Now I can misspell any new threads with confidence

Glad to have you back Ilene. Sounds like your vacation was a fun whirlwind.

Max is super cute. I wanted an orange tabby but wound up with a grey one - rescue is like that. We didn't even know there were long-haired torties out there (Miss Mud - my avatar). All cats are cute though, even though they are agents of Satan.

Dagmar (did I mention it's Friday?)

Dagmar -- That's a cat in your avatar?? I always wondered what it was, honestly I thought it was a bear!! Really!!

Thanks for the welcome back girls... Today was another bad food day, I need to get back on the wagon

Morning! It is lovely to have Ilene back!

I'm not gettin' the TGIF thing this week. My last of five is tomorrow. TGIS???

Godd morning everyone! Happy weekend!

Mudpie thinks she's a bear (or a labrador retriever if I'm eating) .

I had a bad food night myself last night. I guess I was celebrating the end of a terrible week - how dumb is that ! We're going to need a bigger wagon if we keep this up.

Dagmar

Morning guys,

Susan and Dagmar- Are you guys always up this early on a saturday? I am only up because I have a training run this morning. I'm supposed to do 6-7.5 miles today. I had a bad few days with food. I let the stress of work get to me. I am up 4 lbs today. Hopefully my run will help me release some of this tension.

Have good day.

Good morning, girls! It's coffee time! Some of you are up mighty early. I woke around 8:15 and tried to go back to sleep. My big kitty curled up with me after DH got up, and I thought I might get one more hour in, but no such luck. It was nice to lounge in bed for a little longer though, but I also needed to get going on the weekend chores, so maybe it's better I didn't sleep the morning away.

Welcome back, Ilene! It sounds like you had an incredible vacation! Was your school on break or did you just take time off? I've always envied schools who do a fall break in October. I'm sure you'll be back on the wagon in no time. All you need are a couple of good, long bike rides to get you back on track! I'm needing a few more of those myself!

Susan - I hated all of the TGIF celebrations when I used to wait tables. Weekends were my busiest times! The thing I miss about working weekends is having a week day off to get errands done - no one in the stores and no one on the road. I loved that. I hope your shifts aren't too bad! And, TGIS!!

Geans- that sounds like an intense run! I hope it's a good one! Are you training for a race?

Barbara - Phew! I'm glad for your sake the cake is gone! Way to be strong for operation 2 lbs.

Dag- I, too, thought your avatar was a ... well, I'm not sure what I thought it was, but not a cat. Miss Mud looks like she has a whole lot of personality!

Hi to Allison and everyone else!

I was down to 137.2 yesterday. That's good for me, so I was happy but also surprised because I had not been entering fitday all week. I was pretty conscientious and ate fairly well, but I only exercised 1 day - monday. I didn't exercise at all Tuesday-Friday I know my exercise rut is pretty bad, so save room for me in the wagon too.

Here's my EXERCISE GOAL for the week: In addition to good workouts Saturday and Sunday, I will exercise (at the very least WALK), at least 3x between Monday and Friday this week.

There. I just cannot afford to become a weekend warrior.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous here today - sunny and in the 70s. My morning will include a walk/run and my afternoon will include a bike ride with DH. Have a healthy Saturday, girls!

Back from the run. Did 7.5 miles in 1 hour 17 min. It felt good. I wish I could be this diligent about my eating. You tell me to run, jump, lift weight, I'm all about it. You tell me to give up eating and I start backing up and providing any excuse you can imagine. It's funny the things people gravitate to.

Claire- I am training for the Atlanta Thanksgiving half marathon. Yes, it is pretty intense but it's not as bad as it sounds. If you're not into running it would be difficult but when you're running the time goes by pretty quick. I hope to get it done in less than 2 1/2 hours.

Well I have a busy day ahead. Came home from my run and DH has provided me with a list of things he thinks we need to get done. Most of them are his deals but he just can't bring himself to go by himself. He's funny that way. I travel so much during the week that on the weekend he likes to hang out a lot which I don't mind except.... when going to Home Depot is involved. Not my favorite place for a Saturday. Oh well it's a beautiful day. Supposed to get to 85 degrees today.

Have a great day all.

Claire -- I work part time, so I was able to accumulate a week of hours to take the week off... A week off in the Fall would be nice, it's a lovely colourful season...

rswlchic -- I'm the same way, I love to exercise but food is my downfall... And it's not even bad food it's just too much of the good foods most of the time... Portion control is VERY important for me...

Geans You hate going to Home Depot? I love it, and the hardware store, and Candian Tire, and Rona etc. My DH swears that, except for the curves, I'm a "man in disguise" . His nickname (one of them) for me is "little boy". He, on the other hand, hates going to any kind of hardware/drygoods store but doesn't mind the grocery store or small market. We also tend to do the "Saturday errands hanging out" as we have very different schedules during the week.

