Howdy chickies... I'm on lunch now - don't tell the big guys that I'm posting, ok? DH and I figured out a way to move the office furniture, work around the missing screws and give him some room to finish assembling things. We had to dig through boxes but we found all the bits and proper cords and my own home computer should be up and running tonight. YAY! DH keeps his resolution so tiny that I need the telescope to read the screen and this site jumps all over when I try to access it so I haven't been posting. I should be back on regularly again with my own machine.

Still digging out boxes and too much to do but we're making headway.

Rose, my deepest sympathies on your recent losses. Please try and remember that even if people are only with us briefly, there is a time and a place and a reason for them being in our lives, no matter how quickly that time passes. Honor their memories through your own deeds and actions. And a quick to you.

I'm sending a heat pack to Shad and Linus to sooth those aching teeth or sore jaws as it might be. Linus it does seem to be one thing on top of another for you - hope it comes to an end so you can enjoy a bit of your pregnancy. And I'd say you deserve a bit of weekend sitting about Shad, between the tooth and the long days at work, take a bit of down time. I could easily put in the long days here at the office too, it's only that I'm resisting as there is so much to do when I get home that I can only split my time in so many ways.

Mel, enjoy your HOLIDAY - I said ENJOY right, that means time for you not taking care of the building. Don't make me come ring your doorbell and check on you, ok?

Happy birthday Holly, I hope "Mama" Teel makes you a nice treat befitting a birthday girl.

Hellos to Suzi and Holly and Meadow. Holly the next street over to mine is Hollyhock. I think of you everytime I see that street sign so that makes twice a day at least.

I was watching the weather this morning - we had bad thunderstorms and pouring rain and they were showing the blankets of snow up north. Don't pelt me with snowballs - but the scene of a cold, white outdoors seems so foreign to me already. I am in such a big hurry for spring to come along. We have at least 50 bushes out in the yard. I spent a few hours on Saturday with DH digging the crispy fall leaves out of the branches so the new growth has a place to breathe easy. Unfortunately, I was working in a T-shirt and no gloves and forgot that I am allergic to the type of mold from rotting leaves. (It's been a long, long time since I've been rummaging in the garden area). I did wash thoroughly when I got in but in about an hour my arms and hands started to itch like crazy from the light scratches digging in the bushes. Lesson learned - next weekend it's long sleeves and garden gloves! DH was looking through some papers the former owners left us and we discovered that last May our yard was voted "best yard in the subdivision, worth a drive by and a look see" so that has to mean we will have some pretty flowers or bushes or SOMETHING to look forward to. Right now it's dormant brown grass and some yellow pansies.

My time's up, I'd better get back to work. Will try and stop by later. Take care all.

good evening chickies!!!! im back and before i forget ill post this weeks challenge results
SHAD=6
MEL=4
TEEL=4
HOLLY=6
MEADOW=2
SUZI=comp virus{i will send dh if needed please!!!!!}
ROSE=official pardon
LINUS=5
TIG=???
so once again the winners are
SHAD AND HOLLY
below you will find some wonderful destinations to pick from because ive decieded that we all need to escape and dream sometimes so for all of us i wish for a place to dream,love,rest.heal and eat all the chocolate cake we want {well it is a dream }
let me see where did i get too .... oh yes the bloody gums ive suffered all weekend and must have been in agony ,because i called the dentist at 8.30am for an appointment i got one for 12.20pm today so after a breif call from teel off i popped ....i will not tell you how much i didnt want to get back in that chair the dentist said "ooh its all swollen" i said no fu***ng kidding then she said "its all infected " i said your not joking then she said "it must be sore " i wont repeat what i said but i think she got the picture the upshot is the jawbone on the left hand side is infected ,the mouth wanted to swell it couldnt because of the plate so it swelt in on itself and sealed all the old gunk in also because of the plate the gums are all ulcerated so she sluiced everything out and packed this wonderful stuff in that contains sedative and anteseptic so now a really foul taste but hey no pain for the now so i can eat ,probably just aswell as ive lost 4llb since wednesday{mind you the morning sickness hasnt helped } so heres hoping that by the time the stuff wares off it will be a lot less painfull adding to the fact that the dentist shaved off a bit of the sides of the plate
ive never been able to drink diet coke but tried the new one "diet coke with lime" and i really like it so ive got a change from the diet irn-bru i normally drink and i can ease off the coffee right chickies i will be in tomorrow to reply to everyone but tonight im just too tired so im off and ill speak to you all later
kirsty

Holly~ Cats love men for some reason. Mine loved my husband too and followed him everywhere. I always knew when he was mad cause the cat was the first to sense it and RUN AWAY!!

