Wakee, Wakee, Ladies! Time to rise and shine!

I've got the coffee. Who's up to chatting this morning?

So far this being OP has not been good. The good news is that all of the Forbidden Chocolate Explosion ice cream is gone. The bad news is I finished it off. Oh, well. All that's left if Pistacio ice cream (yuck!). Told DH not to be FCE anymore -- it's my favorite! Kids will eat other types but this one is my weakness and we've had 2 half-gallons in the house in the last week!

I treated myself to some awesome fresh vegies yesterday and made a huge salad (which I was too tired to eat last night). I also picked up to pounds of strawberries. Will be eating those for dessert this week instead of the ice cream. Anyone else taking advantage of the fresh fruit/vegie prices?

It was so beautiful here yesterday that I had the windows open for about 12 hours! Only problem is Dodo-me forgot to take her allergy med and so I was up in the wee hours this morning with a sore throat from post-nasal drip (sorry for the gross image). So here I sit sipping coffee (to help my med work faster) and sneezing my head off. Had to decline a job assignment this morning because I'm too exhausted from lack of sleep. Funny but I remembered to insist that the kids take their allergy meds last night. Guess we moms are always forgetting to take care of ourselves, huh?

Got on the scale yesterday even though it had only been two days. No difference but that's pretty good considering the ice cream. At least it didn't go up. It should start to come down now that that particular demon has been vanquished.

Well, gotta go get DD out of bed. She's walking to school today and I don't want her to be late. Will check in later to see who's around.

Ahhhhh the ice cream!!! My favorite, any flavor will do!!!

however I have not been having any, I just polished off a glass of vegetable juice and my Allegra-D. So the allergy situation is under control for a change.

Was a gorgeous day here yesterday, today should be the same...so it can rain all weekend while my parents are here, FABULOUS!!!

Went to the Y this morning and could not get into anything, rode the bike for 7 minutes, walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes and then lifted weights, I was just bored silly. I think I will swim tommorrow for something different.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! ONLY 7 Days of work left til I start my new job HURRAY!!!!

Gosh, Scooby - are you not even gonna take a day or two off before the new job? Got any sickleave left in the old one? I do believe in the odd mental health day.

Jo, glad to see you up and hollering Rise and Shine, I did the same to my DH this morning. He did not really appreciate it. I have a repertoire of wake-up calls for him - today was Reveille via my voice hollering Ta da ta da. Hey, strawberries are now available around here - from California - and they are delicious. Asparagus is coming in from CA too - I love asparagus but have to be careful not to eat it too often now or I'll be sick of it when my own starts producing in May.

The fence lads are going to arrive shortly so I will have to put the big coffee pot on shortly. They will dig holes for the wire part of the fence and set the posts in concrete. Guess the doggage will be indoors while that is being done. They also are going to cut down part of my 65 year old cedar hedge to put in the privacy fence. Alas! But the trees are in awful shape and ruining that part of my garden. So we are on our way! Now, if the wire fencing would just come in early - last report was next Wednesday at the earliest. Wanna come and help me weave 100 feet of chain link fence?

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday! I did do a bit of light raking - cleared off a bed of day lilies. I am dividing my cleanup into small tasks and tackling them one at a time - DH is helping by lugging stuff to the compost heap. I don't trust him with spring cleanup - he burned my flower beds one spring!

I also took Miss Lucy for a one hour socialization walk. I am trying to train her not to jump up when she sees people. (She claims that people are constructed wrong - our faces should be on our shins so she could lick without jumping up. Silly puppy!) Anyhow the long walk (time, not distance) sure made for a quiet evening - she was pooped and didn't want to play with Mama Hersh during Scotch time.

Well, gotta go and start looking like I have my s**t together over this fence deal. Actually, I am planning shrubs and vines with maybe a honeysuckle or silver lace vine on an arch over the gates. I love Spring!

Have a great day.

Morning!
Up showered and dressed. I have to dry my hair, but I am waiting for the contractor this morning. I am hoping desperately that he will come today and get started. The tub came in yesterday so that is the land mark for the rest of the bathroom. Everything else is in so it could go fast…if they come

Grandma is still here till tomorrow when she goes to my BIL and SIL house. My SIL, a woman that I met in college, she met my BIL at my wedding live about 20 min form here. I hate my BIL btw. They are having my nephew’s second birthday party this weekend and did not invite my kids. I am torn between being really mad and relieved. I hate to go there and my kids hate him too, but I am mad that the kids are left out. Oh well, I bought him Harry the Dirty Dog treasury and another book at the bookstore yesterday. SIL has not mentioned the party and will be a little shocked that I know. Ok I am rambling.

Goomba travel safely. You seem to have had a very difficult month or 2. I can tell you are a strong woman and of good heart.

