Hey chicks! I 've stayed op for two days now. I did not walk this morning, though. My walking buddy was busy this morning, so I used that as an excuse

Nancy, B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L !!! I'm so glad to see your face!!!! I love the idea you gave Maryann about rolling the laundry downstairs!

Sandra, when is it "safe" to plant in your area?

Rhonda, what's the news on the elliptical? Hope you can still walk

Maryann, what did the doc say about your sleeping? I hope he was willing to help. I'm sending the sandman your way

Hey to the rest of you chicks

GTG work on "school stuff". TTFN

Nancy, you're a goodlooking chickie for sure. It's so good to get to see you. I like putting faces with names, too.

Maryann, I get my hair cut/colored every 4 weeks normally. It was 5 weeks this last time and that was too long.

Sloan, March is pretty safe. I'm not worried about the onions I have planted but don't have much hope for the other veggies. I couldn't help myself and had to play in the dirt.

We watched "Bucket List" again today. Loved it just like we did the first time.

My eating hasn't been very good today. Life goes on.

Hey Nancy...great picture!

Sloan, my feet can get numb on the elliptical also.

I can walk, Paula...barely. After Todd finished with me today I couldn't even think about the elliptical. He made me do a million reps on lower body exercises. When I said "no more!" He said "Don't be a baby! Do 10 more." So, I told him that I was calling all of his professors and he was going to get the hard version of all of the tests!

Anyway, after all that, I did an upper body routine and an aquafit class. If I can move tomorrow I might try the elliptical again.

Maryann, I think that's a great idea to roll the laundry! I've taken Melatonin before also, and it works.

We're off to watch the State of the Union with other politically minded folks here in town. I'll have to be careful or I'll eat chips and dip! Or, maybe crow.

Have a great night everyone!

Rhonda

Good Morning Chicks! We are in day two of our painting escapade. I've had enough and want them to be done. The colors, however, look awesome and I am supremely proud of myself. Some decorating/redecorating may have to be done, but one thing and one dollar at a time.

I've no time to catch up right now but hope to do so tomorrow. I want to tell you about my dinner last night though. Jim and I couldn't even bear to cook veggies last night, we were so tired so we went out to Applebees. Now let me tell you that NEITHER of us is an Applebees fan. We had tried them years ago when the WW menu came out and we were not impressed. We went for the under 550 menu items.

Jim had the Asiago Peppercorn Steak and he thought it was great; lots of pepper flavor. I had the Shrimp Diavalo and it was AWESOME! I can't wait to have it again. It was garlicky and spicy and had TONS of flavor. It didn't seem like it had a lot of fat in it either. My shrimp were outstanding. This was a huge treat! I ate it all but had planned to do so according to my daily calorie intake.

Applebees never gives out their nutritional information but apparently in New York and California, they have to at least give the calorie count. Of course, it's a restaurant and a human making the food so you have to know it could be a bit off. Still and all it was better than not having a clue. There was a lot of food on the plate.

Grilled Shrimp & Island Rice: 290 cal / 1g fat
Asiago Peppercorn Steak: 390 cal / 6g fat
Spicy Shrimp Diavolo: 500 cal / 3.5g fat
Asian Crunch Salad: 409 cal / 1g fat
Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos: 450 cal / 6g fat

These are just the saturated fat totals not TOTAL fat. Apparently, they are not required by law to give more.

I tried to dissect the Spicy Shrimp Diavalo because that is what I ate so that I could put it into my calorie tracker. Here's what I came up with if anyone is interested. It is a LOT of food. If I hadn't deprived myself of the calories earlier in the day, I could have probably eaten half and gotten a salad.


Estimated Nutrition Facts Applebees Spicy Shrimp Diavalo

Calories 500.0

Total Fat 8.0 g

Saturated Fat 3.5 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

Trans Fat 0.0 g

Cholesterol 166.0 mg

Sodium 190.0 mg

Potassium 155.0 mg

Total Carbohydrate 74.0 g

Dietary Fiber 12.0 g

Sugars 2.0 g

Protein 32.0 g

Hi Ladies

Had my area carpets taken out and cleaned and so I was busy cleaning & buffing my hard wood floors.While the men were here I gave them each $10 and had them move my love seat to the back room and to bring my wing chair to the living roon next to Leo's lounge chair. I now have enough room that it doesn't look all cluttered with furniture.

