Beachgal, thanks for the tip on memory. I might have done my studying right this morning then. I took index cards with me when I went for my run. Running is very calming to me, so visual this:
old lady running wearing baseball cap, sunglasses, listening to her ipod and reading index cards............... After 45 minutes of a good run and repetition from the definitions of those cards I might be OK. That's absolutely true for me and taking tests, I'm so stressed everything goes out the brain.

Just dashing in for a quick check in this morning. Congrats to all the moms whose kids are going back to school. Take some quiet time for yourself...after the summer, you all deserve it.

Me - I don't even know where to begin. DH and I have been sorting through DM's stuff for the past three weeks, and seem to be getting know where, but I know that isn't quite true. I think we have the collectibles under control. We have inventoried the hundreds of collector plates and arrange to have them sold on the secondary market. They fill one stall of our garage, so DH will be happy to have them sold, hopefully before winter when he wants to park the vehicle in the garage. DD came this weekend and took three sets of plates, plus a calendar plate set. One DS took three sets of plates and the other took one set of plates and old books. We still have 75 or so hummels and tons of coins, plus boxes and boxes of plates left. That's before we get to the little stuff... It is really overwhelming.

On the good side, though, my boss went on vacation last week, and as he was walking out the door, told me to register for a conference in Orlando starting on Sept. 12. When I went to his boss to get the paperwork signed, he told me to make sure that I go for the weekend before and the weekend afterward cause they think I need to get away. What sweeties they are. DH is able to spring loose to go, also, so we are making it a bit of a holiday...and our birthdays fall in there, too. There is a spousal program at the conference, so I registered DH for that. I work in a field dominated by men, so DH will be spending the days with a bunch of ladies - shopping is on the list for one of the days. I am told that he is good at it, though.

A few years ago, DH went to China with a lady that worked for him. When he travels, I make him pack his clothing suitcase in an empty suitcase, so that he has lots of room for shopping. On this particular trip, the lady found a bunch of knock offs at the market in Beijing, but couldn't buy them because she didn't have any room. DH let her stew for a while, then told her that he had an extra suitcase she could use. When they got home, the lady called me a told me how lucky I was...her words were, "He shops like a woman." Hmmm, sounds like something for his tombstone.

Any way, we are off to Orlando for a week and really looking forward to the break. We just can't seem to get away from anything here.

I have gained weight over the past month, too. I have a problem where my metabolism shuts down when I am under stress. I have hardly eaten anything, but I am not metabolizing anything. I have a dr. appointment when I get home, so hopefully will be able to solve the problem then. But in the meantime, I am having to watch the weight really closely before I pack too many pounds on.

Must run. We have new students today and I have to do a presentation at a student orientation. Have a great day, everyone. Take care.

Hi Ladies!

Just know checking in. So many kiddies going to school today!

I was sooo bad this weekend. We had a football party on Saturday and well I have now excuse for the rest of the weekend. So, today I am back on phase 1 for at least a week. I feel okay going back to this phase, b/c I have found so many things that I like in the recipes. Plus, I had only been eating whole wheat bread, whole wheat tortillas and some strawberries in phase 2. So, it will be easy to gain back control!

I have had some good moments. My uncle asked me if I was losing weight. That made my day. Especially considering the big old T-shirt that I had on. So, it had to be showing in my face and legs! Then, this afternoon I had to go to Walmart and decided that I was going to buy a new pair of jeans. I nervously picked up a size 16 from the pile and went to the dressing room. I pulled them over my hips and buttoned them. They fit! They weren't tight. They were even a tad loose. (But, not loose enough for a 14). It made my day! I bought them! (I may have wasted my money, b/c I was in 16 before I started gaining again. But, I couldn't leave the store without them. Plus these don't have the elastic on the sides like my others.) It is such a small victory, but great motivation.

Oh, well, speaking of motivation I better get back to work!