Linus~ OMG!!! I am sorry for all you are going through and send hugs and love. I hope it all starts to heal now and you can eat something for "BOTH" of you!!! Take care!

Happy~ So lovely to have you with us and I can hardly wait to see pics when the garden grows and you get your Honorable Mention or awards or what-have-you!!! sounds wonderful! My doorbell has only rung once in 5 days!!! Maybe I shouldn't brag! I told the woman I was sick and undressed!
glad you are getting organized and will be up and running soon. Miss you Kid!!

Well chicks, I pedaled for 5 days and made it 1 1/4 inches on the map. I am heading to Teel and Linus crossing the Big Pond. Hope I don't drown! I finished unloading 2 bookcases and cleaning everything then moving them down the wall. Now the new chair fits closer to a better plug for recharging. Much easier for me to reach. remind me when I start to ***** about my back that I did this! But it's done and I have wanted to do it for a long time.
Send good thoughts to me this week so I don't forget all I learned these past few daysand go and undo all the good it's done. Jen promised to smack me in the head if she sees me go astray. I think I "have" it this time! Learning how to say no is very hard. I just need to remember that saying NO does NOT make me a bad person! LOL
Hope you all have a great week and sending healing vibes to those that need it!

Work is an absolute Nightmare. 'nuf said.

I have only a total of 3 points for last week. Just wanted to keep the books straight.

Linus, your poor mouth and jaw. I'm so sorry.

Hate to post and run, but lots to do. Put me down for the same next week. Maybe I'll do better.

OH! I came in second in my age group at the Tiger Dash 5K last Saturday. It was a good run - perfect weather, neat Tiger tshirt, and I didn't fall. ANY run where I finish and don't get lost or fall is a good run. Next 5K: this Saturday: Hard Hats and Soft Hearts: fund raiser for a local Methodist Church youth group.

Rose, wow, sorry for the young fellow that got killed doing his snowboarding, that is awful. Was he wearing a helmut, did he hit a tree, that just sounds so tragic.

Hey Linus, ouch! Can you drink tea? Your mouth must be very sensitive right now.

Hey Mel, you sound very organized and powerful. Rock on! Power Up! Be true to you and remember your value

Hey Shad, you feeling centered yet? You sound like you want to take up kickboxing or something and channel some of your pent up whatevers into some good old *** kicking Just reading between the lines, tell me if I'm wrong.

Hey Happy, gardening gloves that go up past the elbow, they are out there or wear a long sleever shirt over top of the gloves. I had a terrible reaction to the herb "rue" when I was in the garden, big blisters... seems the oil from it can cause your skin to photosythasize, who knew! Antihistamines are your friends when the garden tries to infiltrate your body

Hey Holly, snow isn't allowed to stay here, the mountains and the ocean soon produce heat to rain it out I have little daffodils popping there heads up in my planter out front Are you sure you are on the right side of the continent?

Hey Tig, you hate to post and run How many runners do you go through with all your running? I'm sorry your work is stressing you out, remember how small a part of your real life that is and don't let it linger in your head when you get home. Soon enough to deal with things when you are face to face with whatever.

I am actually four points for last week I made my goal Will I surpass myself this week and manage a bit of the WATP tape and some cardio? You never know

Amen, sister Tig. I completely agree with you. I have so many things to do with my life and work just sucks most of my time. Got home tonight, made DH go grocery shopping with me. We got home around 7:30, made a quick, light dinner and I went about making my list for meals for the week along with cleaning up the kitchen. By the time I decided to take a break, not done - just had to get out of that kitchen, here it is after 9pm already and the night is gone. I need to be more organized as in preparing lunches ahead of time and laying out clothes as the morning gets away from me and DH makes me very annoyed as he scoots me out the door telling me what I already know - I'm LATE AGAIN! Oh well, I need some of Shad's early rise and shine potion with the motion in it

Kirsty I winced when I read your post about the dentist. I know how that feels and with the plate crushing in your mouth - ow ow ow ow OW!!! I'm surprised you were civil at all. I'm glad to hear you have some relief at long last. That is just the most AWFUL pain. I have tried the Diet Coke with Lime - it's quite good but I can't tolerate the artificial sweetner. While shopping tonight I saw they have single serving bottles of regular Coke with lime. Of course I had to try one. I like the bottles as I am able to portion out a smaller serving. And Coke with lime reminds me of the old disco days of Cubra Libras - rum and Coke with limes. - but I won't be sneaking any rum into this one.

