Melissa - that recipe sounds very yummy - might have to give it a try!

Kathy - CONGRATULATIONS on getting to maintenance! I am so happy that you have settled on your goal weight and I know you will definitely be able to maintain it!

Vickie - I presume you are now partying like a maniac in one of your new tops? Let us know how the party went!

Sandra - I think one of those small kitchen fire extinguishers next to your dish might be a good hint? Hope no one's lips were burned off! Enjoy!

Niki - oh yes kids and grandmas - they must know a good thing when they see it! Sounds like you are lal having a good time together!

Well tried to sleep in a bit - of course little ds very excited for his party - we barely made it on time tho trying to get everyone out of the house by 10:15! What chaos - it was so busy and loud and frantic trying to control 12 eight year olds - some of whom have never bowled before! I finally gave up somewhere and just let them do it in whatever order and how ever many balls they chose to throw. Lots of gutter balls of course!

Finally the bowling part was over - even tho one of the teams was not realy done - tables set (there were like 6 parties going on at the same time!). Kids had chips, powerade bottle and slice of pizza - I also ended up ordering one large all dressed pizza for the 'adults' - I did have a slice and a diet coke - BUT NO CHOCOLATE CAKE! (dh has already had 2 pieces of course and the LO is in our fridge!!!!).

Then loot bags and pickup and home. So we get home and I say to dh 'did you pay for the party?" No he says - did you? Pretty funny - dh went back of course - there were so busy and understaffed that they never gave us our bill!

And ds is so busy with all his new presents - just like xmas! Dh and I tried to nap this afternoon - but big jam session going on in the basement - big ds back in a band and doing a gig tonight downtown at a major bar/music venue.

We finally ended up going for groceries at 6 pm! Got home ate (pita bread, tandoori chicken slices, salad w/japanese dressing) and I think I overdid it! I also got some new blue menu (reduced low fat line) lf frozen yogurt in mocaccino flavor - this is exciting me - and I might have to try some later tonight???

Home tonight - little ds helping dad with some newfangled tv antenna then hopefully we can get him to bed? Maybe tv or movie? (with my frozen yogurt ).

Frouf

Sandra, I think some picante would be fine in that recipe. And the 2 cups of rice was plenty. I don't know if it would have fit in the casserole dish with a whole box of rice! I'm glad you had a good time at your bbq!

Frouf, what an adventurous day you've had, as usual! I guess life with children is much more eventful to say the least. But it sounds like you managed to control yourself around the cake! Good job!

We've been doing things around the house. Did manage to go for a walk tonight, so off I go to change my ticker accordingly.

Good Morning Chicks! That darned cleaning lady at my house set the alarm in my bedroom which went off at 5:40 this morning. Harumpf. So I've been up since then but it was NOT enough sleep. I hope to catch a nap later after the next round of cleaning and before I make dinner. Busy day. I'm having another Froufie roast. It was seriously good last time with the eye of the round.

Well, the party was a HUGE success and my GF cried at the end when her husband gave their thank you speech. Then I cried and my Niece and my other GF cried too. We are grateful to be together and celebrating such a beautiful occasion. Of course, there were the old pictures and I looked amazing and so cute. I weighed 150 pounds and was wearing the cutest sleeveless dress. I was all tanned and looking happy. At first I mourned that 25 year old girl and then I told Jim on the way home that she's still inside me waiting to come out. I told him that I was sorry that he never got to see me all cute that way. And he said I'm cute now. I don't know how he can believe that but he seems to be sincere. I'm taking him at his word! We told old stories and laughed. We went back to our friends house afterwards and everyone else went home. They opened up a bottle of champaign and we looked at old pictures. We probably got home around midnight after leaving at 4:00. Party, party.

We won't discuss my eating. There was not a healthy item to be found except for the tossed salad. I ate half a plateful of salad and tried to go easy on the dressing. It was buffet and wouldn't/couldn't bring any other dressings. The other food was pretty much non-Core but I did the best I could. I did have my Long Island Iced Tea and enjoyed it immensely! I did drink 11 eight ounce glasses of water yesterday and managed to get in all my healthy guidelines. The scale isn't up this morning but my pattern is that it comes on the second day......just in time for weigh in.

Life is still good!

I'm off to read what you were all up to yesterday afternoon and evening.

First of all that me say Congratulations to Kathy for making goal! Good Luck on maintenance. This is definitely something to celebrate! I've thought you look amazing for some time now but it doesn't matter what we think. Each of us must be happy with ourselves. And you do sound at peace with your decision.

Dear Lord, Kathy, there must not be a square foot of your property that doesn't have a beautiful plant on it. I would love to see some pictures. It must take you all day to water. Be careful of that heat. I know it can't be good for your MS either. How do you ice the dogs? I never thought about combining blueberries and cantaloupe. I may have to try it. Can you give me a recipe for turkey burgers? I've tried to make them before and they are disgustingly bland.

Sandra, I'm not surprised that the cornbread was 22 alarm! I put cayenne in my cola chicken to counteract some of the sweetness. Oops! I think I just gave myself a craving for cola chicken.

Melissa, doesn't Kathy give great advice? Tomato paste is used to thicken recipes so cutting down the liquid would have helped. I love tomato paste in my chili because it takes it from a brothy liquid to a thicker one. I make a Core recipe similar to what you made but it had whole beans instead of refried and no corn. I haven't made it in forever because we weren't crazy about it. Maybe we'd like it better with the refried. Maybe I'll give it a try. Thanks for the recipe. You're very lucky that Aaron is handy. Jim and I are thinkers and have to hire people to do anything that is creative.

Niki, I'm glad you're well. We were thinking about you!