Hi Ladies
I'm actually back to Phase one versus last week when it was phase 1 one day all HECK breaking loose the next
I'm not getting on the scale again until I can go to the bathroom (I haven't gone since thursday) When I got on the scale this morning I almost cried It was almost where I started. But I'll do an official Weigh in after Things get moving ahem.
In the meantime its strict for me!
No word on the house yet UGH!
Ruth will you clean my house too?
to all the Mom's with kids going back to school take the day off put your feet up and RELAX.
Soon I don't understand why anyone would shop on a holiday!
Dana WOOHOO thats a great feeling!
gotta run
hopefully bbl

Hi Have to make this short again my computer is not working right on the message boards that I'm involved with. The keys are sticking and the messages that I'm posting are getting lost in cyperspace along with the computer motor is racing.This is agruating that I can't stand not being on line.

Hope to post tomorrow Hugs BB

What a busy group! I feel like I'm exercising just reading your posts! (That's probably a good indication of my fitness level.) I am having a late start again. Sheesh!

Happy school daze to all the moms and their kiddies. I am a high school English teacher playing hooky -- going on 3 years now. I'm getting a degree in Spanish now...maybe French will be next?

I'm going to bring an old dresser into my bedroom and sort my clothes again. I have quite a few I can donate now. Then I'm headed off on a bike ride to get yarn and beads for a crochet purse I'm going to make. After that I have homework to do.

That'll do it for my day. I'm officially starting Phase I today.

Everyone have a wonderful day!

Hi girls, flying by really quickly. It's been SUCH a busy day at the school because of the long weekend. I have so many things to do, but I wanted to stop in. According to Terry, so far so good on the diet. We'll see how he does tonight. I'm going to make him some meatloaf so he can alternate meatloaf and parmesan chicken during the week. He says he's been chugging water, too. That's my boy! Let's just hope he sticks to it.

Hope all is well with everybody. I'll be on this evening!

Hi, all! It's definitely starting to feel like fall here. The nights are cool (if not cold), the mornings are cool and misty or rainy, and the sun, when it finally comes out, is brilliant and warm although the air is still chilly.

DS might not get to start daycare Thursday, after all. His soon-to-be daycare provider's 20-something son had an emergency surgery this weekend, and she is totally drained, physically and emotionally, from the experience. She called all her kids' parents to tell them no daycare today. She doesn't know when she'll be back in commission. Poor thing! She says she'll let me know about Thursday. I hope she gets some rest today. Her son is doing much better now, although he lost a lot of blood. It must have been a terrifying experience. I can only imagine what they must have been through.

My head is finally starting to feel better, although bright light and loud noises still make it throb painfully, and I'm feeling really scatterbrained. I'm usually reasonably "with it" and have a fairly good memory, but I'm finding it hard to remember things and find I'm pretty spacy. I assume it'll get better as my poor skull heals! It probably didn't help that, as I was giving DS a piggy-back ride yesterday, he started pounding me on the head with his hands - right on the sore spot, of course!

I decided to knit DS a hoody sweater as one of his Christmas presents. I've never completed a sweater before, so we'll see how it goes! It's a pretty simple pattern, a free one from Lion brand yarn: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/kh...dSweater.html; I bought 2 skeins of the Lion Homespun (acrylic/poly blend, so nice and washable - so important with toddlers!) in color #302 Colonial, a blend of dark and medium blues. It's very nice and should knit up nicely. It's simple enough that I think I can knit on it while doing my online discussion for school on DS's daycare days. I think I might make ones for me and DH when I'm done, too. Michael's Craft's has it on sale right now, so it's a good time to get the yarn for it. The 2 skeins for DS's sweater only cost just over $7 with tax - not too bad!

I'm posting late, so I'm not going to try to take the time to say hi to everyone separately, but I hope you all have a terrific afternoon and evening!

Good evening chickies!

I can't beleive that school is just starting for some of your districts. I am a 7th grade teacher and I just began week 4 of school, we are taking our 1st test on Thursday and Friday, I am nervous for them, its always very shocking to see the change from elementary to middle school.

For those of you who remember be last year, I taught science as well, I am happy to report that I don't have to teach that subject anymore. I am finally, after 3 years of teaching, I finally am teaching math full time, which is what my certificate is in. YEA!! I enjoy work so much more now!

Day 2 is really not too bad so far. I am missing my sweet stuff though.

Have a OP night