I WILL MISS THESE SMILEYS WHEN THEY ARE GONE. SINCE READING YOUR POSTS, I HAVE PROMPTLY FORGOTTEN MOST OF WHAT WAS SAID. MY MIND IS THINKING TOO MUCH TODAY. I DIDN'T GO SHOPPING TODAY. WAS ONLY GOING TO SPEND $$$ I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE. WHEN I WOKE THIS MORNING BETTER SENSE WON OUT. THAT AND BURNING/CRAPPY SINUSES I AM NOT SURE WHICH ONE WAS THE DECIDING FACTOR

TEEL~ I GUESS THE PC MAN HASN'T DONE A VERY GOOD JOB.

LINUS~ HOPE CJ HAS CALMED DOWN A BIT AND YOU ARE GETTING SOME REST OF SORTS.

NAE, TIG, RAVEN, RUTH , HOLLY AND ALL THE REST

CEEJAY~ I AM SORRY ABOUT KENTUCKY AND DO HOPE THE NEPHEW IS MORE UNDERSTANDING. SOME KIND OF STORM IS COMING HERE FOR XMAS AFTERNOON....OR SO THEY SAY!

SHAD~ OF COURSE THE PICS ARE GREAT!!! THE DAY SOUNDED WONDERFUL AND I AM SURE SHE HAD A GREAT TIME TOO! AS FOR THE AMERICAN....I HEAR ALL THE TIME HOW BADLY WE BEHAVE, AS A WHOLE, WHEN WE ARE ABROAD!!! IT'S ALWAYS ON THE TV ABOUT SOMETHING ******ED WE HAVE DONE!
SO I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING SPECIAL...AS WE DO IT EVERYWHERE!! ANY NEWS ON MISS CHRIS???


MEADOW~ OK, I'LL DRINK TO THAT!!! I LOVED THE IDEA OF THE CANDLES WITH THE SISTERS. SUCH A GREAT THOUGHT....ALL OF YOU DOING THE SAME THING EVEN IF IT'S NOT THE SAME TIME. GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS. DESSERTS ARE MY DOWNFALL.....THE ENEMY!!!

HAPPY....SO BUSY RUNNING AROUND AND GETTING XMASSY STUFF DONE!! HAVE WE HEARD YET ABOUT THE NEW DR? DID I MISS SOMETHING??

PAINTER~ I DO LOVE THAT STAR!!! I THINK IT'S THE BEST YET THAT I HAVE SEEN IN THE "STAR" CATAGORY!!! LOVE THE COLORS. ENJOY. AT LEAST YOUR CARDS WILL ARRIVE IN ONE PIECE. MINE SEEM TO BE ENDING UP BROKEN IN EVERY STATE IN THE USA AND THEN SOME! <---MAYBE THE USPOSTAL SERVICE SHOOK THEM TOO HARD!! LOL


WELL GIRLS IT'S ALMOST 11 O'CLOCK AND I HAVEN'T DONE A THING!! ADIOS MI AMIGAS!

Good morning everyone,

I'm back. I don't really get much time to write on the weekends! I spent all weekend running around doing last minute Christmas shopping and went to a hockey game last night. We had great seats (fifth row behind the ice). I had a great time!

I'm trying to get my mindset for not eating too much around the holidays. I tend to have a problem with sweets.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care.

Lisa

It's Tuesday and I have 4 full days left here. I don't have much time and have much to achieve yet and there are three meetings scheduled in as well. Aaaaah well. We can overcome.

Morrili - nice to see you back again. I was beginning to wonder if we had frightened you away, but we do understand that there is life in the future, in the past and in the present apart from 3FC. Ice Hockey? The son of a friend of mine is presently somewhere in Ontario, Canada doing some specialist hockey training and having a holiday and a good time as he goes. I should send the Madcat after him with LindaT's cattle prod - why? Just because I can.

Hiya Mel - It wasn't that the American was behaving so badly. She is entitled to climb trees. What I don't think she realised was that what she was doing was fairly dangerous. We have some of the most poisonous snakes in the world here. Some of them live on the mountain. They congregate around the water pools because of the drought and when humans come, they tend to take to the trees to get away from them. Also we have some bitey ants that live in trees and the big lizards often camoflage themselves in the trees. They can give a fair sized bit as well. So all and all, it is safe enough to go into the forest, but it is not wise to go to places where our precious creatures may be hiding to get away from humans. I didn't point all the above out, some of it was enough to give her the fright of her life and I don't think even the boyfriend will be able to get her up a tree again to pose for his photos.

Ceejay - I must have missed something. Why can't you go to Kentucky? Is it too dangerous to drive?

