Hi Ladies,

It sure is HOT today...the temps are going to go over 100. I can't wait for the weekend which is looking pretty good with temps in the low 80's. This board has been really active this week which is nice.

Julie I agree that exercising this week has been limited due to this awful heat. I've been walking indoors at work and trying to use the treadmill at home but I find both so boring. Good for you on getting down another pound. You're doing terrific. Also congrats on winning that gas card, what a nice prize!

Lisa I'm glad you got the part in the play!! Good luck with the southern accent. Thanks for mentioning BLT's the other day. We like them and I hadn't made them in so long. Just never thought about it and their so quick and easy.

Melissa welcome back from vacation! Sounds like you had a great time. Also congrats to your son on his job, I hope he's enjoying it. Have fun this week with your friend from FL especially the tearooms which I know you will enjoy.

Welcome Liz. You are doing terrific...losing 35 pounds is a big accomplishment and as I read the bottom of your post it looks like you're 5'1" and approx. 127 lbs which is right in the range you should be. Actually I'm almost the same height and weight as you. I'm 5'3" and my weight fluctuates between 120 and 125. When I first began weight watchers my personal goal was to maintain around 115 but now that I'm in my 40's it's harder to do that. Once again congrats on your loss and I hope you continue to post with us.

lala so how did that marinade come out last night?? I really like Rachel Ray and have a couple of her cookbooks. I'm also a big fan of Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa).

Austin I don't know how you Texans live in temps like this. It's just too hot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the layoffs don't effect you. I didn't realize you were on the CORE program. Do you have some lunch suggestions? For some reason I seem to be struggling finding things to bring to work for lunch??

Well ladies I should get back to work. Hope you're all having a great day...talk to your tomorrow.

Hello peeps.

Lisa - I'm hoping Chris gets the heck blown out of him and dissapates soon.
I tried to get DP to make beer can chicken last night, but she just roasted it with some poultry rub and some marinated mushrooms from the deli that were lingering in the fridge. It turned out really good. Sometimes you just have to try new things.

Austin - Keeping my fingers crossed for you. What an uplifting work environment. Good on ya for seeing some definition.

Late start again, I was up at 6:10 but its 10 am and I just really started on work. What is with that? I have a million things to do before work and its not like I dawdle!

Last night, DP roasted some tomatoes that hadn't really be eaten and weren't that tasty. I made some ww couscous and then chopped up some of the tomatoes with the couscous and that made a really good side dish. I wholly recommend it.

Tonight, its pad thai with left over chicken, egg whites, lots of chopped cabbage, lime, lemon grass and sauteed mushrooms and bean sprouts. Makes for a very low point dinner with all the veggies.

I am still trying to figure out a more interesting way to present ground turkey breast to DP, she hates it, but I love it.

Hi to Melissa, Pam, Susan, Julie, Snowgal and everyone else!

I want to thank you all again for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it.

My Mother-in-law came by last night and wanted to go out to dinner. The night before weigh-in! I was so nervous (I'm too close to lifetime membership to mess up now) but talked her into going to Applebee's so it worked out alright. Just had the grilled shrimp salad (5pts)

Had my weigh-in this morning. Down 1.4 lbs!!!! Aunt Flo bid her farewell yesterday, so that obviously helped with my weigh-in. They had me fill out the ppwk for my lifetime membership today. Next week I'll have it unless I really mess up bad! Wooooo Hoooooo! Then I'll truly be one of you!

That is so great Liz. I made my lifetime about 10 weeks ago or so. I am now trying to battle 5-10 lbs more orff (I had a doctors slip for a higher weight for me) I am short (5-3) and have always been on the heavy side. So right now I am lighter than when I was in the Navy and when I got pregnant with my first child. 20 years later 5 pregnancies later and 3 kids I am lighter than I was in my "teenage" years.
Another plus is that I can wear the same t-shirts of my sons (who is 14)

Liz - what part of Alaska are you in?

I'm in Anchorage and we're having the cruddiest summer in history! It's hasn't been very sunny or warm, and it usually is. Rain, rain, rain. Yuck!

Beautiful ANC, nice Nordstrom you have up there.

Ah, only have flown through ANC to get to Kodiak, Homer and Dutch Harbor.

Had one two day stay there in 2000 when my flight to Dutch Harbor was cancelled. It was sunny and warm in ANC and terrible in Dutch.

My officemate is up in Palmer every six weeks, so he's getting used to hanging out at the Captain Cook.

lala

Just a quick post--I went to my meeting and "took my hit" and it was not what I wanted. I was up 3.2# which puts me over my 2# limit of my WW goal...so it's back to basics for me.

I'll post more tomorrow. Have a great evening ladies and stay cool! It's a hot 92 here with the dew point at 75...ugh!

I can't get over your temps in your locations, ladies.

Hooray--Chris is falling apart!! I just dread this time of year when the hurricanes start brewing. Just a couple more weeks and I'll be on my long-awaited (much needed) vacation to North Carolina.

Liz, congrats--you won't blow it; just keep doing what you're doing.

Melissa, sorry about the gain. That hurts. Well, you know what to do.

lala, I never thought to make pad thai. I will order it out though.

Pam, I hope you get some exercise in. Been playing any golf?

