Good Job Wendy.. Buffet places are rough in our position.. Way to make through mostly unscathed!!

I guess since I have the day off, I'll do my WI today.. I would usually wait until Tuesday, but doing it this way today, I'll at least make it in with little in my stomach, rather than at the end of the work day with both breakfast and lunch under my belt.

Going bowling today for the first time since the weightloss really kicked in.. hopefully it will help my game..

Thanks, Barb and Dan!!

Good morning chicks and roosters! Day 1 of the 16 day TO challenge is underway. I have many, many pages to read to catch up, but I wanted to check in and say hi to everyone. My MRI was rescheduled from Friday until today, so I am leaving work at 3:30. I ended up buying the LAWL TO juice because I had a $20 credit, so it was actually cheaper to buy theirs rather than buying Knudsens and new Benefiber since I was out. The juice cost me $4.95. My COD is having another special during January that if you come in 3x/week, you get $10 credit. So when we do the ending TO of this challenge, I will have a free bottle of juice. Yay!

WARNING: DEBBIE DOWNER IS MAKING AN APPEARANCE...

Hope everyone is hanging in there. Our weekend was a bit of a downer. One of the girls on my daughter's cheerleading team died in a car accident. She was a sophomore, and had just turned 16 on December 7th. She was driving a Volvo and pulled out in front of a pickup truck while she was coming out of a shopping center. It was in a construction area and the four land road had been blocked off to two. This lane change, along with the shopping center's sign, caused a problem with visibility. This happened last Monday on the last day of winter break. She was airlifted to the hospital, but died the next day. They held the memorial on Saturday at the school auditorium. Friday DD was helping the other cheerleaders make signs. The family requested that everyone (including the guys) wear pink since it was her favorite color and she wouldn't have wanted anyone in mourning colors. The auditorium held 850 people and over 1000 showed up. Anyway, other than great-grandparents, this was her first real experience with someone passing away. I couldn't go to the memorial service. I just couldn't do it. Things like this "don't happen in our community", ya know? She wasn't in a gang, wasn't doing drugs, wasn't drinking and driving, wasn't even driving irresponsibly. This was just a horrible accident.

Anyhoo, sorry to be such a downer. It just made me want to hug her even harder. And I had such a hard time letting her go anywhere since this happened. I'm making her call me when she leaves school, and then when she gets to her friend's house when her friend's older brother drives them home.

Hug your babies! Have a POP day, and I'll check in later.

And thanks you guys for being here, both in the LAWL stuff and all the other stuff. I feel like I have made some great friends here and I want you guys to know how much I appreciate you all.

Oh yeah... one last thing. Nicole - I LOVE the avatar. You are beautiful! You're smile and eyes just light up.

Kristen - I'm up for losing 10lbs by Valentines Day. I have to find some time today to search out a romantic getaway for DH and I too. We went to Niagara on the Lake (beautiful!) last year, and I'd like to make an overnight getaway an annual event for us.

Good luck to everyone doing the slimdown challenge, and to those doing WI today.

Dolphn - Ty for the welcome :) Congrats on the major loss, that must feel so good!

Wendy - Kudos on your willpower at the buffet! Good job.

(((hugs))) Cassi...we're all here for each other - good news or bad news. It's hard to hear tragic stories like this and not feel like your heart is breaking. But it does make you do exactly what you said...hug your babies. My prayers are with your daughter, you and everyone involved.

Cassi - Of course we're here for you!!! Are you kidding?!? I know what a hard time this must be for your daughter and I hope like you, she will ALSO understand the importance of living like it's your last hour with your loved ones. I lost my Daddy at 13 and it was as traumatic as it was life changing. I never leave or let anyone leave without a hug, a kiss, and an "I love you" and a prayer for safety! So use this time to minister to your daughter and her friends. Help them learn from this tragedy to treat others so there are will be no regrets.

