Carri, I taped & watched H.K & M.C. so I could watch the crazy Batchelorette & afterwards @ 10pm I watched them both w/o commercials & when Joe cried I cried too after he spoke to the blind cook, she was so inspiring. All 3 chefs cried, wow! I'm watching part 2 tonight

Madonna lived/grew-up a hour from my house, a natural light brunette. All the famous people from MI. I try to see @ least 1 of their concerts. She's much sweeter than many people understand & also a humanitarian, she's the total package of a modern female celeb (the original, prior to Angelina Jolee's bragging). Mario Batali the chef, I see maybe once a year grocery shopping when he's @ his vacation home in Traverse City area/Charlevoix, MI. Mario, several other celebs go on vaca there; our people respect their privacy & r happy for the celebs $$$ spent here. Some people just enjoy our fall/winter weather here in MI. I laughed when some of our friends from Georgia & Ft.Wayne, IN bought vaca homes here in MI.
Do you eat a 'soy milk ice-cream'? Like when I made strawberry shortcake w whipped cream topping, would you use a imitation topping? Cheese-cake, cheese on pizza, lasagna? I'm so sorry for your condition. I cook w whole grain pasta's w fiber, much healthier carbs & use fewer egg-yolks.

Susie, Cassie, Mandy, Liz, Mel, Arabella

Time to get back to work now & finish details for a graduation party.

Creeping slowly to Onederland...still hoping it will be my Christmas present to myself!

Afternoon Everyone

Ya know, just now that I have hit this 30lb loss I am REALLY feeling it in my body and clothes ...I thought I was feeling it a little before like when I hit 15 and 20 etc, but no just recently have I been able to really see and feel it...kind of exciting...can't imagine how the next 30 will feel

Muggles - Its a long journey but we all can do it, good luck

Susie - Hope all is well in Susieland, haha

Dee - yes that blind chef is SO inspiring, I do worry about how she is going to get around during challenges though, wonder if she will have an assistant or something...can't wait to watch her progress. I am also watching THe Bachlorette, but I haven't seen this Mondays yet, had to dvr it.
That is so cool that you lived near her, ask anyone I am a HUGE Madonna fan...LOVE her. Today at work I am listening to her new cd and Marilyn Manson's new cd ...I know, what a difference huh? Two different ends of the scope lol
I actually drink only almond milk, I don't like the taste of the soy unless it has chocolate in it, so I use the almond milk for everyone else like my cereal...I use the unsweetened one and it is only 40 cals for a whole cup.

I am really sneezing today, must be something in the air here at work or the pollen outside...woof !

Have a great day everyone !!

Carri

On my Break-time now

Muggles Don't b shy about anything, we're here to support each other

My 2 little babes (age 6 yr & 8 yr) r still here & just came inside from the pool. They peeked inside my client's food-order fridge & then inside our family food-fridge & made their requests & I pointed them to their own, kids tools/cooking cupboard shelf They chose grilled provolone cheese sandwiches w hard salami & ice water w strawberries & mint leaves for lunch. Because they r too short to use my range, I bought a electric fry pan just for them & made them a short cooking-cart by taking off the wheels & cutting the legs down for safety. (Kylee has all pink utensils/from breast cancer awareness & when the boys met Mario B. 2 yr ago they got hooked on orange, Mario was wearing his orange clogs & a orange t-shirt, he is a sweet guy) They r cooking their late snack while I do 'safety supervision' for them. Anyways when they r here they save me some calories by doing quality control for each recipe I have to taste/check.

Today I've made 50 cabbage rolls & 40 spring rolls & I have to make 3 different types of guacamole' yet to b picked-up @ 5:00 for a graduation party. My client's dietician told her not eat mayo in the summer, safety-concerns, so she requested a avacado spread that I'm not familiar with; I'm curious to see how it is, I'm making it in a few minutes. Her bbq pulled-pork & spaghetti salad & cucumber salads r ready & parmesan breadsticks just need toasting & my 2 babes skewered the 40 fruit kabob's for me all morning I made a frozen icecream-cake & will take it out of the freezer when she gets here.
Okay, time to go finish-up this party & swim w my family later. Needless to say, I am Not cooking supper tonight....there r 4 different salads in my fridge, or they can grill tonight

Hi Ladies,

Sorry to be MIA. My family has suffered a very tragic death this week. On Monday evening I got a call from my cousin that her brother, who is 32, was found by their mother on the kitchen floor in his house dead.

