I'm wishing you all have a "Blessed Good Friday & Easter"

I tried getting back here from my cell & a tablet several times this past month, but I couldn't login. So I tried to reset my pw & the robot verification fonts kept changing & blocked me I'm using a different tablet today & the robot verification fonts were readable

When the weekend slows down I'll come back to read how you all have been I'm the Debbie downer with my messed up health. I have 2 doctor appt next week, my first neurologist for my lower face numbing areas that's spread comes & goes during the day/night for up to 10 minutes each time; it scares me because it's worse since January. The selfie pic is me & dh at Epcot in February, the sky was overcast & the cell camera made my skin appear goofy, dh looked good as normal. Guess what I got for my 64th birthday this year, some alopecia & my first gray hairs When I went for my 2 month trim just before our Disney trip my stylist asked me what I wanted her to do. I told her to reset my health back to where I was 2 yrs ago... My other doctor appt next week is to discuss my recent CT, to determine if I've had any improvements so I can avoid my colon resection. Next Friday I take dh for his first colonoscopy because he's 53 yrs & he put it off last year. March 1, was our 21st wedding anniversary & it was beautiful in Florida having our 2 oldest g-babes with us We haven't put our home for sale yet, we'll do it asap when I get my medical diagnosis & treatment. Just too much stress for me to deal with all at once.

If you have any room left in your prayer time I'd Love you to include me to 'be healed', because I really-really want to be going to our youngest g-babes high school graduation 14 yrs from now. To be here to nurture all 4 kids going through school & life. Grandparents are the best cheerleaders

With Big Hugs to aLL my sisters here

I'll start my catch-up posts reading this weekend beginning with this page If there's news that I should probably know about that happened this year, you can PM me if you don't want to post it here. Laura & Susie have my cell#, if anyone else wants it PM me.

My debut last night was a success. Both the regular pianist and the organist said that it was magnificent. The piano would switch to organ and that's what I played. The organist asked it I could play the regular organ and I said no. She said she would teach me! I'm thinking about doing it as I've always wanted to play the organ.
Kinda disappointed in my nephews. Spent the night at my sister's house in Ash Grove and got up for devotions this morning. Tomorrow is prayer visuals. My slotted time is 1.00 p.m. and then again from 5-6 with my sis. I will spend the night with them again tomorrow night. Sunday is Easter with a big meal at 5 p.m.
Nephew's wife (separated) called me this afternoon to ask if I'd heard from him. She was trying to contact him. Told her I hadn't see him this morning and she asked me why! Told her I had spent the night with Mary Ann. She didn't like that very much at all. I wouldn't blame my nephew at all if he called it quits. I told him when he started staying here that I wasn't putting a curfew on him and gave him a house key. The latest he's been out is 11.30 p.m. and that was the day he and his brother went fishing.


Shad
Cute idea with the matching slippers. I may have to do that with my 6 year old niece.



Hi Dee
So glad to hear from you. I would like to go to Florida some time to go to Disney world. Like the picture.

Annie
How nice that you still give your kids Easter Baskets. Are you planning an Easter egg hunt also. Nice of Sam to have the laundry done and a bed cleaned out. And you are correct that the diet is a mind game. I'm just not into the losing weigh game yet. Maybe one day. I'm doing well with a few slip ups on the diverticulosis diet. Just a few slip ups now and the. I can get into the exercise more than the diet.

Laura
84 minutes is a long time to wait on the train. Hope you had something to do to occupy the time. Are you going to garden this year?

This is about it for me. Need to get ready for tomorrow.

Happy
Sorry I missed you. Wow a 700 dollar jack pot would have been un to win. Too bad no one did and that it got to stay in the "pot" Does that roll over for the next game or does it start from scratch?
As a matter of fact it seems that Spring has come early The dogwood tree's are in bloom now. I looked at flowering plants this morning at Walmart's but I didn't see any thing that I liked. Think most have been picked over.

Hi Everyone!

Both DH and I were off work yesterday and we had a fun day. We did breakfast out, took the car for an oil change and 2 minor recall fixes, saw Beauty & the Beast. We did some shopping for DH, 3 pairs of new shorts and 6 new t-shirts.