Meadow, I've not seen gardening gloves to the elbow but I will look for them - thanks for mentioning it. Cheers for making your goal this week

And one for you too Mel - pedalled all of an inch and a half on the map did you? Good going And we will all remind you NOT to forget tho important lessons learned this week, ok? Glad to hear you are on top of things.

I suppose I should get my act together and join you in the weekly challenge. The treadmill is in pieces upstairs. DH promises it will get attention soon. I tried getting on the stepper and I lasted ONE WHOLE MINUTE before I almost passed out. I fear I'll do no better on the killer stationery bike. I did go for a walk at lunch today - a short one but a walk no less. The person who was mentoring me has quit (she was in the process of leaving when I came on board last month so no, I didn't force her running and screaming out of the building). Now I'm pretty much on my own for lunch which is good if a bit lonely. I have a friend I occasionally lunch with but at least 4 days of 5 I should be able to eat healthy and get in a good walk around the lake. I keep thinking the really hot weather will be here soon and it will be more unbearable the bigger I am so I should make optimum use of the time now and start the downward scale slide. We have good things for the week's food so that will be easier.

Maybe I'll go try that stepper again. Perhaps I can hang in there for 70 seconds this time

So Tuesday is drawing to a close. Interesting day at work. One of the 'boys' has decided to split with his missus and told me about it yesterday. He doesn't want the others to know - its all hush hush and he had to tell someone. I am it apparently. So here's this morose bloke mooching around the joint, not with it but not completely without it. A bit grumpy and getting antsy about the others madness. The other boys don't know about the problem and are getting grumpy with P. C is also full of cold and coughing and sneezing. I suggested he went home early and got some extra rest, but he didn't want that either - well he did, but didn't want to go home without setting up the training room for tomorrow and getting some bits together. M just gets on with it and S is full of beans and raring to go. It's like juggling hot coals. If we get through this week intact, we will survive forever.

Went to the gym tonight instead of in the morning. Actually I did that yesterday too. I was okay on the weights yesterday, but it really took it out of me running today. I really think that must remain an early morning stint. It was not a good run although I did get the 6k in and over 400 calories. Much of the time I just walked fast and uphill rather than run.

Linus, I am so sorry to hear about the mouth. I really hope things get better shortly. Toothache is really the pits.

I don't believe that Holly and I have won again. Well done to both of us. I'm going to take my time working out which holiday I want.

Tig great to hear that you did so well in the race. You'll be shifting to a bigger place soon to house all the trophies. Work is the curse of the drinking class so they tell me. In your case it is the running class. Did you take that project you were telling us about a while back???

Mellie, watch that back. I've enough on my plate at the moment with the above blokes. I don't want to have to ring you up and have to tell you about what's what as well.

to Holly the hound. Happy birthday Miss Dog.

Happy, so good to hear from you a bit more regularly. Geez you must be doing okay if they let you loose on the system without the mentor. It's all good fun and when you think you know it all, they will take it away and install a new better, much improved, harder to handle, upgrade version.

Guess it's time to go and have some mindless television before a reasonably early night - another early start. I need to get myself organised before the boys arrive full of joy for another day - no pun intended.

