Wow, I'm the first one here? What's wrong with this picture?
I'm at work and trying to be positive.
Vickie, I hope that you are feeling better today.
Everyone else, I'll talk to you later!

Good morning everyone! I didn't get to watch BL last night, because dh had to watch another BL, Boston Legal. I try not to like that show, but it's just so entertaining.

Melissa, I hope your devotional turns out OK...it's a good thing you remembered yesterday, and not Thursday!

Vickie, I hope you're feeling better. UTI's are the pits!

It's supposed to be cooling down here a bit today, and rain. Then tomorrow they're predicting a HIGH in the low 50's. I'm thinking about picking a lot of lettuce from the garden today and keeping it in my fridge. I'm worried it may frost in the next few days, and kill off those tender little leaves.

I think today after I drop off dd at school, I'm going to have a little chat with the school counselor. Later this week, they're having their "preventing child sexual abuse" chat. They show the kindergartners and 1st graders a video with people dressed up in bear suits, and one touches the other "inappropriately," whatever that means. I'm creeped out about it and I haven't even seen it!! Last year, when she was in kindergarten, I asked that she not watch it. She was just not ready to see something like that, and I really felt it would just give her ideas. She has a very active imagination, and tends to fixate on things. We had a good family home evening lesson about good/bad touches instead. ANYWAY, this year she may be ready, but I want to ask the counselor if I can preview the video beforehand. If she doesn't let me, I will probably have to ask that she be left out again. She (the counselor) described the video to me last year, and it just seems weird. What would you all do? It's definitely important that she learns the concepts, but I think I'd rather teach it to her instead of some bears fondling each other in a creepy video.

Gotta go make her lunch now...

Angela

That video sounds pretty creepy to me too. I'd rather teach my children myself about things like that instead of them learning in a group where they might be afraid to ask questions out of fear of sounding ignorant and risking the others making fun of them. Our rule of thumb was always the "if anyone touches you where your swimsuit would go, that's wrong." It applies to both boys and girls.

I fell off the wagon this morning because I forgot it was my day to stay home and have doggy duty. It means I didn't get to work until 8:45 and since I was rushed with my chores, I stopped at McDonald's. Sigh ... looks like a points day to me. I guess (oh boy, here we go again) maybe I'll count my points for a while and include as many Core foods as possible. Some days it'll be all Core, but some days -- like today -- it might not be. I've already planned to make baked potatoes tonight so I know that'll be legal.

I'll be back in a little while.

Hi Girls! I'm just hanging out feeling sicker than a dog with this UTI. I've just had my Doctor paged. Who knows where he is since it's Wednesday and doesn't have any office hours. I'm hoping he's still at the hospital. He's very stingy with medicine and usually won't prescribe over the phone but we'll see. If he sends me to urgent care...so be it. I need drugs. I've been with him for about 30 years so he knows that I'm not a medicine fiend. I've been doing the whole gallons of water thing and it isn't working! Drinking the water is good for my diet but I'd rather feel good. Sorry I don't feel up to responding to posts right now. I guess I should go dry my hair in case he makes me meet him at the hospital.

Oh yeah, the White Sox were AMAZING last night. That was our first post season home win since 1959! We know the Red Sox don't give up so we have to keep playing and scratching to try to win this thing. We are on cloud 9! If only I felt better.

Talk to you all later.

Kathy, don't forget, it's choice by choice. You can still have a good day.

Vickie, I hope that you get some drugs and feel better soon.

Sandra, I found this online. Don't you live in Missoula??
http://realestate.msn.com/Rentals/Ar...26852&GT1=7117

Melissa, thanks for that reminder. You're absolutely right -- but I have set myself back so far for the day that I'm thinking my breakfast will have to go for breakfast AND lunch. I calculated it at 13 points, and no way am I going to take that out of the 35!! I'll have a banana and popcorn for a late lunch, and still have my baked potato with FF sour cream and cheese tonight. At least the rest of the day will be on track.

Vickie, feel better girl! That is the most miserable ailment there is, as far as I'm concerned. And your White Sox WERE amazing! I watched the whole game and was just giddy with every run scored! What a great game! This is going to be a good series. Hopefully we can get it on TV but if not, I'll just watch it on Gameday. And it should be over in time to watch the Yankees/Angels game right after it. I *LOVE* baseball, especially playoffs!

The boss is out today so I'm having fun. I've been working on Judd's SlimFast program -- their online menu planning thing is too much fun! I have a big file started with all the recipes, etc. and am matching it up to the girls' work schedules so that when they're home for dinner, we'll be having something that everyone will like. That is really a very healthy plan too, because in addition to the Optima shake (50% less sugar than normal SlimFast drinks) you have something else, like a turkey sandwich with LF cheese and tomato, plus a fruit. His snacks are things like FF yogurt, berries, bananas, almonds, soy nuts, raisins ... all lowfat but filling. His plan calls for 1900 calories a day and the choices (3 meals and 3 snacks) all add up to 1900. It's very cool.

