Adobe PhotoShop is my friend. It helps that it is small and just looks impressive...

Howdy Madcat, Howdy Carla
See the little lights shining here.

Not much to report here. I'm about to finish for the day (and it is only midday) and we have a long weekend coming up. I've decided to go to Cairns for Saturday and Sunday and will be back Sunday night - we are having an end of project dinner on Monday night. Monday I will pack a few more things and put some of them into the car all ready for blast off on Saturday 12th May.

Madcat what a shame the anniversary is not a couple of weeks later - we could have met up in New York and cheesecaked together! Aaah well. Enjoy the trip. Have a great time and happy anniversary.





Is it really a year since we all got excited about our wedding?

Okay, time to pack up and get out of here before they shift me out (still typing) The area that I am in is being shifted to another place. I might just go out on the back of a truck!

If I am not around over the weekend, it's because I can't get access or something equally stupid. I'll try to get back in and tell you all about Cairns and my shopping spree (or lack thereof if I can't find anything I want to buy)

Have a great weekend.

and a very Happy Anniversary Mr & Mrs Madcat. Is it REALLY a year already? I can't believe it. Wow. Hope you have a wonderful trip to the big apple - eat more apples than cheesecake, 'k ? The new avatar is pretty amazing. If it was a siamese it would almost be Egyptian like. Once you have Photoshop can you believe anything you see any more?

on making through another week Shad. Have fun shopping. Pick up something for the trip this month. It's almost here - aren't you excited?????

Carla on 10 plus pounds down. I am jealous but you worked so hard for it that you really deserve it. Since you asked I will pick up a mango or two for you and Shad but let it be known that I don't know anything about mangoes including being able to tell if they are ripe and certainly nothing about slicing the buggers up

Sorry to hear that you are losing Fran Mel. That's the second one (at least) that you lost as a buddy/friend and helper isn't it? Bummer. Don't know what to say about Mr. Smelly Guy - yes people should not be mean (and believe me, some of the biggest church goers are the least Christian of all). However, I have been around people who stop bathing and OMG umm what do you do? And why is this more a guy thing tho I have seen some ripe street ladies too. I hope someone can help him at least reach a happy medium for all concerned.

I have news. I have accepted another position within the company. It's with a different group at a different office. It's very analytical which is right up my alley, goodbye BW and SAP. It's also a promotion which means I can probably now afford that mango to go into the smoothies - but not much more than that after all it is 2007 and things are not as they used to be. I picked up the phone today and was surprised to get an offer. I had interviewed a while back and had not heard anything so I thought they selected someone else. I'm excited. I always thought that one of the good things about you ladies who do contract work is that you can start somewhere new and feel refreshed again which is how I feel at the moment. And the sheer exhilarence of being able to pitch my files and dump my email - at least 80 percent of them because I am moving from a business to a services group and am starting afresh.

The new office is twice as far away but has a nice pond and walking track. The building while on the dingy side used to be a warehouse so it's massive - strap on the pedometer and no problem getting at least 10K steps a day. Plus I realize that for the better part of the last 3 years I have been in some state of agitated stress so I'm hoping that this is a new fresh start for me. We will test that theory of stress induced belly fat once and for all

And with that, I'm headed off to bed to get a few extra winks in. Night all... and safe travels for those of you venturing out this weekend.

Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Happy drizzly Friday morning. At least it's Friday Guess it's going to be a rather quiet weekend here with just a few of us. That's ok. I should be doing all sorts of other things instead of sitting on the computer. I have a half day off due me from working one of the company holidays. Haven't had a day off - like we truly ever get a day "off" since New Year's day. Might take this afternoon off. We'll see how the day goes.

Off to the showers. Have fun chicks...

WHERE HAS ANTHER YEAR GONE TO?? SEEMS JUST LIKE YESTERDAY WE WERE ALL PICKING AND CHOOSING DRESSES AND HAIR COLORS HOPE YOU BOTH HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME! THE AVATAR IS HILARIOUS.

SHAD~ HOPE YOU WEEKEND IS GREAT AND HAVE A GOOD TIME.NICE WAY TO END A CONTRACT.....
WE'LL SEE YOU MONDAY!!

CARLA~ WOW!!! ON THE 10.5 LB LOSS!!! YOU ARE DEFINITELY ON A GOOD ROLL!! BTW...YOUR IDEA ABOUT THE SMOKEY CLOTHES IS NA GOOD ON AND I WILL PASS IT ON. YOUR CAT TYPES BETTER THAN MY BIRD!! THE WHEY IM USE IS SPIRUTEIN (SP) I DON'T FIND IT TOO SWEET AND MAKES A PERFECT SMOOTHIE EVERY TIME. BUT LIKE YOU, I WOULD LIKE TO FIND ONE WITHOUT ALL THE CHEMICALS!!! I MAY HAVE TO GET AWAY FROM THE WHEY BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO INTERFERE WITH MY DAILY LAXATIVE-TYPE STUFF IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING!!!