As for everyone else - welcome new chicks!
We're going into to town to drop off our applications today. Got a good feeling about it. Hope they will hire both of us and work out our schedules together. That would be a major blessing.
Gotta go,
P.S. - lemon water every a.m. and p.m. since 2007 came in... Major for me!!! Got on Gazelle yesterday for 30 min.
Hugs,

Man, I hate to mention this but I'm sitting here with the windows open and it's in the 70's again. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging or anything... :nose:
Blessings,

Cassi - :hug: :hug: :hug: coming your way for your DD and friends!

Okay Pearl, dang you! I am sitting here in a sweater with the windows iced shut! Good luck with the applications!

Cassie- Oh, that is so sad. I will keep you and your daughter in my prayers.

Dan- GL at WI!

Wendy- Great job at the buffet!

I made the chicken and dumplings from the recipe thread our birthday dinner last night. They were wonderful. I doubled the recipe, and our guests ate every last bite! I saved 2 starches for cake, so I did get to have a tiny slice of cake. Lucky for me my sister iced it with cool whip, so I did not have piles of frosting to deal with. The cake was really good, but you know, one little slice was all I needed. I can really tell that I am over the starch cravings. What a nice feeling!

Have a wonderful, POP day!

Cassi,
I am so sorry to hear about your community's loss. It is devastating when a child dies. My heart goes out to you, your daughter and the family of her friend. Take care of yourself and your family:hug:

Morning everyone!

First of all, a big :hug: to Cassi on the loss in your community.

:welcome3: to Angie and Wendy!

Weekend was not too bad. I made baked ziti over the weekend so I have some meals put away, and I am going to start to scour the LA cookbook soon to get some more meal ideas. Mostly POP, and majorly got an :kickbutt: at kickboxing on Friday and Saturday. I am still sore today.

I also made it into work this morning, though it was a 2 1/2 hour white knuckled drive. It is always a dream to drive in freezing rain/ice pellets conditions. I told my director if I had internet at home I would never have driven in. I am calling the cable company today to get it installed.

Kristen-I may need some of that bail money as well, still NOTHING at my COD. No TO juice, no LA Slims, hardly any LA Lites.

Dan-All I can say is Jack is back (though it looks like he may have swiss cheese for brains at the moment)

Have a great day everyone!

Cassi - So sorry about your DD's friend. It is so hard when our children become driving age. It's like your heart stops everytime the phone rings or there is a siren when they are away from home. And I hate to say it doesn't get any better as they get older. My DS is almost 20 and I still worry even though he is at college out of town...I maybe even worry more. I guess it is just part of being a Mom.
Pearl - Way to go on the Lemon Water...I am trying to chug some down now!
I still haven't been to COD since before Christmas but I am going tomorrow! It is so rainy and icky today I just can't make myself. Hope everyone is having a POP day! See ya soon...

cassi: I am sorry to hear about the loss in your community! My thoughts and prayers are with you and their familiues

Katie: I made the chicken and dumplings also! I loved it.

Cassi - I am SO sorry to hear about your DD's friend! :hug: I have two DD's myself, and it scares me to think that someday they will drive and do things without Mama.

Well, WI at my COD went pretty well. I was down .4 lb. They also took it pretty well that I wanted to try the diet for a bit without the bars to see if my skin clears up. They said we'd try one week without the bars and then one week with them to see if they are the cause. However, if I do well on all food, I may never go back. ;) I'll be starting the Purple plan w/out Lites on Wednesday. I did splurge and bur the cookbook though. I figured it would be a big help on combining foods etc. Well, gotta grab some water before my THREE HOUR meeting. Hopefully, I'll get a break to grab my snack.

Hello everyone,

IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!:D I am really excited. Not doing much here, but trying to figure out my plan of attack against this fat!!

Cassi, I am sorry to hear about your DD friend. That would be hard and you do have to tell your children and anyone else that you care about for that matter, how much you love them on a regular basis.

Pearl, I am glad that you feel that I was a source of inspiration. I am just trying to come to a resolve that I can live with. While, I am extremely frustrated. I feel like I am totally worth the effort of finding what works for me and getting to my healthy body weight, which I know where I am right now is not it. So I have to keep working at it! And working hard at it!

You great group of people are my inspiration and I come here for help and support with the program.

Have a great day!