Time to go get another bottle of water! I have to flush some McDonald's out of my system.

Hey Ladies, just checking in before I head off..Ill be back on friday...dont do anything I wouldnt do now!! haha
Froufy, I just wanted to add Im a *peeping tom* too..I love walking at night and looking in peoples windows.....haha I love decorating too.
Its a wild wednesday here with the wind....blowing everything around and hasnt stopped raining since yesterday afternoon. My house was shaking last night with the gusts of wind. Better finish packing,,,,Im off! have a great week everyone

Hi! Thanks for the hugs and well wishes. Doc came through for me. He called me back and said he'd call in a broad spectrum antibiotic that would kill whatever bacteria it is. I'm tired, a bit feverish, and of course I hurt. But, Jim, good guy that he is, is out getting my medicine and the stuff I need to make dinner. Thankfully, we are just having roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. How's that for a perfectly timed comfort food meal? I need it. I'm doing well except for that. I hope the Cipro won't affect my weight negatively.

Patti, have a safe trip. You must be feeling better since you are going on the trip. Try to have fun and be sure to come back and tell us about all the wonderful Core food you had!

Angela, I'd INSIST on having them show me the video and if it was creepy to me then I would NOT let DD see it. It sounds very icky to me. But....maybe you'll feel differently once you see it. It's a real balancing act for you guys. I was horrified when it came time for the whole menstrual cycle health lesson in grammar school. My Mom thought it was too soon to tell us and she was going to keep me out of the class. I had a heart attack because I didn't want to be singled out and be different. But I was also about 11 or 12 at the time. I hope it goes well for you. Today is supposed to be our last good day of weather also. Your garden sure sounds fabulous. I wish I wasn't so lazy because I'd love to have one. But, I know they are alot of work.

Melissa, I don't like crab but you've reminded me that I could be making the same kind of salad with tuna or LO chicken. Yum. I hope your paper turned out fabulous and that you didn't stay up too late working on it.

Terry, Claire is incredibly beautiful! I know you know how lucky you are. What's up with the work situation?

Sandra, where are you? I hope you are well since I see you weren't feeling so great yesterday.

Frouf, I'm sure we won't see you until tomorrow.

Kathy, we were having so much fun yesterday through the ball game! I know you can imagine that we were screaming like we were there. The White Sox organist is a close personal friend of ours. She called today and said that in her 36 seasons with the White Sox, yesterday's game was the most memorable. She especially loved playing Na Na Hey Hey when they took out Clement in the 4th. She originated the Na Na Hey Hey exit, so it's really sweet for her. His exit was sweet for us in many ways, but also because of the fact that he was an Ex-Cub. You know we have that rivalry here in town. My favorite sign yesterday was Attendance US Cellular Field: 40,716; Wrigley Field 0! Enough of that......Judd's program is just downright exciting for you. I now he leads you astray occasionally, so it will be fabulous if he's doing any kind of healthy eating program along with you. My middle Sister lost alot of weight on SlimFast. She's gained alot back but we all know that's what happens when you let your guard down. I'm sorry you had a problem this morning. I swear, if I wasn't retired and able to plan far ahead, I don't know how successful I'd be on Core. I am VERY proud of you for not blowing off the whole day. That is a HUGE NSV!

We'll be having an early dinner tonight since the game starts at 6:09 here tonight. I read an article from a Boston paper that tells their fans not to worry since their pitcher yesterday wasn't so good. I hope our players read that and get pumped up. Sorry for all the baseball talk from me but.....I've waited all of my adult life for this!

Hey, don't apologize to me! Baseball is all we talk about from April til October! I know the kids get sick of it, but every night there is a game on. If it's not our team, it's one that we're rooting for so they'll knock out an enemy. Like when we were playing the Angels, of course we wanted the Rangers to win -- but now that they're playing the Yankees, it's GO ANGELS!

Judd just said he can feel the pounds dropping off minute by minute. I had to laugh at that! He's been on it for less than 24 hours. Tonight is bowling, which will be tricky, but he swears he won't be eating anything there. And looking at the recipes, you won't believe this, but they're all Core! It's things like chicken breasts cooked with diced canned tomatoes, onions, and bell pepper, all in a skillet and simmered until it's thickened. Or black beans and rice, using brown rice. That one sounds particularly good, because they make a sauce out of FF cheddar and FF sour cream to put on top. And every meal includes a salad with FF dressing and some fruit for dessert. It's Core, I tell ya!

Recipe please!!!! I would love a sauce that doesn't involve tomatoes. Jim won't eat black beans but I can substitute pintos. Don't ask.....I get tired of trying to argue with him. I'm just glad he'll eat beans of any kind.