Ladies (and gents if there are any) Mudpie is extremely upset that you didn't recognize her for the actually very pretty little cat that she is, and she ate the corner off my dictionary this morning to express her dismay. She insists that, if I ever get below goal and start posting on maintainers, I have to put up a much more flattering pic of her.

Dagmar (back OP and starving for dinner already)

I'm a newbie here, so I hope you don't mind if I jump in...

Mudpie, Kitty Mudpie looks very regal in her photo. She reminds me of my own black cat, Arty. However, Arty probably lacks the motivation to eat dictionaries. She is a very stationary cat.

rswlchic, I am totally jealous of your running program. I ran a half marathon two years ago and my goal is to run it again next year. This year I've just gotten back into the exercise groove, so I am not in shape quite yet. Good luck with the rest of you training!

I was all set to enjoy the beautiful weekend weather here in Maryland, but I've had an unforeseen complication. I bought some "no sugar added" ice cream, thinking I could satisfy my sweet tooth and still technically be reducing sugar intake. It said it had Splenda, so okay.

Two hours after eating a bowl of it, my intestines are totally rebelling. Turned out it had sugar alcohols. I totally missed it when I glanced at the label. Sugar alcohols are my enemy, and I have sadly spent the afternoon indoors as my body fights the war against malitol. I just dumped the rest of the ice cream in the sink. I can't even look at the carton.

Well, I was up early but not as early as you all. I went for my Saturday swim and I have to say that it was pretty nippy. I'm not sure what the temperature was, but I know it got down to 45 last night, so it must have still been pretty cold at 7:30 AM. Steam was pouring off the water. But once I got in and hit the intervals, it wasn't so bad. Better than last week when it was raining.

I've had a very productive day. In addition to the swim, I finished all the grocery shopping for the week, made myself a fantastic lunch (chicken stuffed with chevre and nectarines, then broiled and topped with raspberry chipotle sauce and served over polenta; chinese broccoli salad with the rest of the nectarines, also broiled, and a mustard-lemon dressing; a few spicy thai pretzels), and put another two coats of urethane on the chair project I have going in the garage (nine out of twelve coats done now). And finished it all in time to post a little on 3FC, make a nice dinner of tilapia and baked sweet potatoes, and watch a movie. Just call me Martha.

Dagmar--You can tell Mudpie that I knew she was a cat. I must confess that I did think she was a bear at first, but upon closer examination I figured out that she was a cat.

Geans--My SO is the same way; absolutely has to have me along when he runs errands. I don't understand it. And since I run all my errands without him, it drives me a little nuts. Also, he is unemployed and hardly ever leaves the house, so it would be nice to have a little time to myself while he is out running errands.

Lillith--That bites about the ice cream. Sorry it's put a crimp in your weekend; I hope you feel better.

Ilene--Welcome back! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who gains weight on vacation. I'm sure you'll get back on the wagon in no time!

Good morning!

I would not be out of bed if I didn't have to work!

I'm pretty much packed and when I get home were off to the sunny south. I did an internet forecast and it's going to be 28 C all week with only a few clouds a couple of days. Oh pool ... here I come!

Be good everyone. If I can exercise while on vacation ... you can do this while you're in your normal routine.

lilith

I know what you mean about the malitol. Appropriately named as "mal" is "evil" in French. I generally have to go outdoors for a couple of hours if I ingest something with this sugar in it. PHEW!

And your cat Arty has a counterpart in my other cat Mishka - I have to check to make sure he's alive sometimes as he moves his 18 lbs. as little as possible. Anyone had any success with getting cats to exercise?

Barbara You are amazing! I had soup from a jar yesterday for lunch, with some leftover BBQ chicken breast thrown in. I whenever I read your posts about your cooking.

And urethaneing the chairs - want to come up to Canada and finish my 7 furniture projects sitting in the garage?

SusanB I know you're already gone to the sun but we'll still have you here in spirit this coming week We'll all be good, honest!

I have a really unbusy day today. Out and about, shopping for earrings with my bushel of money earned last week, and I think I'll treat myself to a really good lunch today after going to see my (sorta) father-in-law who has had a hip replaced. DH is going to a drum thingie for the afternoon and has to study for a test tonite so I will be lolling around with the cats this afternoon.

Dagmar (blissful)

Barbara~you MUST post that recipe!

That does sound good, Barbara!

I just got back from an hour bike ride, and the work week dread is setting in. I'm going to portion out some snacks for work in ziplocs, eat dinner, and grade a few papers.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!