I did some shoe shopping....I couldn't find any sandals for work! so I bought 4 new pair of flats that I can where without trouser socks...I will hunt for sandals on another weekend. The people at DWS told me that they weren't fully stocked on sandals yet. They had cute casual sandals but nothing that I would wear to work with dresses. I will look there again but I will also look at Shoe Carnival and at Famous Footwear and Kohls.

Beauty & the Beast was so good!

We had a great time at the Broadway Production of MoTown. Very well done, and very interactive with the Audience. I kept signing along.

I had an exciting weigh-in at TOPS on Thursday. I was down 8 lbs!! I was in shock. I didn't really change to much in what I have been doing. I have been also watching the carbs and sugar in my "snacks" so maybe that was it.

This weekend is cleaning house, doing laundry today and still going through tubs of clothes to toss, give away and keep. DH will mow the grass, and grocery shop.

Tomorrow is church and we are going out to Easter lunch with some friends and maybe my brother, James and the boys. Then I plan to take a nap!

Thank you to everyone who commented on the FB photos when we were at the Motown production. I felt pretty that night.

Dee: Very nice picture of you and DH. You are still beautiful! Of course I will pray for you and I will ask for you to be healed and given the time you desire on this earth. Hugs my friend!

Ceejay: I am so proud of you and your debut. Since you have retired, you have done so many fun things for yourself and got back in touch with things you like to do. That is a fulfilling life!

I think you should take the Organist up on her offer!

Laura: So exciting that vacation is just around the corner (and I hope you get your pedicure scheduled...that is top priority this week!).

Anne: You hit the addiction explanation to C on the head. I still make my DH a Easter Basket. It is nice you still do it for your kids and even though the 28 yr old asked "is that it"...I know he appreciates it and looks forward to it....men....they just never grow up!

Shad: Adorable picture of the slippers. That is a treasured memory for your granddaughter. I hope the chemo side effects are gone and you are feeling well and enjoying your visit.

Happy: So exciting that the scale arrived and you will begin on Monday.

I need to get off this computer and get on the treadmill so I can get all the other things I need to do done.

Have a lovely and blessed Easter!
I'm so humbled by Good Friday and filled with joy by Easter Morning!

Will be going back to Ash Grove this afternoon for the prayer visuals this afternoon. I will be spending the night with sis and bil again cause I want to go to the sunrise service. Suppose to be storming then also.

What a fight my nephew and his wife had last night! Not sure what it was about but I could here her on the other end yelling at the top of her lungs. And he was in the bedroom with the door closed. She's driving a deep wedge between them. My sis said she was controlling and I've seen and heard it first hand. But she may have had her reasons. His work had early dismissal yesterday and he likes to fish so he went fishing. He shouldn't have to be at her beckon call 24/7 since they are separated. But she also wants to know where he's at 24/7. He did bring home some sort of water craft last night also. He does have a habit of spending money (like his dad). And he has changed out his bank account so she couldn't have access to it. That is probably what set her off. Making me a bit edgy.

------
Susie
Sounds like you did a bit of shopping yesterday. I'm ready to start wearing my sandals also but need a new pair. I like getting back into my old hobbies, like playing the piano. Keeps me occupied.

Good morning all,

Just popping in quickly to wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter. Hope you all enjoy yourselves no matter what your plans may be today.

Hope you are all enjoying the Easter break and not eating too much chocolate. I am typing this from my phone and I hate doing that so this will be short. We have been having a busy time here. Got something on all the time but it is all good. Been pretty good on the food front. Granddaughter is mostly great but there are times that I could wring necks.
Itch is still with me but I have antihistamines to take which help. Last chemo next Friday so given another 3 weeks or so you won't have to put up with my whining for much longer. Wish my hair would grow again.
Anyway better go sort out my breakfast so back probably some time Tuesday or Wednesday my time

HAPPY EASTER MONDAY!

What a glorious weekend. HE HAS RISEN! Friday night we spend coloring Easter eggs. C, Sam and I did one each then the boys did the rest. Had to laugh. Halfway through Jacob decided he want to color one egg with a SHARPIE PERMANENT marker. And so he did, of course NANNA said yes. He colored the entire egg in red. Too funny as most of the marker was on his hands. Royce was very cute when he kept lifting the egg out of the dye say, not yet, just a little longer. Making memories.