He asked for LO White Chicken chili and fresh corncakes for dinner tomorrow. I think he was feeling sorry for me and didn't want me to have to cook a whole meal from scratch.

We are the same way about rivalries. Basically, we don't like the Yankees ever. But if they were playing the Cubs, we'd say go Yankees!

I'll go post the whole thing, but on second look, I think they mean for the sour cream and cheese to be separate. I'm going to mix them as an experiment though, because I think it would make a sauce sort of like what the frozen dinners have in their Santa Fe Rice and Beans dishes.

I'll go post a few of them.

angela, that does sound creepy. i didn't know they were showing that in schools now.

kathy, we all have to do whatever we can on this old weightloss journey. i hope your day got better for you.

vickie, i hope you can get some meds and get to feeling better. wayyyy to go, white sox!!!

thanks for posting that website, melissa. yes, i'm in missoula. they painted a pretty good picture of us here. they say that up here there's 9 months of winter and 3 months of company. lol

vickie, i just saw your other post. i'm glad you got meds. it's fun to read what "the other side" is saying, isn't it? i'm feeling much better today. it just took me a couple of days to bounce back. i'm all right. my feet have started doing "their thang" again, though, so curtis and i went to a good shoe store and got me a couple of pairs of sas shoes. now my tootsies are spoiled for sure.

kathy, i don't know if judd would want to do it or not but those guys on biggest loser are totally awesome. he might bond with them, especially matt. it comes on tuesdays at 7 if you think he'd watch it.

Vickie - glad you got some meds - UTIs are certainly not fun -so I hope they are working for you soon!

Sandra - Missoula sounds lovely - and of course I read about all the other places and was happy to see Gainesville, Florida there - which is where my brother lives - and I just had to laught cuz they talk about the number of runners there - of course he is a marathon runner as is my SIL - she just returned from some event in Texas!! (I think my brother got a double dose of the exercise gene and I gone none! )

Angela - I know the video sounds creepy but one would think that this was developed ESPECIALLY for children of that age group so would have to be carefully researched and tested prior to showing to kids? I would still ask to preview it if you feel uncomfortable - it probably sounds worse than it is!

Patti - have fun on your trip - enjoy the weather (I hope!). We are having unseasonably hot SUMMER weather here and it's pretty amazing. We all just want to go to the beach and relax. Tomorrow last day of these abnormal temps (27/high 80's) then back to rainy and 15/around 55 (the norm) by Friday.

Kathy - I can feel the pounds being added to me by the hour - gee wonder what I'm doing wrong?

Well eating too much and suffering I guess?? Dinner last night went well, altho I did have a piece of lemon meringue pie for dessert! The 2 glasses of wine did me in tho and I was falling asleep by 10 pm! Worst news is - remember that dishwasher that dh fixed? Well it's not really fixed at all! The thing works but there is something wrong with the water pressure or valve - not enuf water coming thru so dishes are dirty and soap still kinda "stuck" in the dispenser - not pretty.

So you can bet I was NOT happy having to wash all the dinner dishes/china and silverware, glasses! What a nightmare - makes you wonder how we ever lived without modern conveniences.

Today I was a bit off on my eating but I am feeling very stressed - I think mainly due to $$ situation - dh is very depressed about lack of funds and that money is pretty tight. He was off to the bank today to find out about lowering the mortgage payments - good news is seems we had opted to pay MORE than required (were we crazy?) - guess we were trying to pay off the house faster. About $150 more per week (we pay weekly) - so right away we can reduce monthly payment by $600 without any penalty to our mortgage. We are also thinking of breaking the mortgage cuz rates are lower now - it would cost around $2K to break it - so we need to figure out if this would be worth our while in the long run!

Also had quite a tiff with 19 yr old ds in the car today - i didn't know I could yell that loud and I am surprised the motorists in the cars around me did not call the police or something! We were just talking about this last night with our friends about how these teenagers think they can just help themselves to things around the house - that don't really belong to them.

So we were driving home from synagogue and ds asks about moving the record player (yes we still own one) to the basement for his use - and I say no - it remains in the family room - but you never use it - that's right, but we want to keep it in the family room - but the record show is coming (yes ds actually buys/collects old vinyl records) and I'm going to get more records - that's nice - so I'll get my own - go right ahead.

Now he starts talking about moving furniture - OUR FURNITURE in the basement to make room for stuff he wants to put in - no I say we don't want our furniture touched or moved - yes he says I am taking the bar apart on the old wall unit and taking off the door and putting my stuff in there - NO YOU'RE NOT, I screech - yes I am - NO YOU'RE NOT - DO NOT TOUCH OUR STUFF - THIS IS OUR HOUSE AND YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE APART OUR STUFF - then I'll call in movers and move it - NO YOU WON'T - THIS IS OUR STUFF - DO YOU UNDERSTAND ENGLISH! Okay I'm about to pop a vein now - swear to god - dd in the back has covered her ears and is bending down to avoid hearing this!

