Tradition. Everyone who comes in and takes one (fun sized Hershey's assortment from Costco) appreciates it. Our employees come in after a long day and take one to get them by before they leave for the day.

Hey, Becky! Community is a big deal. I always do better when I'm interacting more. And, as I barely posted this week and was snackier than I like, I proved it to myself yet again.

Michele - kittens love to play at night. How are they doing?

Allison - you are doing great! Woo!

Dagmar - how was your ice slick walk this morning? We got to 80F degrees yesterday, going to be back in the 40s today. We had a 50 degree swing between yesterday afternoon and today. We're all going to end up sick.

I did fine. The only place I fell was in my own driveway and it was a slo-mo. I had a really bad moment driving down a hill where the car went into a skid toward a t-intersection with a retaining wall on one side and luckily no parked cars on the other. I came to a stop just feet away from a car speeding up another hill. Got the car pointed back in the right direction and proceeded on my way. Dogs were totally oblivious to it all.

Dagmar

Gelato (girl) got brave and snuck downstairs last night while I was down there. It didn’t go well! Our big dog Ellie chased her and it was all a blur. I had awful visions of something horrible happening. After a few seconds of me screaming at her, I got my wits and put both dogs in a bedroom and shut the door. I then rescued Gelato from behind the TV and put her upstairs. After a few minutes, she was purring and looking for more trouble. We are going to have to take it very slow/ wait till kitties are bigger and can defend themselves. They’re barely over 2 pounds. She’s getting brave with Dewey. This morning in bed she was swatting at his wagging tail! Hubby went to Arizona for the weekend, so I know they’ll be happy to see him tonight. Little do they know, he’s gone more than half the time. He leaves next Saturday for multiple long trips....

Hi everyone, it's icy and snowy and chilly here, but nothing compared to that polar vortex that so many of you experienced. Things are slightly improved here with the family, dare I say it? I feel like I should whisper it to avoid jinxing this temporary peace. Michelle, did you post kitten pix already? If not, that needs to be remedied.

Yes, Michele, please post some kitten pix!!

JayZee, enjoy any small reprieve from family stress.

It's colder than normal here today but sunny. And I don't dare complain when others (like Dagmar) are experiencing true winter weather.

I survived a weekend of manning our Gourd Club booth at the Home Show without my food going off-track. For me, that's a victory!

JZJ - I'm glad things are looking a little better!

I have tons of kitty pics and videos-- I post them so much on facebook and instagram that I'm sure folks are tired of them. Let me know if you want me to "find" you on either of those places for limitless pics! Some healthy stuff too like workouts, etc!

How can people ever tire of cute kitten pics? And these two are siblings and look like twins so double the cuteness! Keep 'em coming!

Dagmar

I seem to have lost my urge to overeat on "special" occasions. Last night we had DH's birthday cake. I had 2 pieces and was done. Don't know what's changed but it's about time!

Dagmar :

I wish I could lose that urge. Sheeshy peezy.

No kidding! So far today, I've been given a delicious looking bag FULL of homemade brownies (one thing I CANNOT resist), and chocolates from students. The staff room is already overflowing with cakes and donuts. And, the 2nd grade is having a friendship feast where each family brings something they've made--- in the past, the staff room gets so many leftovers there isn't room for everything! Off to munch some almonds now to hopefully stave off any crazy cravings.

I have my annual physical tomorrow. My doctor no longer even weighs me - he just asks for the number. I'm always tempted to give him something absurd , but I don't as he's repeatedly proven he has no sense of humour.

I am going to ask him for a prescription for medical marijuana. I'm experiencing a lot of side effects from all of the NSAIDS I've been taking so this might provide a less damaging alternative.

Dagmar :

Dagmar - NSAIDS can really mess up your stomach, if the medical marijuana would help without that then I'm all for it. My brother used to have debilitating cluster headaches and his medications just about killed him. If he'd been able to go that route, he would have in a minute.

My workout was seriously hard this morning. Everything felt heavier than it should have and it all hurt. Not sure why. Meh We had the boy this past weekend, but school was out today so I let him sleep later and took him back to his mom's after breakfast. Didn't want to wake him up at the crack of early on the first day of winter break. It meant I got to sleep until 6:30 instead of 4:15, too. At work now, still drinking coffee.

Keep on keeping on.

The thread is too quiet. Hope everyone is doing okay!

Dagmar, I hope your physical gives good results. We've had more rain here - a good thing, but it slows down my gardening efforts. My elderly neighbor is still a concern, and I'm still caring for his dogs, but for some reason I stopped worrying about it so much. John, the neighbor, continues to make bad choices with his very limited money, but at least I make sure the dogs are fed, watered, and clean. I no longer try to clean the kitchen and monitor what John is eating, although I do bring him food to make sure he has plenty if he wants to eat it.

I'd like to be eating less and get rid of 5 pounds. Intermittent fasting may be in my future, since I've had no luck trying to simply cut down.