Saturday morning I went to meeting then came home and started in on the food as our dinner was at 4 pm. Maple baked Keto ham, was ok, but not as tasty as my usual sugared up ham. Then on to homemade mac n cheese, ham and green beans, mashed taters, and banana cream pie for dessert. All and all it was good. Mike's wife, Pia came and it was a very nice visit. She and I only got teared up one time. I started belting out a Fleetwood Mac song in my awful voice, which is my only voice and we all started laughing. Love the song Rhiannon, however also reminds me of Michael back when I was a teen. We all about choked on our food and had a good laugh. Secretly I truly embarrassed myself, but it was worth it.

Sunday was Easter service at church. VERY lovely. The music was great as was the message. We all got a free CD of our church singing music. Most all the songs are on KLOVE radio. Before we left for church the dang Easter bunny had hidden surprise filled plastic eggs around the house plus left everyone a basket. Sam was cute as she had me a basket with a bag of regular and a bag of BBQ pork rinds in it. Made me chuckle. First basket I have had in about 35 years. One of the songs I believe was written by one our our pastors who is also the music director. Lovely. Then we had to drop the boys off at Chris's house for them to have Easter with him. He brought them back home around 5. We watched the movie Solace and the boys watched something in their room in the evening.

My son also told me that he had heard and confirmed with Kristin's (soon to be ex) cousin, that yes indeed Kristin is pregnant. (not my son's baby) Just another blow for my son. One, they are not divorced yet and two, he went through 2 surgeries and she one surgery for fertility. Did various other things (drugs etc) to get pregnant and no baby. AGAIN, I told him God does things for a reason. I would tell you what I really think of Kristin but I would have to make amends. I have asked God to help me with this.

SHADDIE...have a safe trip home and hopefully this last chemo treatment coming up will not be as bad. Glad you got to enjoy the gbabe. I know what you mean about ringing necks.

CEEG...so nice to hear your piano playing at church went well. Kudos my friend. Kids, eh the nephew, I get it. Always drama these days.

LAURA....I bet you are getting wound up about vacation. Oh Yeah! Your Easter dinner sounded as quaint as ours did. Kind of nice with a small crowd.

HI DEE...prayers for you my friend.

HAPPY...I LOVE LOVE LOVE bingo. For that pot I may have to scoot on up there and join in. I used to have my own dauber in pink of course. Good luck on your first day of your eating plan. Hope all goes well...sending will power and much strength.

SUSIE...OMGOSH! WOW down 8 lbs. Holy cow. Congrats! You are rocking this sister. Your day with hubby sounded busy but lots of fun. Sam and I just loved Beauty and the Beast. Definitely a buy to keep DVD when it comes available.

Hello to the lurkers.

Hugs all.

Oh forgot my WI. Down 1.2 on Saturday. Total 16.2, since starting KETO way of eating. 9 weeks Keto. Not bad. 176.2 lbs I think I am taking it off slower than most KETO eaters because I am getting so close to my goal. Initially want to get to 165-169, but now I am thinking 165 for sure, maybe 160. So far all losses since I started. Some weeks not much at all like .2 or .4 lbs. I will take it. I asked C what he was going to do with me once I lose all my weight and I will be perfect. He looked at me and smiled and said, "I don't know what to do with you now." Great laugh for the morning.

Oh and today is our 4th wedding anniversary. More like 40 on some days! haha.

Happy happy anniversary Annie and C

Morning all.

Annie – Happy Anniversary to you and C! = Congrats on the loss! Great job. I do remember it being difficult to lose as I got closer to my goal. Keep plugging away, you’ll get there! = ROFL re J using a sharpie to color the egg!! == Your Easter dinner sounded very tasty. I’m gonna have to try making homemade banana cream pie sometime. Used to pick up a slice once a year from Bakers’ Square, but the last time it just didn't taste right…no more of that. Awww, nice you got a basket – S gave you just the right thing. == As for your son’s situation – I’m sad he’s hurting, but hopefully he will eventually come to see it as a blessing in disguise.

