Alice: sounds like Dr. Phil is a lot like WW except for the whole wheat. I guess the bottom line is in order to lose weight we just hvae to eat less and be sensible.

Siwa: Glad that you had a chance to get out. It breaks up the cabin fever feeling. Don't worry, you will get rid of the excess. It does come on so darn quick. I did find that the weight I gained was a lot of water weight. I have got it off again, as I started drinking more water again. I just retain fluid if I don't drink a lot of water. Strange, isn't it.

We are having cooler weather now. 50degs this morning. but it warms up nicely during the day. Really nice weather.

Hi to everyone. Have a nice weekend. Ann

At our age it is just plain hard to be thin so we must settle for healthy went to the craft mall and they have a new booth with cookies...bought some pumpkin ones...I ate too many! But I did walk 4 times this week even with my painful hip!

All your wrapping set ups sound wonderful....I have to keep my sons room ready just incase so I have to be tidy.......just no room in the house for much.....my other son does not live at home thankgoodness!

I would like to get my lighted hosues out this year but not sure I can handel the running up and down the stairs or that my arms will hold up. I have not had them out in about 4 years! I love looking at them and setting them up but hate taking them down and putting them away.

Our winds have finally died down and we didn't lose our power. It's still pretty chilly, but it's supposed to warm up eventually.

Candice, are your lighted houses the Dept. 56? I started collecting the New England Village houses and accessories. We haven't put the village up in a few years, since we got a new TV. DH made something out of plywood that went from one window, angled into a corner, over the TV to the other window. Our new TV is larger than the old one so the plywood doesn't fit anymore. I really miss it because I liked to turn the light off and just have the village lit.

Siwa, glad that you were able to get out. You will start losing again once you get back to an exercise routine. It is a struggle. I can remember being able to lose 2 lbs. a week, now I can gain that much in 2 days!

Ann, Dr. Phil also has acceptable and unacceptable food lists. You don't have weigh, count, or measure anything. He suggests you visualize your plate separated into quarters, 1/4 for protein, 1/4 for starch, 1/2 for veggies, or if you don't want a starch, 3/4 for veggies.

Kate, hope this storm is over for you. Hope it wasn't too bad in your area.

Have a good day everyone.
Alice

Hi all,
The storm started here Wednesday night with winds and thunder storms. Thursday the winds were really bad all day with rain in the morning and changing over to snow. We got about 3". We got out of work early, but I came home to no power. It was out til 9:30 that night. We were lucky though, some people are still without power. We had a young woman in a neighboring town that was killed while driving to work when a tree fell on her car. So sad. You just never know.

Siwa: Glad that you're up and around. I know what you're saying..we work so hard to get weight off, but it sure does come back on quickly I agree with Candice - we need to strive for healthy. It will be better when your foot is completely healed. Your flower angels sound very nice. How many do you need to make and when is your party? What will your guests be doing this year?

Alice: I love the lighted villages. I don't have one, but a friend has the Dickens village. They start setting up before Thanksgiving because she has such a large collection! Glad that the storm wasn't too bad for you. Hope this isn't a forecast of what the winter will be like. Glad that you noticed some action around your cottage.

Candice: You are the cookie monster That's great that you were able to get some walking in this week. Have your DH get the houses out for you and then you can set them up. How is school going for your DS? Is he feeling better about it?

Ann: Alice gave you a good summary of Dr. Phil's plan. The bottom line is no matter what you decide to follow you need to stick with it! Glad that drinking more water has worked to take off what you gained. That was a simple solution. Your temps sound good to me!

Barb: How are things in Texas? You're probably busy getting things settled with your new business. Have you started back walking with your mother?

It's a quiet weekend for me because DH is working on storm damage repairs. There are all kinds of sales going on at the malls, but I'm content to just be a homebody. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Kate

I don't know how those preganat women who are on bedrest for 3 mos can stand it. I'm so bored that I can't even explain it. I'm doing things but it's not the life I'm used to. Looking forward to graduating to a tennis shoe. I went grocery shopping on Fri but I think it was too much cuz my foot hurt all day Sat. It was suggested that I use one of those mechanized cart to shop but I thought I could do it on my feet. Didn't feel any pain or problems while shopping but the day after......WOW. I learned my lesson. I'm reading, watching TV, crafting but those are all sedentary activities. OK pity party is done now!

KATE--The flower angels are really cute. I'm making 14 of them and 8 of them are for my friends. The others I'll hang on my tree and let my nieces and nephews choose the ones they want. I'm not making them for myself. I just enjoy crafting items like this so I'm happy to give them away. This year's party theme is "nostalgia". I plan to show photos of this group from all the years we've been together--that's nearly 30 years. I want to put together a slide show on our big screen TV, complete with titles and fancy imaging. Don't have a date yet but usually the 2nd week in Dec. I heard that your area was hit by the storm. Glad that you didn't feel it too much.

CANDICE--I know how you feel about your Christmas village houses. I don't have those but I do have plenty of decorations and every year I feel less and less like using them. It's kind of fun putting them out but the putting away job is awful. I think it's an age related thing. I like the way things look all decorated but I see the work when I look at it too. For several years I've been saying that some year all we will have is out 3 foot artificial tree and one box of ornaments and I'll still be happy. So far my family hasn't believed me.

I't a dreary, drizzly 40 degree day here today. Tomorrow I get to have an outing--going for mammogram. When I mad the appt several weeks ago I figured that if my feet hurt then it would be good to make a pain in another part of my body to take my mind off my feet. LOL Aslo going to Jenny Craig to find out how much I've GAINED. Home scale says about 2#.

ANN--You're always so busy with various projects. It's a wonder that you have time to read for pleasure but you seem to cuz you're often talking about your current reading.

I forgot to mention that we've finally established a selling spot on e bay and have actually sold a couple items. DH sold a calculus book for $25 and DS sold a group of beanie babies for $2. We also listed an anchor hocking snack set which did not sell. The snack set was an unopened wedding gift. I figured if we hadn't used it in 34 yrs we probably wounldn't in the next 34! Now I want to look around the house for more items to TRY to sell. We didn't charge a handling fee but just asked that the buyer pay actual shipping. It was fun to watch for bidding. The bidding did not begin until the last day.