Hello Gang! just read through all the post. getting ready to leave her for a Speech Pathology monthly countywide meeting. Over at 4:30 then I get to come back to school for a hot dog dinner which I am not eating at 5:30 to open house until 8!!! Yikes! I will be dragging and grumpy tomorrow. Taking Friday off and will be gone to GA on a retreat in the mountains so maybe I will survive until then.

Hey Kim, did you go WI yesterday? I'm headed over there after work to face the music! LOL

Amy - a weigh in and a funeral and a cold -- you sure know how to live it up! I'm a fan of Emergen-C stuff. I like it better than airborne plus it's tasty. Get a big box at Wally World and take care of yourself.

Lettie - good luck with Nutrisystem. Please check in and share your successes with us.

I watched Dancing with the Stars last night...it was really good considering it was just the first night. I have to say the Cheetah gal and the Spice gal were my favorites....and I was glad to see that the Cheetah girl was definitely carrying around a few extra pounds but she did the best job of all of them. Jane Seymour, at 56 years of age, looked great, and Marie Osmond didn't look nearly as depressed as the press makes her out to be. Boy, I wish I could dance!

Nicole - you are true to your word and staying away so you can pack. Do tell me you have one medium sized suitcase for all your stuff; okay one medium sized suitcase and a small carry on!!......That was sweet of your mom to buy you that stuff. I told her to. She's cool.

Gotta run. Job is busy. A new laptop showed up today and I have to figure out how to get everything transferred and loaded on the new one. Plus, I have work-work to do and it's Scrabble Night tonight. I'll have to tape TBL. Oh geez...so much to do ; so little time!

Oh Kim -- MIL to be Kim, that is....what kind of earrings are you going to wear? Your dress is beautiful and you need to get some bling to wear - how do the movie stars all get loaned jewelry for the Emmy's?

OL Joni I wish I could get somebody to loan me a gorgeous diamond necklace to wear! I'm got a great pair of diamond and pearl earrings I may wear. Depends on if I find something else I just cant live without!

Katie - I read somewhere that Medium is going to come on midseason -
Sunday (January 2008)
9 p.m. "Medium" (new timeslot)

Joni your dogs are gorgeous! Theres a boxer in our neighborhood that is being horribly neglected. I wish I could steal him and send him to you to love. We've called everybody we can think of and nobody has done a thing to help. The law says they have to provide food water and shelter, well apparently they are providing the basics just nothing else. He's so skinny you can see his ribs. I nearly cry everytime I drive by the house. Ours is spoiled worse than the kids so it kills me to see one that obviously isnt loved.
Sorry for the vent, it just ticks me off!

Joni - I love dancing with the stars too and the Cheetah girl was great. My DH kept saying she looked chunky (the nerve). Of course I told him that was why I liked our DD to watch them, they were normal and not rail thin!

Kim - that just makes my heart ache to hear about that dog. Do you know the people at all that live there? Can you and DH go knock on the door and ask them what's up?

Where do you live in East TN (city, that is)? My DH is on all sorts of Boxer Forums and may be able to contact someone from boxer rescue to intervene. Feel free to PM me a location.

My furkids are spoiled too. Emma (the smaller) is very thin, but believe you me, she eats just as much as Charlie dog. And my dogs are indoor dogs with a nice fenced yard to play in, but most of the time they prefer the couch...and end piece of course to rest their tired heads!

Hi gang...

Hope all is going well today.. I accompanyed DD on a field trip to the forest with her class and had a lot of fun but I gotta tell you... I've heard so much complaining and whining in my life.. There were a bunch of kids going on and on about their feet hurting, "Is it lunch time yet?" and "When do we go back?"... The hike wasn't that long, but there was a lot of uphill walking. In reality, it was a pretty good workout!

DD wasn't complaining, as she knows better! :lol:

I came to the realization today that our kids (collectively speaking) spend way too much time on their butts in front of the computer or television... I couldn't believe it...

Dan, My sister has a friend who called today's kids pampered poodles, and I just laughed and thought that is about right. Did you spend a day with the pampered poodles who thought going on a field trip was HAAAAARD! I got to tell you it is very interesting to watch the pampered poodle kids head off for college and a life where mom and dad aren't doing everything for them. They can't wait to go, and then they come back and just glory in the palace of mom and dad where the refrigerator has food.