Hello everyone, and thanks for the warm thoughts and hugs.....I do appreciate them and it helps me. The viewing for my friend Geneal is tonight which I will attend and the funeral is tomorrow at 2 and the funeral for the 14 yr old Mark is at 4 at the high school....both are going to be well attended and we don't have a very big place to hold them. Mark was snowboarding and getting ready for competition and went off a jump and landed on his chest so hard it separated the descending aorta (sp) from his heart. So sad.
My good friend Robin is coming up to go to the funeral with me on wednesday and spend a few nights.......Then is reworked my schedule and we are driving to spokane to her mom's for a huge plant sale for the weekend so I am going to get out of town and breathe a bit after the week. I have a big meeting wednesday night and can see I will have to hold myself together after the events of wed. pray for me.
I saw a good friend this weekend who looks fabulous and has really been working hard at losing weight over the last year.....it was such fun to visit. I am going out to the coast to see her in april for some outdoor fun.
Sorry about the mouth Linus you must get to feeling better..... everything seems to come at once.... I hope you are on the mend.
Happy nice to see you here..... I will try to get back into the action by next week...... I am just moving in steps right now to get from point a to b and make it through the days.
The comment a while back about how can people really connect on this medium I had lots to say about that but maybe later.... to tell of my internet friendships and adventures....
Love to all of you...... thanks again for caring....it does help to have you here when I come home at night and hear your sweet messages of concern and prayers...... My Friends around the world.
Peace,
Nae

Love to you Nae.

Tig~ Congrats!

Meadow~ you are outa control with the workouts.Woohoo!

Shad~ I agree, our success is not resounding. Less than 50%. I will go for a trip on the boats on the Loch, with the mountains, though.

Happy~ Breathe honey.

Linus~ hope you are pain free. How are you feeling??

Ahem~ I will hold you to this!!! Glad you enjoyed the R&R and feel refreshed.

Woke up again. My Grandma always says thats a good way to start any day.

Yesterday was fantastic. Very busy for me. I had 10 kids coming and going all day. I met with our financial planner at 5pm. I had a cabbage casserole in the oven ready to go. We ate at 5:30. The kids and I scooted off to dance. DS and i did some reading. I watched Idol then 24. DH has pinched a nerve so I worked on that for him.
Went to bed. Slept well!!
I am going to be busier with babysitting. I need to put it all down on paper.

I have 2 families who have been on Mat Leave coming back. It is a bit overwhelming so I am going to make a chart and put in all the regular kids and hours. Let the parents go over it and see if it will work.In the summer I will hire a highschool kid again.
The day just flew by yesterday. I liked it. I ate OP all day. I had rice crackers and yogurt before bed. I wasn’t hungry. Totally a comfort thing. I am about 50/50 on quiting this habit. Maybe I need to replace it with an activity. MMM..sex would make DH happy. Of course he would have to be awake. LOL!
I will have 8 kids all morning today. 4 go home at noon and then 2 nap and 2 will colour or craft. The 2 six year old bays come home at 3:40. I will earn $130 today. Wow. That’s a huge help.
Best go feed the boy and get him ready for school!!!

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE life! I have been feeling crazy in love with DH too. woohoo.

OWHY O WHY does a server page jump in when asked and close the whole page I was writing?!! I had written such a long post ....I mean LOOOOOONG and now I have to do it all over!! Perhaps I should do it in parts and be safe!!
Anyway it will have to be a short one now as I am expecting a phone call...I do hope and pray that everyone is feeling a little better as the week progresses. Linus I am very pleased that your dentist has at last come up trumps and sorted that infection out. "Is it sore?!" Am I the Popes wife?! Honestly, some people!!! I do hope that now your infection is on the way out the morning sickness might also decided to find it's way out too, and that at last you will be able to enjoy your pregnancy!!
NAE I am so pleased that your good friend is able to escort you to the funeral tomorrow. I do pray that her presense will be of great comfort to you and that she will be a good sturdy rock for you to lean on in your time of grief.Peacejoy to you, my friend and a great big squeeeeeeze.


Right I'll have to leave it there and I will be back but I am not sure when...night night chickies.

Nae~ Sending love and warm thought to you this week. I am glad to hear a friend will be with you and you're going to the plant sale. Some R&R would be a great way to heal and breathe. ((((((HUGS))))))my Friend.

Linus~ Hoping the mouth is a bit better toady. so sorry again. It must be awful with both going on. When I was pregnant with Jen I had my first sinus infection and was still working. I though of jumping in fron of the bus instead of getting into it to go to work and have morning sickness with breakfast! ((((HUGS))))

Meadow~I feel like the energizer bunny but got a bit wound down food shopping! I haven't had any results from the lemon except heartburn! LOL But will try with fresh lemons when I can find some good ones!!! I tried the bottled stuff!
Good luck getting to the tape!!!