She found him around 3:00 p.m. He must have died sometime between 6:30 p.m. Sunday night-that was the last phone call on his cell phone and when she found him at 3:00 p.m.

An autopsy showed no foul play, no drugs or alcohol and no heart attack or stroke or anything else like that. It just showed that his heart stopped beating. His funeral arrangements are this Friday for visitation and Sat for the funeral.

It is a very sad time for our family. I haven't had much rest or downtime this week. I was with his mother Monday night from 7:00 p.m until about 1:00 a.m.--waiting for one of her daughters to get there. Her daughters live out of town and I didn't want her to be alone.

Carri: 30 lbs WOW! So happy for you.

Dee: Sounds like you are BUSY and having a great time with your babes!

Muggles: Welcome

Morning Girls, had a not so good night last night food wise and other wise …I went way over calories with some buttered popcorn, pineapple upside down cake, and some chocolate’s…so not feeling too well about myself this morning …I was upset last night and that made me eat I guess…we really hate the neighborhood we live in, there is about 800 homes in it and the place never calms down ( well maybe around two in the morning )…and with that many houses and people ( and cars coming in and out, in and out ) I understand that I am never gonna have full peace like if I lived in the country, but it just never stops. And now that the kids are out of school it will only be worse with the teens running around for the next two months. We have a LOT of kids that drive around with their loud booming car stereos and last night after hearing a lot I just couldn’t handle it anymore…people ( teens ) are just so inconsiderate….we wanted to put our house up for sale this summer but the market is just too bad, so we are going to try for next Summer…because I just need to get out of a neighborhood period, as I get older I just don’t want the noise and hub bub, Bub lol …the main issue is that we live near the clubhouse area, and kids love to hang out there and make all kinds of noise, when I say kids I mean teens….but we have vandalism, loitering, littering, theft – all sorts of issues there …our neighborhood has put in cameras and more lights hoping that would help but not sure it is so much, we will see.

So this put me in to a foul mood because I was really tired from work and just wanted to come home and relax and watch some tv ….like I said, bad night …it also puts dh in a bad mood, him worse than me …

And then with me being so tired and of course it doesn’t get dark around here till almost 10 with stupid DST, so my body won’t shut down and relax for bed until it is dark…lotta issues girls, lotta issues

So anyway today is a new day and I will try and just work thru the issues knowing that I can get out of the situation at some point…I did contact our police chief this morning and made him aware of all that is going on and asked for his assistance. He said he would pass the information on to his officers so that they could be aware when they are monitoring our area. So maybe that might be of some help, who knows.

Okay, well I feel I have typed a novel now, haha ….I just felt like I binged over emotional, upset crap and I hate that …haven’t done that in a long time, but I know that kind of issue doesn’t go away over night …

Susie – I am SO sorry to hear about that young guy…32 and his heart just stopped? That is very scary and how horrible for the family …after re-reading your post it does make my complaints about my neighborhood seem silly …even though it does drive me bonkers I know I am lucky to have a nice house, and to have my husband, and family, and me all healthy, happy and together.
Hugs to you through this sad time. We totally understand you being MIA.

Dee – all of that food sounds so good…especially the fruit skewers, I have heard of those and wanted to make them …is this just different fruit on a skewer ? Of course it would need some cream cheese fruit dip.

Hi to everyone, hope you have a good day.

Carri

Susie, I'm very sorry for your loss God needed a new angel & we never know when/who He will call & 'God' knew something was going on w your cousin that was unknown by others & 'called him' to come now. Please find peace in knowing that your cousin enjoyed life during his 32 yrs.