Joni and Kim, I hate to see neglected dogs too. My neighbors leave their pugs out way too much. Pugs are not good outdoor dogs, espeically in winter in the rain. At least they are not starved. The one sounds literally like screetching tires when it barks. It took me a couple of weeks after they moved in to realize that sound was a dog(my daughter told me it was and I did not believe her). That bark terrifies my Shar Pei Jojo to no end. Poor old Jojo is about deaf and blind and sickly and moves at a rate that would try the patience of a saint (and definitely mine), unless those pugs are out, and then he throws himself at the house to get inside.

good evening everyone. had pretty decent day at work. nothing too eventful to report for the day in general. got a great workout in today too.

well, I am not yet packed, but my laundry is done.........well, almost......my kids rooms are clean.....they have clothes in their drawers and closets......all their shoes and jackets are on their dressers in plain sight, bedrooms are steam cleaned as well as the family room........and, well, the house is almost mother approved :) Really, my mama doens't care if my house is a mess, but I want her to have time to enjoy the kids and play, and NOT try to make the house nice for me when I get home. I know that is what she will try to do.......and that is great......but I want this to be a great experience for all of us. And, I don't want her to work too hard.......although I know she will :)

I stayed OP all day again......and tomorrow I have a lunch date with my friend, Julia. How weird.......you can so tell my little one is almost 3.........I am going out to lunch..........can't even remember the last time I went out to lunch with a friend in the last 5 years.

Well, I hope you all have a great night. I will see you all tomorrow...........the day before I leave :)
XOXO

poor puggies! my puggies (I have 3) have a doggie door and can come and go as they please. One time we were at an event 45 min away and it was really hot, and all of a sudden I couldn't remember if the doggie door was open or closed, with them out! kinda a, did I leave the stove on?, moment. I couldn't stand it. I left my whole family there and drove all the way home, only to find that the door was, of course open, and they were going in and out of the house fine. but as far as the screaching bark, I am glad we don't live too close to our neighbors because one of my pugs does that. she gets horrible skin allergies, and will sit outside on the back steps and rub her back and butt on the step to scratch and makes that same noise...... so maybe that is what that pug is doing. It tears me up inside, but there is just not much I can do about it. I have tried going to the vet, different foods, creams, shampoos. The vet said the only other thing to do is to have the dog allergy tested, which is like when a person gets it, they stick them with many allergians and then see which ones affect..... and it would cost hundreds, and he said even then it won't probably tell the whole picture.

It is rainy here today, TOM is here, grrrrrr. so with the black skys and how I feel. I just want to go back to bed.
I haven't finished watching biggest loser yet from last night, so maybe I will go back to bed and watch it.

catch ya'll later

Good morning everyone :) I had a dream, the night before last, that my older brother died. In the dream, he was shot. I e-mailed him and told him about it, and mentioned to him also that I was getting pretty excited about out Germany trip. This was his response:

i'm still vhere, and i've been shot and i'm still here so don't sweat it. have fun and whatever you do, do not polka no matter what. talk to you tonight

LOL. That' my brother. He is always making jokes, and this year he turns 40.......and I just can't wait. This is the kind of brothet that used to wrap my christmas gifts in an entire roll of duct tape..........or walk by my and swipe both of his fingers across his tounge, and then suddenly across both lenses of my glasses simotaniously. He is IN FOR IT :)

OK, today is my last day before I leave. I am going to try to not be crabby. I tend to get a bit cranky when I am trying to get ready for a trip. I want to try to find a way to make today a nice memory for me and the kids instead of a day of stress and crabbiness. Anyone of you get all $hitty like that before traveling?

Have a happy Wednesday, everyone ") And, stay OP!!!
XOXO

Good morning everybody!

Well WI yesterday was about what I expected after not going for 2 weeks. I was up 3 pounds. I've never had a gain like that at WI, not in the whole time I've been on the program. On the plus side, I got my Maintenance information, LOTS of new foods in there I can have! I was busy yesterday evening so I havent even had a chance to look over it but I'm excited! LOL

Everybody have a great day!!!