HAPPY~ ON THE NEW POSITION!! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU TOO. BUT AT LEAST I WON'T BE LOSING YOU WITH YOUR CHANGE OF JOBS!! I AM PLEASED THAT YOU FOUND SOMETHING MORE TO YOUR TASTE. GETTING RID OF SOME STRESS IS A GOOD THING
ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND TOO. TAKE A WEEKEND OFF THE PC AND JUST ENJOY!

MAYBE THAT'S WHAT WE ALL SHOULD DO. NO COMPUTER FOR A WEEKEND. EVERYONE IS DOING SOMETHING OR GOING SOMEWHERE. GOOD TIME FOR A 3FC BREAK!
THE PHONE HAS STOPPED RINGING FROM CANADA. THEY ARE BUSY REVISING PLANS AND FAMILY NUMBERS
DID MUM THINK WE WERE ALL MOVING BEFORE SHE GOT HERE? I GOT THE FEELING SHE WAS MAKING SURE WE WOULD ACTUALLY BE HERE.
WEATHER IS GOOD AND I DON'T WANT TO MISS IT SO I'M OUT OF HERE!!

WHERE IS CEEJAY AND SUZI NOW? BRING IN THE CLOWNS....I MEAN SEND OUT THE MOUNTIES
HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Madcat--Happy Annivversary. The new avatar is so cute. I always knew that Elvis was a "cool cat".

Happy--Your new job sounds like it has some good benefits to take advantage of. Stress does promote belly fat. I've proved it a long time ago.

Mel--Glad to hear you are feeling better. I was thinking about the whole foods also.

Holly--Hope DS is doing better. I would second the idea of gardening opposed to house work.

Yesterday's trip to the dentist reveal nothing by the way of exrays. There is a space between a couple of teeth that he thinks food is being impacted. He's suggested a crown to help fill in that space. I'll go in for that on the 24th of May. He asked where I'd been at the gym.

Yesterday's work out included 20 minute bike ride, 10 minute treadmill and 10 minute eliptical plus a 40 minute weight work out. I hope I don't burn out on this exercising because it sure does get rid of some of the stress. Wish I had my cousin's punching bag.

I have a bunch of things to do so I need to get started.

Bumping us up as we are sliding off the page. Looking at this forum page it occured to me that almost half the page is sub forums. You have to scroll down quite a bit to get to the posts which means when it gets a little quiet, we're apt to slide down to page 3 or so.

Cute one Ceejay on the "Cool Cat" That sort of says it all So if you've proven the relationship between stress and belly fat, does that mean that there is hope that if you reduce one you can reduce the other?

Thanks for the good words Mel I agree that we should declare a PC-free weekend soon. How about the weekend of June 1 as I think I will be otherwise occupied? When I saved my old journals from here, the earliest entries were of Shad's last visit. So we have lots to catch up on. I hope all the family members can get themselves sorted out and you escape with the least amount of damage. Just read 'em the rules as they walk in the door I had perfume on today that smells like Coppertone tanning lotion. Any wonder it's called "Beach". Would you turn me away if I just smell like tanning oil and not Emmeraude?

Well I am full scale into time to get prepped for company time. The yard is a mess. The garden is overgrown with weeds. I have a huge oregano plant left from last year. Was sorry to see that the dill did not reseed itself. No vegetable garden this year - we're going to do flowers instead an perhaps a small patch of herbs. I love the sweet basil. Even my sister liked it and she's not a heavy Italian herb user.

Supposed to rain on Sunday and all throughout the week so I will have to set the alarm early to get up tomorrow and clean up by the pool. The last of the tree schmutz has fallen so we can clean up there. DH said we'll open the pool in a week or two. That came fast. Lots to clean and trim. We have some flowers for the lower flower garden but I think we need more. I want the yard to look like the Butchart gardens, DH said it's a little "much". Bah men! My goal is to go through a room every 3 days or so and get it set just right. Dejunk too. Then I can just Fly Lady maintain and not stress about leaving everything for the last minute. Then have to train DH not to leave a trail of water bottles, junk mail, t-shirts and assorted flotsam and jetsam in his wake.

Ok I can feel a babble coming on here and I really should sneak off and read some of my book for book club next Tuesday. I'm on page 26 of 403 pages - think I'll make it? Have a good weekend ladies. Enjoy it while you can...

BABBLE AWAY DEAR HAPPY....WE'LL LISTEN. HAPPY GARDENING AND POOL CLEANING. I SEE NO RAIN ANYWHERE ON OUR MAP. SENDING SUNSHINE YOUR WAY!

CEEJAY~ COOL CAT MADE ME BELLY LAUGH!! GOOD THING I HAD NOTHING IN MY MOUTH!