Holly~ I see my words coming back to haunt me already! Thanks for the good thoughts and take care of Holly too in between all those kids coming this summer!

Miss Shad~ Or should I just say MOMMA SHAD!!!! How does it feel to have so many newly acquired sons!!! DS1, DS2 and now DS3, DS4 ......yada yada yada!!! It's sad that I get so may laughs from your job! I really need a life!!!
Hope your week is good and the one breaking up decides to tell his mates what's going on! (sigh) MEN!!!

Teel~ So sorry you keep losing your long posts as I enjoy reading about Holly, gardens, bin men, cable men, heater men.......lots of MEN!!!! Hope to see you back with some more men soon!

Tig~ ANOTHER BIG WIN!!! Glad there were no falls!! Your collection of T-shirts should be in a museum or at the very least on your walls!! Did you say Hard Hats and Soft Hearts???? Sign me up!!! Wished we lived closer I could "jog" alongside!! How goes the marmalade?!?!?! I still laugh about the grapefruits. I had to buy some Smuckers cause after the calls I was CRAVING MARMALADE!!!
I went food shopping and came back weary. Put it all away and need a rest. think the cleaning took the wind out of my sails. i did have a laugh cause 2 men came over to say hello....2 firemen I know from all our false alarms over here!!! it was lovely to see them but could not entice them to get into my shopping cart and come home with me. just as good cause 2 of them would have hospitalized me!! finding things to keep me busy and then make a long awaited visit to Clara. she needs needles filled and mail and bills sorted out.
Have a great afternoon and good morning Sunshine!

good evening chickies,
how are we all folks ?good i hope ive had a really good day firstly TEEL has got her plane ticket shes coming to edinburgh come the 29th of june ill be at edinburgh airport waiting to collect her from the plane for two weeks of mayhem ,madness and fun ,im so looking forward to it ,secondly mum got the 2ply wool to start my shawl i know im not due till september but its really complicated and will take her two days just to get the first few rows on and its a very complicated pattern so ill leave her to get on with it as im strictly a plain and purl girl even my crochet is very basic i might sew some cot stuff but that will be me ,im in the middle of hunting for girls names as dh picked the boys one and you never know if my luck stays the same we might end up with a girl so id better pick at least one ,unfortunately the one i like so far "kieara"dh doesnt like and craig asked if we were getting another dog !!!!!!!!!! right folks im knacked i really must try and get on earlier so i can reply to all but failing miserably but i do read everything adn i will remember !!!
kirsty

I don't know what to say. Just sending more
and hope they work their magic! let's see....girls names and not Fannie. I'll have to give it some thought!

I made homemade taco seasoning without salt and then made taco meat with it and ground turkey and an 8 oz can of no salt tomato sauce! I rolled my portion onto a tortilla with lettuce, cut up tomatoes and a dollop of low salt salsa! YUM! YUM!! I will definitely make this again! I have enough for 7 more meals! I have enough seasoning mix to last for quite awhile too. OK I better go and see if the accountant that still remains fell asleep!!! Have a great night!

HAPPY!!! ~ HOW could I have missed your whole post!! It's nice to see you out and about in your new surroundings and with a "friend" no l;ess. sorry she's leaving and hope there will be another along the way very soon! Good for you getting out and walking and I was just thinking something similar about the summer heat last week! but mine was about smaller upper arms!!! ! LOL Gottaa be tough with a long distance move and working at a new place all at the same time! ((((((HUGS))))) for you too! Take care my SOUTHERN FRIEND!

Evenin' ladies,

Hugs and strong shoulders to you Nae to get through the next few days...

