Hello everyone!

I can't believe not one single one of us posted yesterday! Must be a record

I went grocery shopping last night with DH and got in a small argument over my diet. I wanted to buy brown rice and whole wheat pasta as I am trying to cut down on white flour products.
Then I spent 10 minutes looking for a loaf of wheat bread that did not contain sugar, glucose or fructose (wasn't easy finding one but did eventually-oat bran) and DH got irrated as he wanted to get our stuff and go home. He was still crabby by the time we got home and chewing me out for going on some other crazy diet when I had been doing WW for the last year.

We are both in better moods today and spent the day doing errands and shopping. I bought 3 new sundresses and a new purse. We also went and signed up for a 1 month trial membership to the gym at the office tower where he works. If we like it and are faithful about going then we may sign up for a year.

We are going out to a combined birthday dinner for four different people so I will probably treat myself to some cake just a small peice though.

Ellis- did you get a new fridge yet?

Den- I will steal a fast food chicken delivery van, the kind that is bright yellow and has a giant chicken head on the roof...no one will ever suspect us....

Hope all of you are having a great weekend, I will post on Sunday.

THE ROOSTER CROWS AT MIDNIGHT!!!!!

geez, are you robbing a bank without me?

Hey there. Been doing okay with my food. Took the paddle boat out again for a short spin today but haven't been to the gym this week at all. Hope to do more paddle boating tomorrow. We're also packing up the kitchen which is intense !!! We're getting rid of alot of junk which feels good.

I changed my schedule at work, condensing my hours, which should give me more time to go to the gym and more time with my family. We'll see how it works...don't want to make less money. Have to pay for that new kitchen somehow !!!

Never knew how many boxes it would take to pack up my entire kitchen...a gazillion...thats not in the metric system.

Seeing an old friend tomorrow. Hate to see those folks who knew me 70lbs ago. I did see her once last year but I'm sure her mental image of me is still how I looked then...I'll feel awkward for the first ten minutes or so...with one old friend I actually commented on my weight, just bringing it out into the open...don't feel like doing that tomorrow tho...just want to pretend I don't notice that I'm 70lbs heavier than I used to be.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Can't say that I'm up for a bank heist but I can offer all of your kids and better halves reduced rates for therapy after you're in prison...and they're struggling to survive without you while attempting to discern where you cunning ladies stashed the cash.

Talk to you soon. Soozie

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone is having a good weekend! Hubby came home with the kids yesterday morning, we ended up going back to my aunts. (They are actually, with my whole family on that side, at a neraby camp ground. It is only 15 minutes from my house & when they are home it takes over an hour to get to thier place, so it is so nice to visit them there) Anyway, Jeff & the kids wanted to go visit, so he went fishing with the guys & the kids rode bikes & played all day! I actually overheard him talking to my cousin. My cousin commented how I looked better than I have in years, Hubby commented, "Yes, she insists that she wants to lose another 10 pounds, but I don't think that she has it to lose" Ok first of all he is wrong, I actually have 10-20 that I could lose, but it is still nice that he feels that way! Irratates me though, he just kind of goes with the flow, & celebrates with me with each 5 pound loss, yet, never really compliments. I guess after 11 years I expect too much romance!

HMMMM, I wonder how I can contribute to this heist? I know I can save all the chicken skin & fat that I trim off, we can cook it & make a fatty stock to put it into squirt guns, we douse any trouble makers with chicken fat if they get in our way! Although since my Dad is cop, perhaps I should remain more behind the scenes, I could stay back & watch all of the kids & dogs while you guys are out casing the joint!

Well everyone I better go do my pilates while everyone is sleeping!

hello chickies!!!

well, what a holiday weekend!! we were swamped at the market... very nice!! and we went to a pow wow that some friends were involved in Saturday.... TOO MUCH FRYBREAD!!! (if there is such a thing....) but it was fabulous! got lots of sun, so now i'm tanned.... gonna join the gym this week, i think.... hopefully will have lots of tanned skin to give to ellis soon!

christina - love the chicken fat idea... *giggles* and hurrah to your family for noticing all your hard work!

soozie - how did seeing your friend go? well, i hope... you're a fabulous person, just as you were 70lbs ago.... never loose sight of that.

mauv - mmmm.... birthday cake.... *grins*

everyone else? good holidays?? i know not everyone could have been slothish like i was.

sooo.... we were talking about the not being where we thought we would be in life... so i have yet another quote from my handy "Simple abundance" book. hope you enjoy it...