Shad – Safe travels home! Glad you’re having a good time, even if busy. Sorry the itch is still with you – I’m glad the antihistamines help. Don’t need you going bonkers scratching away! One more session to go, I’m sure you’re so ready to have that over and done with and get back to your normal life!

Happy – Hope you had a nice Easter holiday – how was the buffet?? It’ll be interesting to see how crowded bingo will be this week since the pot is rolling over. == Funny story about the volunteer’s change of clothes ending up as a donation. You really have to watch where you put something in that shop!

Ceejay – Glad to hear your performance went well. How nice to be taking the hobby up again and enjoying it. == Sorry things are getting ugly between your nephew and his wife. == How were the services you attended? == Yes, going to garden this year. The veg patch will be small. Going to focus on getting the flower beds in shape – a lot of grass has grown into them.

Dee – Good to see your post! Everybody here has had or is having physical/health challenges, so don’t let that keep you from posting. I hope the neurologist can deal with the numbing you get. Sending you healing thoughts! Love the pic of you and your hub at Epcot. Sounds like you had a nice trip with your grandkids!.

Susie – Nice you and your dh had Friday off work – sounds like you had a nice day. == Wow, that’s a huge WL Susie!! You’re doing fabulous. Some of your clothes must be falling off of you!!

==
I ended up getting out of work early on Friday, so that was nice. I used the extra time to go to a runner’s shop that’s in the next town over and buy a pair of sneakers and a pair of inserts. Big woosh of money there, but if there’s anything I need to spend money on, it’s good shoes to support my feet. The employee who helped me was very knowledgeable. Later on, I watched the movie “Hidden Figures”. It was good and I’m so impressed by anyone who can do that level of mathematics. It was funny that when they used the word “computers” in that movie, they were referring to employees.

Saturday I had breakfast with a friend and it was good to see her and we chatted up a storm. After that I ran a couple errands, and then went home to do some cleaning.

Sunday I baked an almond cake for our Easter dinner dessert and made a sauce to go with it out of some frozen cherries we had in the freezer. Otherwise we had ham, green bean casserole, and mashed sweet potatoes. It was a nice day.

Looking forward to the upcoming vacation. NOT looking forward to the packing – I know I'll dither over what & how much to take. I have my pedicure appointment set for Wednesday.

That’s about it for me, so I’ll post.

Howdy all,

Gads what a frustrating morning. Think I will do personals first so you can skip my b-tchin' if you like...

Shad - glad you are enjoying your visit. I'm sorry that you are having the itches - that must be horrible. I don't know but I'm thinking it will take a while after the last treatment for the hair to grow back in. Will be interesting to see if the color and texture change - I've heard that can happen.

Happy Anniversary Anne and C! Boy how times flies. I would not have thought it was that long already. I'm glad you had a great Easter - both with the family and with uplifting services. I'm sad for your son - he has had to deal with an incredible amount of heartbreak lately. As you say, need to take comfort in God's plan - things happen for a reason - always so difficult to accept at the moment. Just love him back hard and try not to lose faith in everyone. Congrats on your weightloss and getting close to goal - good that you understand that the closer you get, the more work it might take - just keep doing what you are and be patient. I got your card this week - thank you very much for the sentiment, the note and the card

Hi Dee - I hope that all goes well at the doctor for you. Lovely picture of you and the hubby!

Ceejay - I'm so glad your piano / organ debut went well. How nice if you will be encouraged to play more often. It will be a good outlet for you and good for the brain power too. Bummer on the drama with the nephew - I suppose it's hard to stay at arm's length on the situation. Just remain a bystander. Divorce is an ugly business.