I'm in meeting city today. Thank God this is the short week. Tomorrow I'll get some golf in.

Lala - What is it that you do? I'm guessing fishing or teaching from the places you've visited here, but I could be wrong.

We do have a nice Nordstroms. I'd rather shop in Seattle, though. We don't have any outlet malls! LOL!

Hi, all. Still hot here in Texas. Thought I'd take a break out of my somewhat cruddy morning to check in with you guys. Unlike Liz - no rain here and plenty of sunshine and heat!!

Was in a rush this morning to get to physical therapy for my rotator cuff and hip bursitis issues. Took my first cortisone shots in my hips earlier this week, so was anxious to get to the pt and have her assess if range of motion had improved. Besides being in a rush, I am also distracted because of the threat of impending layoffs. Long story short ... backed into our metal yard fence when backing out of the driveway. I didn't realize I had done it until DH saw the black mark on my back bumper. Yikes! At least the hips seem to be a bit better.

Pam - I telecommute quite a bit, so taking food for lunch isn't something I deal with a lot. When I do go into the office, I usually go to lunch with my co-workers to "bond" (i.e., gossip). I have eaten the following for lunch - maybe some of it will work for you:

garden salad with ff dressing and any or all of the following: egg, lean ham, fat free shredded mozarella or ff feta cheese, olives (green and/or black), chopped avocado (yum!), shrimp, chopped broiled chicken.

canned soup (my fave is Wolfgang Puck's organic Spicy Bean soup, but it is muy muy pricey). If I have some leftover couscous or polenta, I'll ladle the soup over it.

fat free cottage cheese with pineapple

shrimp cocktail - shrimp and cocktail sauce are both "free" on Core. I just buy a bag of frozen pre-cooked shrimp and keep it in the freezer, doling out portions as I need them.

beans (such as Cuban-spiced black beans) over quinoa or couscous

baked potato with ff sour cream, ff butter and ff mozarella cheese. Or, with ff cottage cheese, jalapenos and salsa.

POPCORN - I take a bag of 94% fat free microwave popcorn every time I go to the office.

LOTS AND LOTS OF FRUIT. I usually take two or three pieces of fruit with me to work, along with a serving-size cup of unsweetened applesauce (I like the Mott's blueberry "healthy harvest" flavor.)

I also like sardines and kippered herring, but I don't take those to work in fear that I will smell up the whole place!!

Hope this gives you some ideas!

I worked for the arm of a large gov't agency that researches walleye pollock in the Bering Sea. I spent alot of my 20's bobbing around Kodiak Island and the Bering Sea.

Now, I work for another arm on data management, mapping and large tidal waves that will impact the coast of the United States. I just now go to meetings and spend a lot of time in front of a computer. I'm not sure which is better.

I went to the big outlet mall outside of seattle this past weekend. Yawn. I saw a tumi rollaboard that would replace my travelpro, but decided that I would buy a briggs and riley instead.

I save my gelt for the one outside of palm springs, but I haven't found anything great there recently either.

lala

Austin,

Thanks for the yummy lunch ideas.

drooling...

lala

Austin Thanks so much for the lunch suggestions that was very helpful. Yikes, you're having quite a day. Hope you got good news at PT and your range of motion has improved.

Hi Lala your posting the same time as me.

Hi Liz I've never been to Alaska but my DH went in 2000 with the Boy Scout Troop he was leading back then. They had a great time. He brought home some delicious copper river salmon. He also took some beautiful pictures of Denali and Mt. Healy. Have you always lived in Alaska?

Good morning ladies! It sure is nice to see the boards active

The heat/humidity has finally broken and we're supposed to have a couple of days of relief before it makes another appearance on Sunday. I have my windows open at work and I'll be doing the same at home to give my a/c a break.

Snowgal: Like you, our summer has been rainy until this record heat wave hit us...I don't know which is worse! Let's hope for sunny days for you! Congrats on the loss!! It's so exciting! How long have you been following the WW plan? I've been a LT member for 8 years now; this year I've been struggling a little but I've had some thyroid problems and I'm trying to get rid of the weight I managed to put on.

Lisa: Have fun golfing!

Pam: I'm looking forward to spending some time with my GF; I spoke with her briefly the other day and she was pretty frazzled. The kids have this obsession with bugs and get hysterical when they see one and she said it's been really hard. I don't know how she does it! They're 6 and 4 and keep her really busy.

Lala: I got my first grape tomatoes from the garden! I can't wait to start making tomato salads with fresh basil. I think ground turkey is a acquired taste--I've tried using it in different things and the familly doesn't go for it. I do like a turkey burger though

Austingal: I hope you're getting a little relief from the heat! I don't know how widespread the cooling is but I'm hoping you're getting some too! I've done the same thing with the car--at least it wasn't major

Well ladies, the weekend is going to be a busy one--tomorrow I have reservations for tea with my girlfriend and her daughter, Sunday we have a family reunion and we're celebrating DS #2's 15th birthday. The weekend will fly by! DH is heading back down to Gettysburg today for a rugby buddies wedding. I opted to stay home (didn't want to drive 5 hours again) so there is a group of them that are driving together. I'm hoping to tackle some things in our room but time will be limited.

Hi to anyone I missed!