Gotta go. Back later maybe. If I get time.

Just wanted to check in so that no one thought I fell off the world or anything. Job #2 has been absorbing a large amount of time... though I did take the weekend off to do necessary (and fun) Christmas type stuff. Did some groceries, picked up a few last prezzies, went to a wonderful concert at a downtown church where the Mendelssohn Choir sang all the Choral bits from Handel's Messiah, went to dinner with my honey. Sunday we went to my sister's for Xmas dinner and had a really fun time. I should try to spend more time with my family. We are surprisingly non- dysfunctional - we just don't see that much of each other - of course, that may be what keeps us from being dysfunctional.

I only have TB left to buy for… He'll be easy though.

Shad – I'm not sure Canada Customs will let LT send me her cattle prod. They are funny about stuff like that. What an absolutely lovely waterfall! And birds… is that a Lorikeet? Funny I have only seen them in pet stores. But poisonous snakes???? Ok 100 points for scenery and minus 1000 points for reptiles.

Lisa – howdy. I know what you mean about sweets and the holidays. I find if I decide to only waste the calories on stuff that is really, really worth it makes it easier to get through the season. So Buttertarts yes!, the far too frequent boxes of icky chocolates that you can have any time of year, no.

CeeJay – sorry about the trip. Once they get that matter transportation device working we will all be better off.

Mel – hope your sinuses start behaving themselves. Still maybe they are frugal organs! I've heard of people who can sniff out a bargain but this time I have heard of sinuses that avoid bargains.

Meadow – Too funny. But I think we should at least hold out for cyber champagne!

I better get some sleep. Waves to everyone else.

Night all.

Evening ladies,

To your comment about the American Shad is all I can say is that we are dumb. Especially like me if they grew up in big cities where the only thing we had to fear were human muggers and burning your feet on hot cement if you didn't wear shoes in the summer. But seriously, as you pointed out, there are many pesky and dangerous things in your lovely land. It just doesn't occur to us to be careful. First time we drove out west to the mountains, we stopped at a scenic view. There is something called fool's gold - a rock with shiny gold flecks that mimics gold ore. A large rock caught my eye and I picked up the rock to examine it. DH yelled out "Don't TOUCH that" and nearly scared me down a cliff. He then said that scorpions and snakes hide under rocks to escape the hot sun. How was I a city girl to know this So, not in anyone's defense of doing something stupid or just rude and ignorant - but sometimes we just don't know. Personally, I wouldn't set foot in Down Under without you as my guide. Stick bugs a foot long? Crocodiles? Mossies in a fog? Eeeeek. I'd rather the lorries used me as a perch

Mel, sorry you didn't get shopping today. Better sniffer days to you and Miss Ceejay with the sad sinuses. I find those menthol Hall's throat drops keep the head clear. Welcome back Lisa, yes there are too many SWEETS just tempting us all. Ceejay was your sister understanding about you not making the trip? It's tough when you have to drive alone. Hope you have a nice Christmas anyway. Meadow, ooohhh shea butter is so nice - smooth and silky but not greasy. What are butter tarts anyway? Wait maybe I shouldn't know. Point well taken Painter on the doctors but they seem to have banded together here to make you wait and wait and wait in the office forever. 4 out of 5 of them have made me wait well over an hour past my appointment. DH said to find other doctors but they are ALL like that. What can you do So now that her picture link isn't working, WHAT did PW get that was 4 feet around and not gaudy??? Ah, near as I can tell some sort of Star decoration from the Pier 1 store but I can't see the pic. Guess we'll just have to imagine Tig, thank you for the advice - as a matter of fact, this time around the nurse / nutritionist sat with me for 30 minutes and throroughly explained the diet and nutrition program they want me to try out. She also gave me her phone number (tho it is the busy office number now that I check) and said to call any time (during working hours of course) if I had questions, needed a cheerleader or was in the dumps. Actually I appreciated the effort. What's this with turtles gathering in the yard for an afternoon tea? How cool is that? Hope Slim is doing better. Linda T, thank you for your prayers - a little help is ALWAYS appreciated. And I love how festive Kitty is this season

I still have not heard back from the rheumatologist. By now I thought for sure those tests results would be back. I will try the office tomorrow as it's been one week. I like the doctors here but not how the offices are run. I am feeling a bit better. Did the treadmill again tonight. Wanted to push it a bit harder but the knee said NO. So I listened and pumped the arms about to get a bit of a better workout. Following this food plan is a bit daunting too. It's very hard to eat every 2 to 3 hours, even if it's a tiny snack. Like many people I get so engrossed in work (because it's SO MUCH FUN - NOT), I lose track of time very easily. My goal for this week is baby steps and constant improvement. I can handle that. Will be a bit of a challenge when I am away at sister's next week - the queen of baking all things wonderful. Good cooking too. And my mom told me tonight it was a high of only 8 degrees today. It's supposed to be kissing 60 degrees here at Christmas. I told my family that next year perhaps they should come down here for the holidays.