June 21 - Blooming where you're planted

... Being a late bloomer means that you have the time and the opportunity to revise and revamp if you experiment with life and fall short of your dreams. We late bloomers can risk more because at this point nobody really expects anything spectacular from us anymore. We can reinvent ourselves or give birth to our authentic selves as we rediscover and reclaim our essence.
As I have tried and failed and tried again, I have discovered that if we are to flourish as creative beings, if we are to grow into Wholeness, we ~must~ bloom wherever we are planted. Right now, you might not have the perfect career, home, or relationship. Few of us do. But you have the gift of today, you've got another chance to re-create your circumstances and make them as perfect as it's possible to do with the resources you have. Today, you get another chance to get it as right as you can make it. What more could you desire?

my friend cancelled and is coming here on Thursday with her two little girls to cavort in our lake with my daughter... how much weight do you think I could lose by Thursday...??? just kidding...going to focus on accepting myself and get excited about how well I'm doing.

Lost 4, count 'em one, two, three, four pounds this week. Yahoo. Thanks somewhat to medication change I'm sure, but, my eating has been better. I'll probably lose more weight when I have no kitchen, no kitchen sink, no oven......unless we start eating at McDonald's out of desparation.

Took the paddle boat out today, are you sick of hearing that ??? Its so much fun you hardly feel like you're exercising. And its so pretty out there, you'd hardly think that you were in New Jersey.

Planning to go to the gym tomorrow.
Still packing up the kitchen stuff.
Hope everyone is doing well.

Soozie.

ps. Shel, thanks for the wonderful quote about blooming...its never too late to live fully.

Sozie, Congats on the 4 pound loss! Soon we will be saying that on hitting goal! Also you don't have to keep thinking you are 70 pounds heavier, only 67. Your friend probably won't even notice, OK so she may notice, but since she is a friend, she won't care! We have a paddle boat at the cottage, somehow I have not fallen in love with it as you have! I wish that I did though, it would be a fun way to be active. Although I haven't taken it out since I started being active, Maybe I would like it now since I can probably go out for longer than 5 minutes without feeling like I am going to die!

Realizing last week that I will need an entire new wardrobe when I am all done with this, I started looking on Ebay for some cheap shorts. At least a few pairs so I had some to wear at home. Well a few came today, since I am in a 10 now, I bought 8s. Just for fun I tried them on to see how far I had to go, 1 pair fit! I wore them all day, just because I could. OK, so the others are still too tight, but jeez, this is the first time in single digits since highschool!

A question for all the canadians....Today it was really hazy & smokey looking here, you could even smell a hickory smokey smell. Then on the news tonight they said that this smoke was actually from all the way in Ontario, a forest fire, but they didn't say where in Ontario. Have you heard anything about it?

OK just got home from a bike ride, need to go shower, before I stink the whole house up!

Good evening everone!

I had a great dinner last night with my friends and only had a small slice of cake then we all left the restaurant and went for a walk together as it was such a beautiful night.

Today has been as shlep Sunday. Went to my parents for a cup of tea and a chat, but pretty much hung around the house reading while DH played his video games.

Congratulations Soozie on those 4 pounds!!! I wish they had a clapping smiley we could use. I am finding the last 20 the hardest to get rid of but now I only have 10 to go to reach my goal. Keep up the good work, I know you can do it

Way to go Christina on the size 8 shorts!!!! In no time you will be wearing the rest of the pairs you bought. Chicken stock guns-how ingeniously yuckky!

Both of your paddleboats sound great, I used to love going out in those when I was a kid.

And yes there is actually a forest fire but it running along the Quebec/ Ontario border, I'm not exactly sure where but here in Ottawa a haze was hanging over the city on Saturday, we thought it was smog but it was smoke blowing over from Quebec. The air stilled smelled slightly smokey on Saturday night.