Laura - almond cake - oh my that sounds so yummy. I just love almond flavored stuff. DH was flipping through the movie rentals on cable and we decided to watch Hidden Figures. What a great movie - it sounded interesting but was really just as good and even better than we expected it to be. It also was a big reminder of how life was for some folks in 1961. I would recommend the movie to everyone. Banana cream pie is very easy to make - a store bought pie shell or nilla vanilla wafers crust, some banana or vanilla pudding, sliced fresh bananas and some topping of whipped cream or even cool whip. Then there is the Dr. Phil's wife chemical bomb version of sugar free, fat free, (taste free) that might be low calorie but I would rather eat a plastic bag than eat all that artificial stuff I guess he's a banana pie junkie and she shaved all the calories off of it. == As for the packing, at least hopefully you can pack lighter weight clothes. It's good that now we can check the weather channel and see what the weather will be like so one can be prepared. I thought a wardrobe of cuddle duds and modal would be good. Everything is lightweight and rollable to get in the suitcase! Also try and get by with only 2 pairs of shoes. Good luck - lay stuff out ahead of time, and pare from there. I still think Shad was dead on with picking 3 base colors and everything was interchangeable.

Wow Susie the pounds are truly just falling off of you! Congrats again. Nice on the shoe score. I see they are coming out with print types of spring shoes - I just love those even if they aren't really practical. Those scream spring to me and nice to get out of the heavier winter shoes. Sounds like you had alot of fun on the weekend. I would have enjoyed the MoTown show too. Glad you have access to so many fun concerts.

Yesterday we had a nice lunch. Our friends showed up even though he was balking at first because he doesn't eat much. Afterwards he said he'd do it again. They had breakfast items - waffles, bacon, eggs, fresh fruit and lunch items - baked cod, baked chicken, ham, prime rib, several salads, california blend steamed veggies - cauliflower, broccoli, carrots as well as mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. I knew from past experience I would get the breakfast items and then not have room for the lunch stuff I liked better so this time I skipped the breakfast stuff - I can make that at home and went for the lunch stuff. I had a nice plate of food - the only thing was the balsamic salad I love so much they put huge chunks of blue cheese in it instead of a crumble and that was too intense for me. They had a wide variety of desserts - it looked like they contracted with someone to make homemade desserts. I stuck pretty much with my favorite soft serve vanilla ice cream - plain but had 3 bites of a lemon orange meringue pie that DH recommended. Oh boy that was good - very rich but a unique taste. I left there not stuffed but satisfied and happy I tried to make better choices than go for broke even though it was the last day before diet day. Neither of us was very hungry for supper and I had gone to the store and spent $400 on groceries the day before. I had not been shopping in over 3 weeks and the cupboards were pretty bare - especially with fresh stuff. So I made a list of what I bought which I find handy to refer to (and not waste stuff). I decided to use a small french baguette and make crostini's. I toasted the bread with some olive oil and a parmesan herb mix I found in the spice drawer - boy that smelled good. I then topped it with a bit of horseradish sauce, some thin sliced deli roast beef, and some chopped roasted bell peppers and I had some mozzerella "pearls" - tiny balls I chopped too and added to the bell peppers. It was really tasty. These were kinda what I called "lite bites". Less than a sandwich would be and just enough to take the edge off of our light hunger. Even DH liked it. I had an artichoke bruschetta mix but I think I might use that as a flavoring agent rather than a spread. Later that evening I had 2 glasses of moscato wine while I was watching tv. It was a good day. DH ate his Easter candy I bought for him and I was not tempted at all.

Today started diet day one. I fussed around with trying to plug in foods to find a balance of both calories and I am trying to incorporate anti inflammatory foods like fresh berries. I really hate all this tweaking and fussing but that was nothing compared to trying to get this stupid scale working. The Contrave drug gives you a 2 or 3 month companion diet program which is not impressive at all. I got the scale last week - no instructions and very little information on how to use it. You are supposed to weigh every day and it transmits your weight digitally. Except I live in the woods and the digital signal is not that strong to the mother ship in the sky. I tried weighing 4 times, moved the scale all around the house with no luck. Looked up error messages, tried to text my weight in and got no response. Tried to get on to online chat - gave up after 20 minutes of no response other than "we'll be with you shortly". Finally 30 minutes after texting my weight to 2 different numbers I finally got an acknowledgement. I probably blew at least 2 hours of time on that this morning. And I keep flitting around starting things and getting distracted. Including my breakfast which I carefully planned out and now it's lunch time so I might tweak that a bit. I do this when I get overwhelmed so that means - make a list. Pick things to do by priority and stick to the list.

