going to stop eating big dinners.

Have a good day everyone!

Doris or DZ

[MaezieZ]

Good Morning--

Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today. There is no wind predicted for later; that's really unusual for around here. I work at the capital building and so I'm really lucky to have a wonderful place to walk during my breaks. All the bulbs and ornamental trees are in bloom right now so it's a pleasure to walk wind or not.

Hope you are all doing well,

DZ

[cottagebythesea]

Good morning girls, and Welcome, Maezie! It's nice to meet you!

Busy, busy, busy here, but I wanted to say HI to everyone.

[Jane]

Busy here, too, but I wanted to stop in and say hi!

[TamTam]

Hello all! I am at work and the shop is empty for the first time so I thought I would sneak a quick note, it's not like they can fire me(and believe me I have asked and begged, but no one will take me up on it!!!) Well I cannot tell you how hard it is not to get undressed for my morning shower and not head straight to the scale, but I have been good, like breaking an adictive habit. Will try and post more after I get home. God Bless. Tammy

[MaezieZ]

Good Morning,

Today is my furlough day (off with no pay). I really like these days off--it is supposed to be nice so I'm going to hill walk and work in the garden. I'm getting a late start on my potatoes, but hopefully they'll do okay. We have a big lot but my garden area is small. I was very short-sighted and planted trees close to my garden and now I get too much shade . I also have a turtle enclosure, 4 flower beds and hardy cactus beds in the same area

I did very well so far this week, but weekends are my downfall. I read somewhere that Americans treat the weekends like holidays so I told myself that I can only treat true holidays (and who overeats on Veteran's day) as holidays. I really hate the months between Halloween and Christmas--food everywhere.

That's when I will need you all the most!

Have a healthy day!

DZ

[cottagebythesea]

Good morning! Yes, I just checked, and it is still morning, lol! It seems like I've been up forever, but I accomplished quite a bit so far. I have Fridays off, but I am going to do Cindy a favor and big up the girls after school and take them to spend the weekend at their grandparent's house since Cindy will be out of town. That will only take a couple of hours this afternoon, and I don't really mind since I didn't have any plans, anyway.
They've been calling for rain today, but so far it's sunny and warm. I just walked down to check on the garden and everything is flourishing. I'm so tempted to plant the rest of the garden, but I know as soon as I do that we'll get a hard frost. Our "safe" frost-free date is around mid-May, so I'll just have to be patient and bide my time.