Well it's almost 10:30 and I still have 35 cards to get done. Will it happen in one hour? Only if we have a Christmas miracle here. I'm not enjoying this at all...

Hellos to the rest of the clan - Ruth, Linus, Holly and Rose Tag, you're it

Sorry Madcat, missed you - I always seem to miss someone. I can't tell you how I laughed about "Fang" - I love your sense of humor

Umm - happy, just a quick thought. How about setting the calendar reminder on your pc. I presume you have one with the email - outlook, lotus notes what ever. Set a meeting or reminder for every couple of hours and remind yourself to eat. Just a thought.

This is Bridal Falls, it is one of the most serene places I've ever been, you can get up really close and along the little river cank is a fantastic place to have a picnic

These are butter tarts, a Canadian delicacy that call like the sirens for you to ingest them. Beware!



Mom's buttertarts

2 eggs
1 ½ cups raisons
½ cup butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Oven 375 degrees

You mix these ingredients up and put them in pastry lined tart shells and cook for about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the shells you use.
I did 4miles today to try and get away from them

Mel-aw I'm sorry your sinuses are aching. Must be really dry weather your way too huh? There are sparks flying off of me, the kids, the cats here. Maybe you will get some gift certificates for Christmas and then you can have a blast shopping again

Shad-only three days now... tick, tick... are all your meetings done? is your desk cleared out? how many bouquets of flowers have appeared? How much extra money in your pay cheque for a job exceding expectations? Lovely waterfall you chose. Do you concure that they has a calming, Valium affect? Snork at the American tree woman, she could have been dinner for one of the resident scary creatures!!

PW-how could you not have decorated yet? I finally heard what this Flylady thing is, online nagging right? I have a husband for that Here is a start for your decorating, come on now, you know you want to



Madcat-I hope you do get to spend more time with your family. My sisters are two of the most beautiful people in my life. Okay champers it is though I will still keep my rum in the cupboard for emergency doses

Ceejay-I guess I missed the Kentucky travel advisory post too... is it the weather stopping you? Work stuff? A phone call and a cheery little conversation is a nice option too. I hope you get some smiles this Christmas.

Lisa-Beware of buttertarts and desserts in general, they will be lurking everywhere you go this Christmas. People have been baking for weeks, they will insist you try this and that. Remember what calories you want in you and which you can say "no thanks" to. Use your power!!

Happy-I hope you get through to the doctors and ease your mind on this. Do not wait for them to get in touch, they seldom do. You have to make the noise and get the attention. Is the office close to your work route, can you pop in and MAKE them deal with you Just a thought.

Linda (the job thing sounds like a real doozy, ask for more money

Holly-who is a busy bee? Good to know you have Christmas and the good spirit filling your days.

Teel, Nae, Linus, Tig, Raven, Ruth
Christmas is coming, Yahoo, glory, Yahoo, glory, Welcome Christmas, Christmas time!!

THAT'S HOW I FEEL....LIKE I'M JUST TREADING WATER HERE. POOR JEN. YESTERDAY I HAD TO ASK HER TO PLEASE GO HOME SO I COULD LIE DOWN. FIRST TIME I EVER DID THAT. BUT MY HEAD JUST COULDN'T LISTEN TO ANOTHER WORD. WE'LL SEE WHAT TODAY BRINGS. NOT AWAKE ENOUGH TO TELL YET! ANOTHER DAY OF MEDS SHOULD DO THE TRICK. THE OFFICE PARTY IS THURSDAY. I MISSED LAST YEARS. FOR SOME REASON IM CAN'T REMEMBER WHY. HMMMMM JEN AND RICHIE WENT TO GET THE KIDS AGAIN AND GO TO THE PARENTS HOUSE. PEACE WILL REIGN AFGAIN HERE FOR A FEW DAYS!
I HAD BETTER START MOVING BEFORE I FALL ASLEEP AGAIN!


LISA~ GLAD TO SEE YOU AND THAT YOU HAD A NIGHT OUT WITH HOCKEY. I SOMETIMES RUN OUT OF HOURS IN THE DAY AND DON'T MAKE IT HERE EITHER. THERE IS A LIFE BEYOND THE WALLS OF 3FC AND IT DOES INTERFERE SOMETIMES!