Which is what I will do now starting with getting some food in me because I have a hungry headache. Sorry for the rambling.

Here's to a start of a good week for all of us. Toasting with water as drinking more water is one of my 3 goals for this week.

Good Morning Beautiful Ladies....Happy, Healthy, Grateful, Blessed...

What a glorious morning, sun shining, 70+ degrees today, nice for a walk at lunch. I may be feeling sick, might have to go home. lol. NOT.

Last night I fixed a new recipe. Trying to incorporate ham from Easter into the meal. It was roasted cauliflower then made a cheese sauce with heavy whipping cream, chicken broth and real cheese. Once the cauliflower was roasted poored the cheese over it, put small ham cubes over that then mixed together. Then a layer of shredded cheese. It was very delish. Heated up the green beans and rolls for the rest. Yummy and actually ate toooooooo much was over full, but all keto.

Tonight is AA Big Book workshop so today I put a pork loin with carrots, potatos and onions in the crocker. One of my downtown friends may be going with me to the workshop. Altho she texted me today to say her ovarian cyst is very painful today and also TTM today. She is not feeling it. She is at work and will go home after work to the heating pad and let me know later if she feels up to it.

Our anniversary was low key. We exchanged cards. Ate dinner and off to bed by 8:30. I did not sleep well the night before so I was more than ready to hit the hay. We are going to go out to eat on Sunday afternoon, maybe, for a nice dinner just the two of us. We will see what Sunday brings.

HAPPY...Hope day 2 is starting out great for you new way of eating. I hope you like it as much as I love KETO. No fuss, no muss eating KETO. Either I can eat or I can't. Hope to keep it up as long as possible, you know, while my head is still in the game. That is half the battle. Your lunch with friends sounds so tasty. MMmmm, baked cod with extra butter. I can see now the commune will have to have a super duper tower for all our computer/phone/scale connections. Must add that to the list.

LAURA...I have never had almond cake. It sounds yummy, but guess I will not get to ever taste it as long as I am KETO. When is it again you are leaving for vacation? Relax and enjoy your upcoming pedi.

Thank you for all of your anniversary wishes.

Hugs.

Sunday was a very good. Church service was good as always. The sis's children and grandchildren didn't come out until 5 for dinner which gave a more relaxed time to prepare. My nephew and his (separated) wife were well behaved. They stayed till 8 and it was getting dark so I decided to spend the night again. My sis played the video of my performance at church and each of them were hugging around on me.
Yesterday my nephew stayed home from work but did want the others to know. We got a lot of work done in the back yard and it looks super great. He even sprayed the yard for weed and dandelions. We were cleaning around the deck and back of the house picking up stuff that the previous people had left. We raked out 3 balls and some flower pots from under the deck. And some drug paraphernalia. It still stank of the drug. Yes this was my niece. But we are not going to tell my sis but she knew about it. She was in the wrong crowd at one time. My nephew got stuck under the deck so I had to pull him out by his feet. Some ordeal if I do say so myself. When we were cleaning around the house area of the bay window my nephew was getting out some old flower border. I was using the shovel and he was pulling it out of the ground. All of a sudden he started he started using a one by one and hitting the ground. He pulled out a snake and carried it across the road. I took off toward the back to the fence. He came back and he was calming down and raised his arm up and I told him let me look at you wrist. Sure enough two puncture wounds. The snake bit him. We washed the area and then poured alcohol on the sight. I measured the swelled area which was not bad and begged him to let me take him to urgent care. He refused. I asked him what it looked like and then googled it. We found it and it was non poisonous black King snake about 3 feet long. We were doing some things on the side yard and the neighbors dog came charging at us barking with his ferocious bark. I started talking to him and he calmed down. The daughter came out and we talked to her and told her to tell her dad to be careful while he was mowing. A little later the dad came to the house to check on him. I'm beginning to know my neighbors a little better since I'm out more.
Also yesterday my nephew and I went to Lowe's and got some garden soil and top soil to replenish the flower bed. I left a plant in the flower bed to see what it was. It's a strawberry plant with a few blooms.
-------
Annie
Congratulations on the weight loss. This way of eating is right for you. I have done very well this week end until yesterday we splurged and bought a pizza. I hadn't thought about a meal plan. Some days I do well and others I don't, and other times I don't give a rip.

