Love the garbage disposal!

Try making homemade pita chips. You don't have to feel as "guilty" with them - pair it up with some homemade salsa and mmmmmm! (posting instructions below for everyone)

Head to the store and purchase wheat pitas (or whole grain, whatever you can find). Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam or non-stick spray. Cut the pitas into squares, circles, pizza slice shapes, etc. (but make sure both layers are on the shape - don't tear the pita into 2 separate layers). Arrange them on the sheet. Grab some light oil and use a pastry brush to brush a bit of oil on - just enough so the toppings stick. Now, add a little salt and garlic powder on top. Bake at 350F until crispy (about 7ish minutes, but may be longer).

I haven't made them since last year, but now I'm kind of in the mood to LOL

Like Kathleen (Howdy Kathleen! =grin=) I'm excited about all the new people but a little overwhelmed, and thus having trouble keeping track of who everyone is.

I sure am frustrated with my 60s so far. I was really looking forward to my 60th birthday in February of last year, but by the time it came along, my legs were collapsing beneath me and I was falling down all over the place. But I didn't yet realize I was having spasms from serotonin toxicity. And since then...jeez, I try to be brave and hopeful, but being disabled and in so much pain, I often feel sorry for myself and break down in tears.

And Mike (my instructor/healer in Chinese medicine) is really pushing for me to be able to stand up longer and learn more Qi ("chee") Gung moves that you do standing up. And my legs are complaining about it, quite a lot. I have nothing to take for the pain—just acetaminophen, which does exactly nothing.

Friday was a bummer because Grace (my great niece and art student) had not yet told me whether she was coming over or not, so I had to keep checking my email all morning. When she finally did get in touch, it was to say that her parents had scheduled an orthodontics app't and then a music lesson for Friday afternoon & evening. Oh well...it really does make me feel like the lowest priority in her schedule...yet another reason to feel sorry for myself, I'm afraid.

But today I forged ahead with regaining my life as an artist—yay! I made a collage inspired by David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" (click on image for larger version) and did all the hard work to scan it, go over it in graphics software, and upload it to three different places. When I finished all that, I was totally exhausted and hurting from my hips down to my feet on both sides, but it felt good all the same to have put up that little tribute to an artist I've admired ever since the early 1970s.

And Grace has Monday off from school, so (crossing fingers) we may be able to have some hours together that day...

Best wishes to all...I'm just too bushed to do personals this time 'round.

Good morning
I would really like to join this talk/vent.
I lost 7lbs before Christmas and have gained back 6.I cant seem to get my stress eating under control.

Stress eating is the worst kind of eating IMO (along with eating when you're bored). Do you have any ways to de-stress so you're less likely to go and eat?

I can relate to the Monday dread lisa. I'm pretty happy at my current job, but Mondays are still hard for me quite a lot of the time. Transitioning is tough. Facing a week of responsibility stretching out in front is tough. I just try to focus on getting home tomorrow evening and planning something nice (even a small thing, like a bubble bath) to look forward to.

Thank you very much for the welcome. I hope your client isn't too demanding tomorrow. I work with difficult kids and know how draining it can be to be constantly coaching yourself to be calm and patient and understanding when you're getting a lot of demands or conflict coming at you. At least mine can't get at me during the weekend!

Hi Lisa!

I hope you're feeling better this morning. That Steelers/Broncos game was awful to me...I'm a Steelers fan I turned it off by the 4th quarter because I couldn't watch anymore. At least the Penguins won yesterday afternoon!

I'm happy to report that Grace—my 15-yr-old great niece, mentee & art student—was able to come over this morning and spend about six hours talking & making collages with me, and playing with our adolescent oriental cats. Oscar and Grace have a special relationship: as soon as she meets him, she scoops him up high in her arms and caresses him all over. We let the cats into my collage studio, where they both enjoyed knocking over the waste basket and the recycle container, looking for cat toys...and finding them, of course. Grace made two collages, and I made one. She always works faster than I do.

And then Oscar did something funny, after Bob left with Grace to drive her home. He ran around every room of the house, crying loudly. I was sitting on the bed in our bedroom, and Oscar jumped up in front of me, staring into my face with wide, distressed eyes. Then he looked carefully in all corners of the room, continuing to cry out as if he had lost something. By then it was manifestly obvious what the problem was: Grace was no longer in the house, and Oscar wanted her back. =smile= It was so sweet...I tried to make it up to him with cuddles and kisses, plus I threw one of the paper balls he'd found in my studio trash can, for him to bat around the hallway and bring back to me for "fetch," his favorite game.

For those of you who are so kind as to enjoy seeing my collages: today's piece is titled wegman and more. (Click on the image for a larger version.) I sure wish I could show you Grace's collages, too. Maybe some day...

Awesome collage!

Thanks, ap14!