The next step is slipcovers for the sofa & the wing chair.I already have a idea what I'd like the in a color scheme.



Went to the doctor yesterday to ask him of what I should do about my sleepless nights. He asked how my days were and told him I had no problem with the day as I keep myself busy and I met new friends to go out with from time to time.He was heading that I was depressed,told him NO!!! and than he gave me a prescription for Zolpidem is used to treat insomnia[trouble sleeping]Its helps to get you to sleep faster & sleep through the night. It worked as I left like the energized bunny this morning.



NANCY-I know it scary to go down the stairs now that I'm alone. I do have my cell phone with me when I go down there,as a good friend of mine fell down the cellar stairs and broke her hip but she didn't have a phone with her and she yelled for 1/2 hr before help came. It was to late she passed a couple of days after the accident. I was told at the senior center to go down one stair at a time holding the basket on the previous step. Thanks for your suggestion I will give it a try next week.


SLOANHe gave me some pills and said that should do the trick. Read above.

SANDRAMy hairs stylist told to me wait 6 weeks for a trim or cut in the winter months but in the summer when its warm she suggested every month.


RHONDA-Thanks I'm going to give them both of them a try.


VICKIE-I sure your decorating or redecorating will be beautiful I'm starting to clean up my living room. Wish we had a Applebee's near us. The food that they advertised looks so inviting.

Have to get ready for choir rehearsal.see you guys later

Hi Everyone:

Some new furniture came today. We got two recliners for the den and a recliner couch for the TV room. The furniture that I was really excited about, and thought was coming also, didn't. That's three pieces for the LR. It will arrive in 10-14 days. I'm impatient, but grateful to be able to furnish the new house.

DH capitulated on the painted cabinets issue when the painter explained how hard it was to do anything except restain in the dark color, or paint. The painter said pickling needs to be done on new wood, and that staining something lighter is next to impossible. So, in about a month we're going to have the painting done. I'm looking forward to a lighter, brighter kitchen..but, not to emptying the cabinets and living with a week of mess. Whine, whine, whine.
We should have had this done right away, before settling in. Oh well...

I'm not meeting all of my goals, especially walking the dog for longer. I had good intentions today, and we are having good 'ole Texas thunderstorms today. Heavy rain, thunder, lightening...no tornados though.

I'm trying to eat very low calorie today. I get a little grumpy

Rhonda

Hi chickies! NO SCHOOL TOMORROW So far, so good with my goals. I won't walk tomorrow since school is closed, but I may try to be active in some other way.

Rhonda, I would love to be getting new furniture! Good for you!! What color are you going to have your cabinets painted?

Maryann, I'm so glad the doc listened to you. A good night's sleep is sooooo important. I was so sad to read about your friend that fell. Please, please, please be careful!!!

Vickie, your dinner sounds yummy! What colors did you settle on for your rooms?

Sandra, do you plant tomatoes? I love tomatoes I think I'm going to try one of those hanging things that you plant tomatoes in this summer. Our ground is so poor and full of rocks. My sister in law (they live next door) started some raised beds last year, and she really enjoyed them.

I hope the rest of you chickies are having a lovely evening!! TTFN

Sloan, this is my first "halfway serious" attempt at vegetable gardening. I will plant some tomatoes later on but it's way too early now for them. I'm thinking of planting mine in pots. I might plant one in a flowerbed but haven't decided. We don't have a veggie specific garden. Curtis has been trying to decide on that. We have 2 acres and he can't decide where to put one.

Rhonda, I'm glad you're getting your cabinets the way you want. We want to get together with ya'll soon after tournament season. I don't know if I'll be able to recognize you then or not. However, you won't have any problems at all recognizing me. :sad:

Vickie, thanks for the Applebee's heads up. I'd love to see photos of your new rooms.

I'm finished with my root canal. Went this AM to Dallas for it. This afternoon we were in Ft.Worth for Curtis' appt with an allergist. What next?