Ellis-you supposed to be in on the heist or have you not been reading the posts/plans? Tch!

Hey Ruth what are you been up to these days?

Have a good night everyone!

Hey girls!

The bank heist was doomed from the start. I figured we'd better rob an American bank as OUR dollar is worth zilch. I have no sense of direction. Couldn't find little Dentrassi ANYWHERE! I have no idea where Michigan is. In fact, I got lost on Thursday driving to an old friend's house. She lives in Quebec, and my DH left me without any gas in the car so I was forced to pull into a French gas station. I sat in the car waiting for someone to serve me (hoping that it was a Full-serve... couldn't read the sign...), then hopped out and discovered that the gas dispenser was some new-fangled thing and the instructions were in French. After about 5 minutes of frantically pushing buttons, I finally hit on the right combination. (thank you VERY much mom and dad for making me quit French!! curses.)
Anyhow, I couldn't find Michigan.

Soozie, console yourself, honey. You may be 70 pounds heavier, but you're intelligent, beautiful, totally cool, and this fat is only temporary. Your friend actually wants to see YOU. If, on seeing you she sucks in her breath sharply, just put your hands on your hips and say, "HEY!! I've lost 4 pounds! Feeling pretty damned good about myself!"

Mauvais, you're just making us ill. You're thin, you're buying new dresses + accessories, you've got a swiffer... WHAT NEXT!!
Haven't bought a fridge yet. Payday is this coming Thursday. We're still using the backup fridge on the second floor. I'm actually checking out a site right now on troubleshooting your fridge.
"1. Make sure the cord is plugged in and that the breaker hasn't tripped. "
Oh, for cryin' out loud!!
I'm glad you had a good birthday!

Chris, get out on that paddle boat!! You don't want to be thin and flabby!! Soozie is making massive muscles under that extra weight, and when it drops off, she is going to be TIGHT!!
You got that smoke too, huh? Just when the weather was starting to cool down, we get smoke!!

Hey Shel... I'm glad the market went well! That's a great quote... thank you for sharing it with us. I think it applies to all of us... even those of us who feel that our life is "complete". We're changing/evolving all the time, and we have to learn how to deal with the crap when it knocks us for a loop. I think I'm babbling... it's a little hot in here.
How is the boyfriend? I hope that things are going okay for YOU!
Thinking about you, sweetie...

Den, are you serious? People shoot their guns in the air? That is so... so... strange. And dangerous.
Hey! I want to learn welding, too! In fact, my dad still has a bunch of welding equipment, and I've asked him to PLEASE teach me how to weld this summer. Except he doesn't have one of those mask thingys, so he told me I'll have to learn how to "strike blind". Sounds scary.

Ruth, my garden is parched. I just emptied my entire rain barrel onto it, thereby jinxing us all. (sorry) I figure if I leave it full, it'll rain in torrents. If I empty it, it won't rain for weeks. You have quite the reputation for whiskey, don't you?

Hey Kat and Squeak!

Listen, can someone loan me a tenner until Thursday? I just had to rummage for change so I could get a little snack to cheer me up.
xoxo

Woke up this morning to smokey smell and haze... thought there must be a fire in the pine barrens until I heard that you girls sent it down from Canada...

all these shrinking women out there...and need for new wardrobes...you go you girlies...keep up the good work...

Ellis, Ellis, what kind of snackies are you buying ???? I never knew that you Canadians had so many interesting snack foods that we don't have in America. Why did your parents make you drop French, was it a political statement ??? Timbits ????? Gotta try one someday. Anything that is popular even though it is called a timbit has to be good.

And yes, under this poundage lies a woman of steel, totally cut, muscle diva, hopefully she'll find her way through and come out of the padding...

Have a great week ladies. I'll be in touch. Might not make it everyday with all the kitchen craziness but I'll try to get in here if I can. They don't start until next Monday but we're heavy into preparations.

Soozie

Hi Girls! Yea, we definetly want to hit a US bank, if we try Canadian, they may make us pay just to get out the door! Hubby said he was thinking about buying a new boat since our $ is so strong now...then he remembered the taxes!