Carri, how is your Grammy doing since her surgery & your family friend? I'm sorry about your neighborhood problems; it would b stressful going through that daily. When I designed our dream-home w a architect 12 yr ago, we didn't plan for a critical illness w either of us messing-up our income; but we've loved our 30 acres & living in our dream home for +11 yrs now. Health or job-loss is the only way we'll move from here. Recently we got a unexpected medical bill & need $ ASAP so we r going to try to sell our boat to pay it off; we have a long canoe & 2 kayaks & aluminum fishing boat to still play with & dh can fish from There's always a solution for problems, we just gotta dig-in & stay positive like you r doing w your dh & your future plans to b amazingly happy w your next home
Your stress w your loving family is reason enough for anybody to eat silly-bad foods, especially combined w the rude/thoughtless neighborhood & your daily irritating routine stuff. Please go enjoy yourself this weekend & b silly maybe go to a waterpark or just crash @ the lake/beach. Water is pretty relaxing did you get a smaller swimsuit yet w that recent -30# loss....I buy 2 swimsuits on sale/clearance @ www.landsend.com yearly w being in the pool/hot-tub/@ the lake every summer; good quality & prices & free return ship. & most free ship. on orders of $50.
I don't make dip for customer fruit kabobs, it'd b like wrecking a yummy t-bone steaks flavor, they normally serve them cold plain or spray them w a sweet marinade I make. For us I soak the wood skewers & then put the fruit on & then put them on the grill, the fruit sugars develop & fruit is soo juicy~sweet~yummy We're having some tonight grilled.
Sleep problems, I've had them too. I go on the deck & lounge in the hot-tub any time of the night spring-fall; our little babes love sitting in it @ night looking @ the constellations & look forwards to bedtime here w us.
My suggestion if you don't have a hot-tub, buy one. My first hot-tub was called a 'Soft Tub', we had it for about 9 yr & it's round & portable, we used it inside the garage in the winter & on the patio other months, we both used it weekly. After we built this home we got a stationary hard-side hot-tub. If your home has a whirl-pool tub, just light candles, put on fav love tunes & sip fruit-water till sleepy, no-thoughts/only dreamy memories allowed. If all else fails, watch old brain-dead shows: Sex In the City, South Park, cartoons, or black & white tv shows that will put you to sleep; or crank-up the AC & toss on a comforter, the humming noise will deaden your brain-cells......That's all I got...

Duets is on tonight, I'm loving John Legend & Kelly C. I'm loving chef Ramsey on MC, such a precious side of his personality is shown on the auditions; he is not the 'big bad wolf' he betrays on HK show Everybody has a sweet side to them, I'm happy his is being shown.

Gotta go now, have a fab weekend girls, Dee

Hi Ladies,

Do I look different to you this morning? I turned 47 yesterday! lol

Today I am off work as I need to take my car into the shop for some routine maintenance and I have noticed a sound that I want checked out. I took a vacation day to do this and I had planned on doing some looking around at the Mall afterwards but will need to get back home after te car appointment as tonight is the family visitation for my cousin. Please keep all of us in your prayers and thoughts, especially his mom and dad--I can't even imagine what they feel like. I feel like a elephant is sitting on my chest.

Thank you to all of you for your kind words and thoughts.

Carri: Sorry that you had a binge. I understand that feeling of going crazy with so much noise. I like it quiet and my DH always wants the fan on high and the TV turned up...drives me crazy!

Dee: I love your relaxing ideas! and you are so right about God knowing my cousin was going to go through something here that it was better he wasn't here anymore. That was my first thought when I heard he passed.

Have a great day Ladies. I'll be around this weekend checking in.

Morning Girls ....get ready for a TMI moment, but for the last three days I have had gas SO bad ....just popping and moving around inside me and also of course coming out, which isn't making dh that happy ...thank God he was gone last night and I could just let it out at will haha Need to look over diet and see what is causing this...

Dee - thank you so much for the suggestions...I am so jealous of your 30 acres, that would be awesome and tranquil ...I hope the money situation comes thru for you, I hate those types of situations Thank you for asking about my Grandma and friend...my grandma had her surgery to remove the cancerous lump on Weds...they did find another egg sized lump in her chest which was a lymph node that was swollen, they have sent it off to see if it too had cancer in it, if not she will have nothing else done, if it does she will have chemo But she is 82 and she just has a good attitude about it, almost like she doesn't care. And my friend had her major heart surgery and is recovering, so good so far ...poor thing...