I cannot tell you how livid I was - or what came over me - but this complete disregard for other people's property obviously pushes MAJOR BUTTONS for me. I am now poking him - SCREAMING repeatedly - DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY STUFF! (like a spoiled child). He finally says where am I supposed to put my stuff and I answer - SHOVE IT UP YOUR AS* - can you believe I said that to my own child??? - I'm sure everyone in the surrounding cars heard it too!

Well I'm now shaking/trembling as I drive the rest of the way home - you can bet the car is pretty quiet now - I just couldn't wait to get home! Everyone kind of stomped off once we got there. I changed wolfed down some lunch and headed off to my hairdresser appt. Ds is now at work so was not here when I got home - but I am still livid and don't want to speak to him. He seems to think because his bedroom is in the basement that he "owns" the whole downstairs area - has plastered the walls with his band/music posters and treats the whole basement as his bachelor pad. I have a good mind to go down there and rip everything off the walls - but I know that is just me being childish. I don't know where he comes off deciding what to do with our things - and does not even ask??? What is up with that?

Have not told dh about this as we have barely seen each other today. I know he will be even worse than me when I tell him what ds was planning. We are now expecting ds's laptop (grad present) to arrive any day now and dh was already not wanting to connect him to the internet downstairs - needs to pull wires and stuff to his room - so I can only imagine this will put ds in his bad books and he will be in no rush to help him out - and this will make things much more difficult around here as they battle it out!

No wonder I had to get my roots done yet again (my hair is coming in white, not even gray!).....okay so I also got my highlights redone - nice and golden - I can pretend I've been somewhere relaxing on a beach - and not doing a fabulous impersonation of a screaming banshee!

Frouf

PS This might explain the pie and ice cream I felt I had to eat tonight - along with bread and butter - explains it - but still not a good excuse!

Hey, you guys want to hear a funny story?

Last week before Judd went to the poker game, I gave him $40. It's a $20 buy-in, and I gave him another $20 for emergency back-up money. He put it in his pocket, but then came home and changed clothes before going, and left the money in his original clothes. So he had to go to the ATM and get more money. We laughed about it -- ha ha ha -- and put the forgotten money on my dresser.

So last night, he was going to watch a game at the bar with his friend. Before he left, I said "hey take that $40 with you; $20 for tonight and $20 for bowling tomorrow night." He said good plan! And put the money in his pocket. Friend ended up paying last night though, Judd came home from the bar with stinky clothes and put them immediately into the washer. With the money in it. That $40 just does NOT want to be spent! We have laughed about it all day long! So now I guess it's mine ...

It sure is quiet here tonight! What's everybody doing? I'm alone (what's new?) because Judd has bowling, both girls are at work, and Shaun is at a meeting about a possible new job. Don't want to jinx it by talking about it, but if it works out, he'll be moving to New Orleans in 2-3 weeks and will be there for a year. Yippee!! And that's all I'm saying for now.

I might be thinking about doing that Slimfast thing with Judd. It sure would make meals easier, and packing lunches too. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with two sets of dinner cooking (actually three when you add in the kids), and two sets of groceries/snacks, and two different lunches to pack. He's helping out of course, but I'm just so excited that he wants to do this that I'm willing to do as much as needed. For me, I wouldn't get as much food as he would. Breakfast would be a shake and PB toast, lunch would be a shake and turkey sandwich, snacks are all vegetables or fruit (because at my weight, I'm not allowed those snack bars like he gets), and dinnerss would be the same as what I make for him. Still in the thinking phase, but I might see what he says about it. We could keep each other on track and face it, it's so much easier to stay on a plan when your spouse is doing it too. The dinner recipes all seem Core, or at least the ones I've chosen for him are, and it would just be the shakes that aren't. I don't have my WW calculator with me, but they are 180 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 5 grams of fiber.

Hope everybody's having a good night. Vickie, the White Sox are winning but it's close. Still watching and hoping though!

Frouf, you are NOT wrong! I would have been screaming too if I had been you. Maybe he should move out and then he can control the decor!

Kath, I've been glued to the TV set. Sox win 5-0 but it was the ultimate nail biter! We are sick and excited all at the same time.

Medicine is still not working but I've only had one dose. I took it at 2:00 so I'm not going to take my second does tonight. I'll start on the two does tomorrow. No exercise for me yet this week. I'm just too darned exhausted. I guess it takes alot out of one's body to fight bacteria. I'm gonna go to bed now. All that emotional excitement has made me REALLY tired too!