Scooby, take a day or 2 off. Do something fun for you.

jdoneil1: I am sending you a box of tissues and an eye mask for you today. Feel better.

Ruth I will come and help you with the fence if you can trun my black thumb green....

I hope you have a good day.

-L

and ruth, the more i read about your ontario home, the more i want to come and hang out!!! asparagus!!! dogs!!!! flowers!!! Scotch time!!! sounds like a bit of heaven.

now, if only we could get scooby to take a couple of days off between jobs, wouldn't that be great??? she won't even have time to get a new coffee mug for work!!! that ritual seems to be a tradition with me...

my last office mug should be a keeper. it was a mary engelbreit that said " let's put the FUN back in DYSFUNCTIONAL" makes so much sense for an office!!!!!

and goomba, you do indeed have your hands full. my prayers and best wishes for you and your family.

and jd.. keep on plugging. there was a bit of advice on the tube the other day for helping allergy eyes: cucumber slices on the eyes, used tea bags [yuck!], cold wet compress. but maybe the real key for all of these is the fact that you have to lie down with your eyes closed for a few minutes!!! NAPTIME!!!!

as for the ice cream problem, have you tried those sugar free fruit juice bars? some have as few as 45 calories, and they're really quite good. not chocolate, of course, but still.

and there also was, at one time, a recipe for a sugar-free sorbet made with fresh fruit and splenda. it was on www.foodtv.com through the cooking thin show. don't know if it's still there. if i have a chance later [which actually means if i remember to do it!!] i'll see if it's still there. you can also make sorbets with frozen fruit. i'll see if i can find that one as well.



what else is going on>??? not much. maybe i'll try to get a haircut today. it's getting a bit fluffy, which means it's curling every which way at random. there's no hope.

hope ya'll have a good day. and stay out of trouble.

Thanks, L. The tissues and eye mask would come in handy. It's time to take my next dose of med. The coffee helped and now I'm sipping an Echinacea (sp?) tea from Avon that will take care of the rest of the sypmtoms. You'd think after about 18 years of allergy suffering that I'd be used to this already. I'm never prepared. The first few days of Spring and Fall always seem to sneak up on me. Oh, well. The allergy issues simmer down some in the Summer and all but disappear in the Winter. In this I'm lucky. My sister has so many allergies that she suffers through all four season with one problem or another.

Speaking of Avon -- I've got to get to work. I sell Avon from my house and have to work on my newest newsletter and sales flyer.

Talk to you all later!

Just a quick howdy do...I should be working, not reading and writing on the boards (can't stop myself -- so I'll try to moderate... )

Hope everyone is good this morning...sorry to hear about the allergy woes. It's supposed to be 75 degrees here today. I sure hope so. Time to open up the windows and BREATHE (and hoping I don't have to have my inhaler to do it)!

Got my paint yesterday -- found a beautiful off-white for the cabinets -- called White Chocolate (kinda looks like ice cream, Jo )! Planning on painting this weekend, if all goes as planned (which it rarely does)...

But for now -- just wanted to wish you all well and get off before the guilts grab me and wrestle me to the ground and I have to stay here all day!

Have a great one.

Sooner (who's infinitely grateful to have lost 1.4 pounds this week!)

WOOO HOOO SOONER I AM JUMPING FOR JOY FOR YOU :sheep: (and a sheep to jump with you)!
-L

Good Morning To Everyone! We are also enjoying some nice spring weather here. Sunny and 75 with a chance of a thunderstorm in the evening. If that holds off late enough my DS might finally get to have his first track meet--so far due to weather they have been zero for six. As a freshman he is participating in 4 events at Varsity--no pressure there! Actually it will be good for him--it will help him take his mind off of his friends in the hospital for a little while any way. Everyone is trying to do what they can here in our little town to help those kids and their families. Thanks again to those of you who listened to my fretting yesterday. I try not to do that if I can help it, but.....Hoping to get back to OP today and maybe walk a lot at the track meet tonight for some exercise. Still haven't figured out a way to be at both the "Teacher of the Year" banquet and my son's track meet tomorrow night--I know I'm big enough to be in two places at one time, but still haven't figured out quite how to do that.

Sooner, your paint sounds beautiful--Congrats on the weight loss.

JD, my mom sold Avon for 20 years--I was addicted to the stuff!! Sorry to hear about your allergies.

L, sounds like we may have the same SIL and BIL

Scooby, hope the weather stays nice for your parent's visit.

I'm sorry I can't remember who it was that posted yesterday about their DH's mom being so ill with cancer, but my prayers and thoughts are with you as you go through this tough time.

Hope everyone else has a great spring day today!!!

I love spring too! Always have...even when everyone else is complaining about the mud and the run off and how dirty everything is, I am smiling and taking it all in!