I know that I have to do some more toning! I think that last 10-20 pounds is all in my thighs & rear. I also think that I could cut a little slit in the tummy where all that loose skin is & I would never need a purse again, could carry a basketball in there! I keep hoping these pilate tapes help, although she is so boring, I could choke her till the 50 minutes is up! Hubby, kids & I are going to the cottage in 2 weeks, maybe I will just have to dust off that paddle boat & give it another go!

Soozie, good luck with the kitchen! It will be tough living with the mess, but you will love it when it is done, I am sure! I agree with Ellis, if she has a reaction that she can't control, inform her how well you have done! (Besides, I have found when I am especially worried about seeing someone from my skinnier days, I am always shocked to see they look nothing like I remember either! 10 year reunion...walked in & thought How could I have gone to highschool with all of these fat bald men!

Ok as much as I hate to, I have to go get to work! See you soon!

Evening everyone!

Well I made it to the 5th floor today without collapsing, maybe I will make it to the halfway point of my stair climbing odyssey by August 1st! tomorrow is day one of gym

Christina- I have the same problem as you, my weight is in my butt and thighs I think I will focus on these parts at the gym and hope the rest of my body goes along for the ride
my arms need some toning too. I am planning on using the rowing machine tomorrow.

soozie-we have already given you the best snackies! Butter tarts are amazing (another one of my can't resists) we also have something called bumbleberry squares which are crumbly on top like date squares but are filled with a mix or raspberries, blueberries and blackberries-delish! I know Ellis likes vietnamese spring rolls and I totally agree with her. Don't know what else she snacks on other than chips(my other downfall*sigh*) I love timbits too!

Ellis-what else are your favorite snacks/guilty pleasures?

Shel-glad you had a good day at the market. The pow wow sounds like fun. I have gone to a few in the past and you are right about the bread, can't eat just one piece!

Tiggerdiva, Dentrassi and Squeeker-hope you are all having a good holiday!

Ruthxxx-come out, come out ,wherever you are! Hope you and your doggies are okay!

Have a good night everyone!

HI EVERYONE!!! Things are nutsy around here right now. I am TRYING to work more, as we are LOW on stock, and have orders to get out. DS #2 is freaking out daily, and alternately wants me to leave him alone and cuddle all day long. I guess he is being a normal 12 year old!!!

Ellis, no way we'd do it without you!! You are the brains behind the operation after all!!! I was kinda thinking a Canadian bank. We could hide out in Christina's cottage and have a nice holiday afterwards!!!

Mauv-I'm not on holiday (sob) just house cleaning and trying to make it to work......

Soozie-Hope you have fun with your friend, and CONGRATULATIONS on the weight loss!!!

I'm going to cut this short since I'm exhausted. Hope everything is going well for everyone!!!

Good morning dear Alternachicks.

I have not been posting much lately because I am too damned busy. I hope you snoop on the LC board to see that I'm still among the living.

Delta Fair is cranking up and I'm working my *** off in the Office - it's still as fat but is firming up. I have decided the thing to do is NOT answer the phone when I'm doing accounting - it's usually sombody wanting to know when the Monster Trucks are on or someone with a heavy accent wanting to set up a fortune telling booth!

Usual home stuff - dog training, picking up dog poop, judiciously watering the garden, weed pulling, minor housework, BBQ, the odd beer and have been out on the Lake a couple of times for a cruise. I am also getting ready to go to Wisconsin for a Garden Biddies "meet" - we usually sit around and yack - sometimes about gardens. It's all very casual and unstructured which suits me fine!

Anyhow, have to get into some city (Smiths Falls?) duds - like clean jeans, a t-shirt and sandals - and go pick up a rental as my Focus is at the dealer getting a new door! Must be a cheap car if the wind can bend the doorframe!

I DO lurk, of course, but may not have much posting time until after July's hustle bustle. Never mind, I won't be doing this next year!

Have a great day!

Oh yes, I know the guys were nekkid under the kilts because they mooned us and a couple flashed at the reunion. They were pretty cool - waited until the kids all went outside with watermelon and bubbles!