Susie - Sorry I didnt get on fb and say Happy Birthday to you yesterday, I wasn't on there much last night ...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!! Hope you had a great day...and hope things are getting easier with the loss of your friend...try and have a relaxing weekend.

Have a great day girls !!!

Carri

Hi. It has been some very hard days but we have laid my cousin to rest and have grieved as a family and now we will try and move forward and honor him with the way we live--as this has reminded us how short life can be--and we wll also continue to strengthen our family bonds because family and friends are important.

Personally I need to get back into focus my resolve to ge this weight off, 5lbs a month at a time! Today I will start logging my food again to stay in my calorie range and get back to my workouts.

Carri: Hopefully you are feeling back to yourself--I think it all had to do with the binge you had. Your body was like what that heck!
Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Looking forward to seeing post from everyone.

Susie how about sending me a pic of you, on pm or e-mail I'm sure your dh spoiled you all weekend

Carri I hope your feelin better today, I laughed & got tears from your 'gassy post'. TY for the updates on Grammy & your friend, hang-in there Little moments of kindness really add-up during moments of medical trauma our loved ones go through. My ex-dh's cousin had breast cancer (stage 3) @ 34 yr, her mom died from breast cancer @ 49 yr. I wrote a 'up-beat' letter to her back then, instead of a 'I'm so-sorry/boo-hoo' letter. After she recovered from treatments, she tearfully told me that she kept 'my letter w her always' & before it wore-out from re-reading it, she copied it I cried when she told me that my words 'made her heart smile & it made her feel fearless over her cancer'. My letter was the only one that spoke about 'fun, guys, tears/call me & we'll cry together, Luv, adventure, girly-stuff, vacations' which she needed; instead of the other people letters/phone calls focusing on 'cancer-treatments/death/past memories'. That was 14 yr ago & Linda is in awesome health. Okay, if I never do anything right in my life again, or if nobody ever likes me, I won't forget that I helped Linda with silly/loving words, just being myself. Funny, sometimes doing what pleases us, nomatter how small it seems, really-really means a lot to somebody else also. Carri, I've had some sad moments & You've helped me w 'your posts' thanks so much for being my friend/family here. Someday we 'all gotta get together, hopefully make a plan for 2013'. Here's my Boo-hoo for the day; my butt was hurting for hours today but not from gas My babes went home today & Kylee wanted to ride our 'neighbors horses' this morning. She rode a pony that trotted & I rode a quarter-horse that chose to gallop today. I couldn't get my horse to slow down in the woods/trail & my 'butt kept slapping against' the saddle. My neighbor rode behind Kylee & they laughed as I argued w my horse trying to slow-it down, & watched me flying through the woods. ouch-ouch-ouch! I blamed-it on my old cowboy boots, I was sorta embarrassed & said I'll buy new boots before my next trail ride ......I stood-up all afternoon, eating grilled pineapple slices, a small salad w rib-eye steak & 2-3 watermelon-martini's, then I floated in our pool all evening for my sore butt My dh isn't gonna get any Luvin tonight

Hope y'all had a beautiful weekend. Bedtime now, Dee

Morning Ladies – hope you all had a good weekend, mine was okay …it was really hot out so basically we stayed inside with the a/c…as I hae said before Carri doesn’t do heat …lol

I only lost one pound last week, so now at 207. I realized I was probably gonna have a one lb loss or no lb loss since I had a couple of way high calorie meals last week….but I will take the lb, one more closer to Onederland

I saw this on the WW message board last week and it really struck me: “Time will pass no matter what, I might as well take steps to becoming a healthy and happier me” ….it’s a good thing to remember

Dee – haha, and now your post is making me laugh …I just pictured you being bumped all around on that horse…just thinking about it makes my butt sore…and yes I did get rid of my gas issue, for now …..haha ….that is a great story about your writing the positive letter to your ex dh’s cousin…I bet that was so uplifting…I also have a friend who was diagnosed with brst cancer at 34…she is in remission now ( two years later ) and just had her breast reconstruction surgery a couple of weeks ago, all thru her treatment I tried to bring my silly sense of humor her way any chance I got…I figured she needed to get her mind off of it …she is such a strong lady…

Susie – glad that the services are behind you now and you all can start to heal …hope you had a good weekend otherwise…hugs

Hi Mandy and everyone else !!