Since my son died 5 years, 9 months less 5 days ago (but who is counting) though I have found spring hard because that is around the time his health started to really deteriorate leading up to his death July 16th, 1996...anyhow since then I always end up in a funk in the spring and the same thing has been happening off and on for the past few weeks....I went to a grief speaker last night in our community and couldn't believe how much what she said really touched me...she had us make collages using magazine pics to describe where we were on the left side, where we are now in the middle and where we want to end up in the future...it was really theraputic....she told us to put it up and watch it happen...cause it will!

Anyhow I put my collage up on the fridge and not only my spiritual health (coming to terms with the why's, moving on to a deeper place, not just all the psychologoical stuff surrounding Zachary's death) but my physical health as well that is my focus....so I guess I started my own personal challenge today.


Boy did I ever go on and on! Have a great day everyone, and try the collage idea, she really convinced me that it will work! I am a believer!

Liz

Oh, Liz. I was so sorry to read about your son. How tragic. I can't imagine what you must have gone through and are still dealing with but you will be in my prayers tonight.

Here's a hug just for you:

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ H U G }}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I can't comprehend the loss of a child. Oh Liz, how sad for you.

I must tell you about my sister. She lost three of her children through illnesses and accidents. For her, March is a month of pain as two of them died in that month, plus our father, her best friend and some aunts and uncles. Thank goodness it wasn't all the same year. She holds her breath through the whole month each year.
If asked how she survived, she will tell you that she had no choice. A person does or doesn't. That's all she says about it....

So sorry to hear about all the sorrow we are all experiencing. It's so sad to lose loved ones. Working in the cemetery all these years should have prepared me, but it didn't. When I lost my dad in April 1997, it nearly destroyed me. It's coming up the anniversary on the 17th, so you can imagine my state of mind right now. It was sad because he never got to see my baby, she was born in July and I named her after him. She, of course, wants to change her name to Britney (she has no compassion!) but that is another story.

I have been so OP this week it is sinful! Not one bit of sugar or soda passed my lips! If my arms weren't so fat I would pat myself on the back Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately I broke my scale a while back and tossed it, so I don't know if I've lost anything. Who cares?? I feel great!

Hope you're all having a lovely evening, and I'm praying for those that need it! Luv ya'll!!

oh my, I keep losing posts

AdoAnnie and Liz, huge comforting hugs to you.

Soonerella....ya done good! (that was always big praise form my Dad!)

Same old same old around here.. I did meet with the child psychiatrist yesterday. He was extremely smart and asked alot of questions that got alot of information out of me. He did not seem to care that my socks and underwear were clean (didn't your mom tell you to wear good "stuff" when you go to the doctor?) He didn't seem to notice that I wore lipstick as blush....I think that he really couldn't see right through me.....and he didn't give me the you are an awfull rotten mom routine. So.....pretty good! We will be doing a trial run of a med change this weekend and then on Wednesday I will bring the little guy into see him and perhaps things will be tweaked again. I think he may put him on an antidepressant to stop the obsessive compulive stuff that is coming out.

Went to my ww meeting today ...lost 2.6 pounds .... a happy thing, bringing the total to 20.6 and I am now officially into virgin fat....about the only thing .....well, you can finish that sentence!!!!

Time for decaf!!!

hugs and all that good stuff!
peach

Just so you all know and you can skip this if you want...

I am so angry at my neighbour's daughters that I have decided that I will not be going over there for any reason in the future. In fact, I am really just friends with my neighbour and I do enjoy her company and so for now on I am just going to invite her over to my home rather than me going there for any reason. These two girls have given me sneers and rude looks and rude commments for the last couple of days every time I have gone to visit and I have no idea the reason why. I have asked my neighbour what's eating them and she just tells me to work it out with them. My question is--work what out? I am tired of the silly inuendo and back stabbing--I went through this in highschool and I am definitely not a highschooler anymore. These girls are 21 and 24 and if they want to act mature, I feel they need to get their butt on a phone, call me and tell me what the problem is rather than these stupid remarks which only serves to make the problem worse. In general, the 24 year old is my worst nightmare anyway. She has a terrible attitude and is probably one of the rudest people I've ever met. She doesn't care how other people feel by her comments just as long as her position is the accepted position of the room. Quite frankly, I'm tired of being verbally assaulted by her and I think if I remove myself from that situation things will be a lot easier on me. I have spent all day being angry about this, what hurts even more is that we bought the 24 year old and her boyfriend a satellite dish when they moved into thier new house. Talk about ungrateful!

OK...vent finished, now I can focus on me again. I barely ate today over this and I know that if I don't get it down and talk about it then I'm going to mess up my plan. I have been good though, I only indulged in some popcorn and I had a hamburger patty for dinner. I know, I know, I need to get more veggies but Iwill tomorrow because right now I'm too frustrated to eat anything else.

Hoping tomorrow is a better day.....