SHAD~ BUT IT AMAZES ME THAT PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO BEHAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE. STANDING IN FRONT OF SOMETHING IS USUALLY HOW WE JUDGE SIZES LIKE YOU MENTIONED. GUESS THEY JUST DIDN'T THINK! THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT CRITTERS UNLESS THEY COME FROM A MORE RURAL PART OF THE STATES HERE ANYWAY! ROFL A CRITTER TO THEM IS GARFIELD THE CAT!!

MAD~ YOUR POST JUST REMINDED ME THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TABERNACLE CHOIR THING ON TV AND NOW I HAVE GONE AND FORGOTTEN IT. PBS TV I THINK. I BETTER GO AND LOOK TODAY. WHAT A GREAT TREAT TO HEAR SUCH VOICES!! MUST HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL AND WITH A FUNCTIONAL FAMILY SUNDAY DINNER TOO! MY FAMILY CANNOT EVEN SPELL THE WORD! BET YOU'LL BE GLAD WHEN #2 IS FINISHED.

HAPPY~ HANG THE COWBOY BOOTS WITH GREENS ALL OVER THE HOUSE LIKE MEADOW SHOWS....COME ON WE KNOW YOU HAVE SOME IN THE CLOSETS!!! PW GOT A STAR THAT IS GORGEOUS AND I WILL SEE IF I CAN SEND IT TO YOU. IT WAS FULL OF ORNAMENTS AND GLITTERY STUFF AND 4' WIDE!! VERY COLORFUL. SORRY YOU MISSED IT. KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED FOR YOUR RESULTS GOOD LUCK!

MEADOW~THE TARTS AND FALLS ARE BEAUTIFUL. NOT SURE YET WHICH PICTURE I LOVED THE BEST....THOUGH THE TARTS ARE CALLING RATHER LOUDLY!!! GOOD FOR YOU AND THE 4 MILES. BTW...CAN THE TARTS RUN VERY FAST??? I BETTER PUT IT IN HIGH GEAR JUST IN CASE THEY CAN!!

I had one of the most spectacular, love filled, connected to nature ,life and my inner Goddess, glorious days of my life at Bridal Veil Falls in 1995. I have a tiny piece of a redwood I touch every so often so I dont forget that feeling.

HUGS ladies. All is well and festive in my part of the world. Doing all the usual flitting about, crafting, baking and not keeping the house tidy!

Ps Meadow....did The Snow Come?! Send Some My Way!!! We Are Still Rather Mild Here With Some Kind Of Storm Heading Here For Xmas Day.

Just wanted to say hello to everyone.

Wow, buttertarts look really good. I've never even heard of them, my loss!!

Yeah, we had a blast at the hockey game. Fifth row behind the ice. We witnessed alot of fights. A guy from the Florida Panthers kept fighting the entire game and he started a fight right in front of us once toward the end of the game, so that was pretty cool!

We have my boyfriend's son with us for three weeks. He came Friday night, so now we're even busier than ever! We've got his shopping all done, just need to wrap his presents, too. It will be nice to have a child around for Christmas!

I'm doing my spinning class today. I haven't seen much of a weight loss on the scale which is a bit disappointing, but I feel the loss in my clothes and even my legs look like they are getting toned (which is most definitely a good thing!!).

Back to work I go. Take care.

Lisa

i'm still having puter problems. I've tried to post twice but it bumped me again.

Hope every one is having a good day. 5 more day's and counting till the ho ho ho man arrives.

Shad-- I did get you Christmas card.

After a long week, I am back from being MIA. Not much is new on this side of the world. I'm still in the process at looking through all the posts in this thread, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get through all of them.

I had a slice of pie today. It was a small piece, but I feel guilty. Ahh well, I can afford to be bad just one day....right???

just a quicky satan is teething ive had 3 hours sleep in 2 days ????????????? fell asleep getting my hair done today lol lucky i didnt wake up with a mohican
MEL,SHAD,CEEJAY i got your xmas cards thanxs some very bright spots in some horrid days
bye for now
kirsty

Lisa~ too bad shad wasn't with you at the hockey game!!! she would have jumped on the ice and helped them fight! enjoy the time with the boy. Jen( mydd) has her bf's 2 kids for the same time. But better her than me!

HONEY~ PIE!!! yum yum!!! I can't wait for some pumpkin and mincemeat this weekend. Then on Monday it's diet time!

Linus my sleep deprived friend hope there is a rest period in there for you somewhere. for Jen's first year we slept at the same time. It was the only way to get any sleep. Then I learned how to clean and cook with her on my hip!

just wanted to bump us up and change my weight ticker.
sweet dreams and good morning miss shaddie!!!