Ugghhh, Mondays are so hard to get thru at work after two days off huh? Well everyone have a good one and I will “speak at you later”, that is what my great uncle always said and I thought it sounded so odd …so now I always say it to be funny, haha

See ya

Carri

Life...

I didn't get to see the end of MC or HK last night, dh was having his TOM night....marriage...if I was perfect, I'd b smart & rich & beautiful & 100% healthy & with a guy that never yelled @ me about anything, he' talk, never yell @ me.......

Did our MC blind girl get to stay? Who got kicked-off HK, from the girls?
I saw the end of the Bachelorette, what the H is wrong w her keeping Ryan Not the hottest guy there & a big womanizer/player to win a game. If he is in the final 3 I'll feel sick for her
Not sure which guy I'd fall for yet, Sean & Arie r like the perfect guys so far & a couple of the guys like Jef r showing potential...hope her lips can last w all that kissing

Watching MC challenges had my brain turning seeing the foods they got to work with, I wanted to be there w them cooking, don't all of you

My Boo-Hoo for today I feel sick, I always cut b-maids dresses, allowing for up-to a 2 size weight gain, but 2 girls for the August wedding r changing their b-cups into d-cups by July 4. I am stuck w $80 of useless fabric now Implants r not written into my contracts, so they do not have to pay for this decision.
A bag of m & m's leaped into my mouth when I wasn't looking....

Hope all of you r having a happy week so far, Dee

Hi Ladies,

I am doing well with my food but haven't got back into exercise yet. My workout partner is gone this week and so I just keep doing things at home in the evenings, like cleaning or organizing instead of going for a walk.

Last night after work a friend of mine treated me to a pedicure for my b-day...so there wasn't any exercise last night!

Dee: I'm watching the Bachelorette too. sorry to hear about the wasted fabric..who would have thought to put implants in the contract?!
Was the bag of M&M's a regular size bag or a large bag? Those things happen sometime but I know you will not let it get you off track.

Carri: A pound is a good loss and that happened after your binge..so good for you!

Hi ya Girls !!! Not much going on today....well started the day off wrong...woke up at 7:48am, and I normally leave the house by 7:30 so that wasn't good, apparently I forgot to set my alarm last night, which is very unlike me, I am always the non forgetful, responsible one Anyhow, so then dh says well I am just going to take a personal day and stay home, well I wanted to as well but I am short on time and just had to go in, so not happy about that...he is going to our friends house and sitting by the pool all afternoon with some fresh sangria....and I will be here Oh well I guess...thinking about going to Lowe's after work and getting my flowers for my front porch pots, yes I am very behind on that, normally have them done by Mothers Day.

Dee - I totally agree with you on Ryan...I wish she would send him packing...I didn't watch last nights show yet but I heard there was some drama ....I am also for Sean and Ari - leaning more towards Ari ...but we will see.....and YES the blind girl got to move thru on MC, I was so excited...I can't really remember who all left because there was a lot of them...but it was a good show, I love that both HK and MC come on two nights in a row....I have my MOndays and Tuesdays from 8-10 totally planned out now, haha ...I hear ya on the dh and the TOM, mine gets like that too sometimes....marriage is a daily work in progress....so now are you going to write the breast size change in to the contract? I would...that is pretty popular these days.

Susan - I love pedicures, in fact I need one right now pretty badly...so nice of your friend to give you one for your bday....hope you had a great bday.
Yes, I am glad that I lost the one lb, just getting REALLY anxious to go down in numbers quicker since I am SO close to Onederland.

Well I am getting ready to go have lunch with my brother, nothing fancy - probably just some Wendys or Taco Bell.

You all have a great day.

Carri