Sorry , but I haven't caught up on everyone's post ...
I'll do that tomorrow.

We are forecast for a weekend of snow and ice and temp's in the teens at night.
We have someone coming to cut some wood tomorrow for our wood stove just in case the electricity goes out.

Today was in the 60's so I got some things done outside. It was nice to get some sunshine for a change.

I have been in my pajama's since 5 pm because my clothes got wet
while working outside . Glad no one came to visit.

I found the web site "43 Things" tonight. You list up to 43 goals and then you can post or read posts from people with the same goals. Fun site.

Maryann ... That is the sleep medicine I take. I split the pills into thirds now if I take it. I am glad you got something for your sleep.

Happy Friday! BRRRRRRR its tooooo cold here -- highs today of a whopping 19 with strong winds. Should feel below zero all day. Wonderful....

I'm doing well with my goals - I'm still walking the dog at night and I'll hit the Y tomorrow and Sunday. I've updated my ticker and I'm a happy girl. Lost 1 pound this week. I do need to look for some recipes this weekend. I need some new stuff for lunch.

Hope you all have a great day!

Good Morning Chicks! The sun is out but we are only expecting a high of 10 degrees today. I haven't checked the wind chill yet. In Chicago, you can expect it to be significant. We are only expecting the heating guys to come today. Thankfully, our furnace is fine but our humidifier is not working properly. One needs that when the dry forced air furnace is running non stop.

I plan on taking it much easier today. My painting is done and I love the colors. Now for the stuff I'm bad at!

I'm going to go eat breakfast and then come back and catch up with all of you from the past two days.

I'd drink my water but it's frozen!

Hi Everyone:

My, everyone sounds optimistic. That's good; we can do this together.

I noticed a woman at the gym on Monday who had a very strong body and she was doing some exercises with full vigor. I talked to her today--she's a personal trainer who runs a boot camp here. Well, I just wrote her a long email and she's going to consult with me. I love what I'm doing, but I want to do more and to do it more efficiently. Her camp begins at 5:15AM! I told her that I had done that early morning thing for months, and had NO desire to do it again if I didn't have to!! I'll let you know what she says.
It might be that Torture Todd is enough.

I really do seem to want to overeat, but I'm not. I'm just trying to sit with these feelings and figure them out. I'm doing what Vickie says about water, drinking lots of it.

We're going to a fund raiser tonight to help expand the local farmers' market to include more farmers and to bring in artisans and craftspeople.

That's it from North Central Texas....where we're having blustery, cold weather today.

I hope you have a great night.

Rhonda


ps: the cabinets are going to be white, so that I can see what I'm doing! Now, they're dark oak, which was so popular in the 70's. I appreciate it, but I need to be able to see.

Sounds like the country's in the fridge, doesn't it? We're cold here in North Central Texas, too. I subbed this morning and had to head out in a heavy rain. It's not raining now but is still cold. We aren't really expecting snow or ice but both are possibilities.

Paula, on losing 7 pounds.

Nancy, I'm in pj's, too. I put on my fluffy bright blue robe and rubber boots and put out birdseed a few minutes ago. Cardinals were in the feeders before I could get my boots off. Life is good.

Rhonda, where are you? Are you keeping warm?

Vickie, our water isn't frozen, but it's cold.

Well, friends, I'm ready to get back on program. I haven't done too poorly today but could have done better. My hip is still acting up. I'm seriously thinking about going to a chiropractor but am afraid I might hurt worse. With indoor championships in the upcoming weeks, I can't risk hurting any more than I already am. I just worry about Louisville. We have to do A LOT of walking when we're there. I have noticed that my right foot points to the side when I'm walking. It's my right hip that's hurting. Anybody know anything about such stuff?

Rhonda, we must have been posting simultaneously. I can't get over how dedicated you are to exercise. You rock, Cuz!

We have 6 inches of beautiful show and it is still coming down.

I nice man came yesterday and cut more than enough wood for the woodstove
in case our power goes out. We keep it burning as much as possible to keep the
heating bill down.

Robin says his back is about the same but I have noticed he putters around the house much more than he did a few weeks ago. Good sign.

Everyone keep warm today!!