Frouf, DS's party sounds like it was a big success! I'll be he went to sleep with a BIG smile on his face. Back away from the frozen yogurt cruise girl!!!!!

I was scared that I'd be about 42 pages behind! I hope you all have great Core days. I need to go eat my breakfast and make a grocery list for Jim. I'm sure I'll be back on a break!

Kathy, congrats on reaching goal! Now you can help me with it. I'm happy that my mom's art class will be moving to afternoons next week, so we will be able to start walking again. Yay!

Vickie, Jim sounds like a keeper. What a sweetheart. I'm so glad you had fun at the party, and that you came away from the picture-viewing with a positive attitude.

Frouf, 12 8-year olds in a bowling alley? Crazy. We had 6 7-year olds here for my dd's birthday party, and I thought I would go nuts. You always eat such exotic-sounding things...tandoori chicken, salad w/Japanese dressing... Makes me feel plain.

The garden is finished being built (we have the boxes built, filled w/dirt, and planted). So far it's looking great, and the weather is cooperating marvelously. It also looks like our fruit trees and my grapevine will be producing a lot this year.

Time to go answer my summons... Moommmmmmyyyyy!

Later ladies,
Angela

Angela, I LOVE how your life sounds. Just like out of an Ivory soap commercial! I'm glad you'll be able to walk again with your Mom. Once I get Jim's surgery over with, I hope to be back on the treadmill. How's this weekend going with your eating?

Good morning, chickies! It's a beautiful day here in sunny North Texas!

Judd has gone on a motorcycle ride and will be home around 2-3 this afternoon, but then he has to go to Fort Worth because his mom bought us some bedroom furniture. It's for one of the bedrooms upstairs, the one that Shaun's in, but we won't place it until he leaves and we paint and have the carpet cleaned. I also found out last night that Erin's not taking her bedroom furniture when she moves, and her room is the one that Judd wanted for his study. I'm starting to feel choked by furniture! It looks like my sewing desk will end up in my bedroom ... we were trying to get all the desks and computer equipment out of here but I think the fax machine will stay along with the sewing machine.

All I'm doing today is laundry, planting, helping Shaun in his room, and maybe vacuuming. Oh and cooking dinner. And I have three shirts that the buttons must be replaced on, so I'll do that tonight while watching TV. Okay, that sorta looks like a lot now that I see it written down.

Vickie, your party sounds like SO much fun! I'm glad you had a good time, and were able to reminisce with them all. I'm sure your gf is starting to reflect quite a bit more on the past given her current circumstances. Bless her heart -- I'll bet it was a difficult night for her but one she'll always remember. That was SO sweet what Jim said! I'm sure he DOES feel that way, so you should too. We are all about the cute and I don't think size always has anything to do with it, but I know what you mean about wanting to see that 150 lb. girl again. I know she's still there!

Angela, your garden sounds just awesome! This summer is going to be great with all the fresh vegetables; I know how much you like getting your hands dirty out there and it sounds like this year's garden is even bigger than last year's.

Vickie, I put ice in all the dog water bowls, both inside and outside. Outside, of course, it melts pretty fast but inside, it keeps their water nice and cold. The Border Collie eats it though, if she's in the mood, so sometimes she drops a piece on the floor and then the cat starts playing hockey with it. And THEN it melts on the tile and we bust our rumps when we slip in it. Still, they like their ice water.

For the turkey burgers, I use ground turkey (duh), chopped green onions, and worcestershire sauce. They are always juicy and flavorful, I guess due to the onions. I will probably make them on the GF and not outside on the big grill.

You know that old thing where the couple wants to have a baby, but can't, so they adopt? And as soon as the adoption goes thru, they find out that mom's pregnant? I think I'm doing that with my weight! When I gave up yesterday and decided to be happy with weight, I figured I'd have to work pretty hard to keep it there. However, we went to dinner at the mongolian grill and I ate the rice (usually don't), and a big plate of shrimp, chicken and vegetable stir-fry, and I even had a few Smirnoff Ice drinks yesterday. This morning the scale was 144.6. Go figure.

I suppose I should get up and see if I can get myself started. Or at least go eat breakfast -- if not, my whole eating schedule will be thrown off.

Good morning everyone, I'm new to the board so just getting the hang of it. I joined WW last Monday night, desperate to lose the weight. I think I picked the worst time in the year to join WW since I am a special ed. teacher and the last 2 weeks of school are craaaaazy. Mind you, when I survive it I'll be able to look back on it and use it as a positive reference for any future tough weeks! Today we are going to my mom and dad's house for a BBQ to celebrate her 72nd birthday - there'll be lots of high-fat stuff to avoid but I'll be strong. I weigh in tomorrow night so I gotta! Friday was an absolute disaster - I helped a grade 5 class plan a surprise birthday party for their teacher in my classroom, had no time for lunch so nibbled on chips and fruit. Then we had our grade 8 grad that night and had pizza & wings for dinner (holy high fat, Batman!) with non diet 7Up (holy high sugar!) I turned it into motivation to stay on program yesterday, today and tomorrow for weigh-in. I thought of delaying weigh-in until Wednesday to allow more time to recuperate but decided not to get into bad habits so early into the program (week one, giggle). I've done WW before and I know all the bad habits,
So here's to week one down, the rest of my life to go!!!

I don't have much time to post/reply but will check in quickly even if just to "wave" hello each day.

Welcome, Clare, and whew! You have a busy week ahead of you!! I hope it goes well, and that weigh-in goes well too!

Just stop by and wave anytime you want, or better yet -- stay and chat! We just talk about anything and everything, as you can see.

I think 264 posts in one thread is plenty -- closing and reopening a new hangout!

Come join us on Core Board Chat #47! See you there ....