Laura
I need to go shoe shopping this week end while I'm in Branson. I agree we have to take care of our feet. My yard shoes are old Sketchers that you would roll up on when you walked. I love them for working out in the yard. These were high dollar shoes when I bought them but I love them. Wish I could find some more.

Happy
Your Easter lunch sounds like a winner to me. I keep trying to convince my sis that she doesn't have to cook all the time.

Hi Susie and Shad and Dee, and Ellen

Morning all. Starting off in the 40’s but quickly warming up. Definitely getting out at lunch time today.

Annie – Dinner sounded tasty. We’ll probably have Easter leftovers tonight too, but just reheating, not creating anything new. Leaving for vacay on Saturday, need to get the fridge cleared out, so we'll probably be doing more leftovers the rest of the week. Enjoy the workshop today.

Happy – Glad you enjoyed your Easter buffet, and the crostini you made later sounded so yummy. ==Re my almond cake - I like almond-flavored sweets, and the cake turned out fine, but it was sort of boring. I guess I’m more of a cookie or coffee cake kind of person. Even the cherry sauce on it didn’t do much for me. Maybe serving it with whipped cream or ice cream would have been better. What I really want to make next for almonds is almond cookies – not the crescents I make at Christmas, but more like the ones at the Chinese restaurants – but without that nasty lard aftertaste! We never eat those, just a fortune cookie, but every time we eat in the restaurant, I always tell myself I need to bake some good almond cookies. = As for the banana cream pie, if I’m going to go to the trouble to make one, I’d probably try to do it all from scratch. And that’s also my thought re making desserts lighter/healthier – nope. No sugar-free, fat-free ingredients. I don’t make real desserts very often (usually for a holiday/special occasion) so I don't want to worry about the calories or healthfulness. And I prefer real ingredients, not “Frankenfoods”. Yes, the person who eats plenty of processed store-bought convenience junk doesn’t want to cook with them, lolol. == Wishing you success with your new eating plan. How did yesterday go? I hope you find a good spot for your scale so it can transmit the data consistently. What PITA that was! == Re the packing – I have no problem mixing/matching and making clothes do double or triple duty, especially when I traveled for work. For vacations though – to warm/hot climates – I don’t expect to be able to wear anything multiple times if I’m getting hot and sweaty . So the idea of trying to pack for nearly two weeks is the issue – lots of clothes to avoid having to do laundry at some point during vacation. Maybe I just need to spend all my time at the pool/beach!

Ceejay – Oh wow, quite the adventure with the yard work yesterday!! Yikes, a snake!! And a snake BITE! Ouch. So lucky it wasn’t poisonous!! Glad you were able to pull your nephew out from under the deck! That poor guy. But I bet everything looks nice after all that work you two did. Not that it’s a one-time effort, darn it. Grass and weeds keep growing... It’ll be nice if you get some strawberries from that plant. == I hope you find the kind of Sketchers you like when you go shoe shopping. Or maybe buy them online?

Hellos to the rest of you. Hope you’re all having a good week so far!

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Found myself sitting on the sofa after getting home from work until it occurred to me that I need to get my butt down to the basement and exercise. Still not an automatic thing to get home, change clothes and get exercising. Anyway, I did one BE workout. I had a leftover half sandwich from Saturday’s lunch for dinner. I was thinking about you guys and your ant comments when bf and I saw we had some ants in the kitchen yesterday. Ugh! First time we've had that happen!! Not many of them, but there are probably more we didn’t see. So right after dinner we went to Home Depot to buy some traps.

I'm getting out at lunchtime today to run a couple errands and enjoy the nice weather. Tonight I’ll exercise. Bf’s friend is coming over and they’ll likely watch a movie. I’d like to see it (Manchester by the Sea), but I better skip it and make sure I get my exercise in, sort some laundry, and get a load done. I know if I put it off, I’lll run into the issue of bf needing to do his laundry just when I want to do mine. Besides, I just don't want to wait until the last minute.

That all for me, back to work.