HERE'S TO A GREAT WEEKEND. I WOKE EARLY BUT AM STILL SLEEPY FOR SOME REASON. NOTHING NEW AND NO WORDS OF WISDOM TO IMPART SO..............
HAPPY SATURDAY

Hi chicks,

I'm super mad when we moved here - a little over 2 years ago - we needed to get a new washer and dryer. DH said Maytag was good. So we put out alot of money on a fancy Maytag washer and dryer. About a year ago I started noticing a mildew / mold smell from the washer. We had to have the thing repaired a few months ago and when they opened the washer, there was mold on the inside drum. I had not been diluting the softener and always using the high efficiency soap as recommended. So it was my fault. The repair guy said if I adhered to the rules, the mold would dry up and get washed away. It did for about 2 months. Then it started with a vengence and I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing. So yesterday I googled Maytag Neptune Mold and was horrified to find that there is a long standing issue (going back to 1999) with mold in these washers. No matter what you do - you get mold - it's an inherent problem. WTH????? They settled a class action lawsuit in 2005 for washers bought between 1999 and 2004 (we bought ours in Jan 2005 so missed out on that). Bottom line there is nothing we can do about this except to junk a 2 year old expensive washer and start again. Maytag won't do anything about it. So basically I blew away this morning (which I had intended to use cleaning) instead doing lots of reseach on a new washer. Sears is having a sale today which will save us $100. So I'm off to work in the garden for an hour or two (right now we are both taking a smoothie break) and then we'll get cleaned up and go pick out a washer. DH owes me an ice cream cone from my birthday wish and he swears he will make good by me today. Can probably get him to spring for dinner too Off to work - maybe I'll pull weeds harder being angry. Always something, huh?

and don't get me started on cinco de mayo

Happy-You should be partying instead of cleaning out the pool. Go down to Beal street and enjoy the music and food. Tthe answer is that when the stress is gone so will the food temptations. The hormone cortisol makes for belly fat. Exercise does wonders for stress.

Mel-- I woke up early also. It's been dark and dreary today. I've had the tendency to lay back down at different intervals.

I'm on a mission to organize my bedroom. Since I've gotten back from the two vacations I've just been piling things here and there. I can barely move.
Also been catching up on the laundry.

Happy-that is a big burn you have going there... any chance of putting the old machine out in a field and letting a shotgun vent your frustrations? Kenmore has good quality appliances and Sears does seem to stand by its products. Happy shopping! Soon you will be able to cool off in your lovely pool. Have you bought a froggy lounge floater yet?

Mel-what fiesta have you planned for this lovely 5th of May? will you be conjuring up a tasty protein drink with lime and ice in the blender? (use rice protein, totally vegan and chemically light)Sorry to hear you will be losing one of the good ones for the office. Have you made your "will not do" list to whip out when they try and get you to pick up the slack? Where did I put that article... popping off to find for you Rats, can't find the exact article but here is one similar by Stephanie Marston http://www.stephaniemarston.com/arti...reatetime.html

Shad-hope you are having fun kicking around Cairns Happy long weekend to you!

Madcat-celebrate I hope hubby and you are blissed out totally Elvis kitty avatar is terrific, well made

Ceejay- well done on the exercising! Does the dentist go to your gym? That must have been fun, your teeth need work and by the way I haven't seen the rest of your body sweating lately I think Happy would like to have a punching bag to utilize about now too

Carla-wow! good job on the scale movement! I am trying to do more whole foods. Just found a recipe for toasted chick peas which I'm going to try. Better snacks, better health! I hope the weather is staying decent for you and you get that bike ride in

I managed to exercise five times this week. Eating is focused on limiting/no white stuff. Got to get those empty carbs out of my life I managed to be furious with both my kids teachers last week. My husband was no help, told me to phone the school if I was so upset. They never do anything, I just needed to vent. My youngest had the "jump rope for health" thing by the heart and stroke foundation but because we gave money to some kid who came to the door and didn't send money back in her envelope, she didn't get a balloon after her skipping like the other kids. Money grubbing stooges for charity who like making little kids cry. My other daughter had a spelling test where all the words she had been practising all week were switched and she was given a bunch different words. Not nice and I was incensed that they would set the kids up for failure like this. So I was railing on about teacher treachery, violating kids trust, etc.

hello chicks of the world how was your week?

HI!!! Just caught up with you all!!!

Quick hello. Off to a dinner gathering I'm not too interested in - an acquaintance in town for the funeral of her very ill and elderly father, and after the mass I happened to be standing too close when old friends made plans to host the third dinner in a row for her. (Somehow nobody thought of me for the last two dinners, but suddenly I'm indispensable because I was in earshot?) Oh well, it would have been churlish (and childish) to refuse, especially since I was happy to be home with my diet food for the other two events. So I'm off, armed with vast quantities of hummus and cut-up veggies - and a budding "headache" I expect to arrive about the time they haul out the Monopoly board... (Now if it were scrabble....)

Gotta go, I'll be late.