I was bad tonight. But not as bad as I could have been. In an effort to get DH out of the house, I joined him up in an after work billiards league from my office. He desperately would love to get me interested in it, but my eyes are crooked. I cannot golf because my eyes think the hole is HERE but in reality, it's over THERE. Same with billiards. Just a hair off and the cue ball goes in the wrong direction. No, it's not a matter of practice - if I get the ball in, it's a lucky shot. I know this, I live with these eyes and accept my limitations. And it's no fun being involved with something that you can never do that well at. I have other "talents" So I spend a few hours at the pool hall watching him play and I'm happy with that. Anyway... I haven't been sleeping well - wake up around 3 am, toss and turn until about 30 minutes before it's time to get up and fall into a deep sleep just to have the alarm startle me awake. So I figured, what the heck... I'll have me a rum and Coke WITH lime tonight (wonder where I got that idea from (LINUS ) . That ought to make me sleepy when I get home. Should have known that it would be mostly a cup of ice with a splash of Coke and less of a splash of rum. Of course being in a billiards hall, everyone was smoking like crazy. I'm still not over the cigarettes yet but the act of drinking around smokers REALLY dug up those old cravings something fierce. DH was enjoying himself and I didn't want to make him leave but it took a lot of strength not to light up. I did manage to stay clean tho because I know my personality and I'm almost sure that if I have one, I'll be back smoking again. Sunday was 10 months since I quit smoking and my short term goal is to make it one year (even as I sit here right now desperately wanting one). Lesson learned I suppose is that I can drink wine but not a mixed drink and be around smokers...

Shad, I was almost going to email you some questions about the confounded SAP monster but I have a new mentor and she's very good. I'm actually understanding some of this stuff and trying transactions on my own. Very scary. It sounds as if you are the team lead by defacto vote within your group. Hope you don't get sucked up in the drama around you tho I bet that they are enjoying the bits of organization you bring to the table. That's wonderful that you got back with the running again!

Hey there Jersey Mel, you're making me quite hungry here at 11pm with your recipes. I almost called you up for take out orders. Apparently you found the right mix of spices to be yummy but not aggrivate the eyes or tummy. Hola and enjoy chica!

Linus and Teel on Holiday together? Can I join you????? Please? Pretty Please. Ok, well I can't really afford it right now so can you at least document your trip with photos and captions? I'm sure it will be great fun. Linus - as for girls names have you considered Joy, Melody or Donna???? I rather like the name you have picked for a boy. Guess I was reading too fast, I thought I read that you had a test and already knew the sex of the baby. Guess not if you're thinking of girls names, eh? I hope your mouth is doing better today.

Holly, it's great to hear you are in love with life and the DH. Watched a bit on the news today - 7 ways to stay young. One of which was having a good loving relationship. You go girl!

I tell you, all this time together and I never knew that Teel was the Pope's wife. Here I thought he was a confirmed bachelor - now are we talking about the Catholic Pope or do you have pope's in the church of England? Either way, I must be more respectful...

Hey, I saw on the news that HRM will not be attending said son's wedding. Saw on the Internet the other day that she was controlling all the wedding plans. Think Chuck & Cammie showed the old girl the drawbridge door? I LOVE the way the English phase things. Guess it was the Star that blazed the headlines (after the engagement announcement) 2 Old Gits are marrying - so what? OLD GITS????? I laughed and laughed and laughed. Are DH and I old gits - they certainly say GIT down here alot but they really mean GET.

On another note - I'm sure I can admit this among friends and you will not ridicule me. I am afraid of monsters. Aliens from outer space too. Always have been. Could never get me to go into the dark basement at night - not for all the tea in China, not for all the money in the world. Even as an adult, I cannot sleep in a room if the closet door is partially opened. I prayed that our new house would not be haunted. Thusfar ok but in the upstairs bedroom there is a tiny door in one of the closets. It's actually access to the attic storage space. To me it's a monster door. Who knows what lies behind it? Last week DH decided to sleep in that room as his back was really hurting and he wanted to sleep with the heating pad. That was true but I think it also had to do with the fact that I was snoring loud the night before. As I got the bed made up in the room, I warned him about the monster door in the closet. He rolled his eyes at me. - yes, just like that. Well huh. Next morning over coffee he's telling me how he didn't sleep too well. Kept having dreams that MONSTERS were chasing him and trying to kill him. You can BET there's NO WAY I will EVER be sleeping in that upstairs bedroom. EVER. Told you so. Eventually when we've got everything painted we'll move our bedroom currently on the first floor to the upstairs second master bedroom. But it's all the way down the hall from the room with the monster closet. So I should be safe.

Ok, I've warned you. If you come to visit, request the downstairs guest room

Hellos to everyone else I didn't get to personally but it's time to call it a night. Catch you all tomorrow.