Hi:

It's quiet out here! I thought I might be the only one too tired to even write, but, nooooo.

Yes, I was hungry on less than 1000 calories on Thursday and today it showed!! Oh well, I'll pretend I'm doing the Wendie plan

We were supposed to have a private dance class tonight and our teacher stood us up! I reached her by phone and she was so embarrassed; she had completely forgotten us. Oh well, that happens. Yesterday, I forgot a meeting with a student also, so I guess it's a variant of what goes around, comes around!

I am looking forward to a weekend of decluttering this house. I can already feel the Winter cabin fever building and I've just got to get stuff out. Anybody else have this clutter problem?

Hi Melissa...we've noticed your absence...welcome back. Froufy, so good about the $$$$...congratulations to your husband and I hope you enjoyed your "me" day. I need one of those! But the big ME day is only 5 weeks away...opps, guess it's really a WE day

Rhonda

hi there. you'll never guess what i did today. i got on my hands and knees for over 5 hours scrubbing the kitchen floor. i think it's vickie clean. hope it lasts.

earlier this am i went to ww. i was down .2 from when i was last there 2 weeks ago. our meeting was about fruit/veggies. our leader talked about core a lot. one thing she said (and we all know this) is that core foods make you feel more full than non core ones cuz of the fiber. just thought i'd share that with you.

last night we had inlaws over. tomorrow evening we're getting the grands. curtis is conducting an archery seminar at the local pro shop while the girls and i go to the mall. sounds like a fair trade to me.

melissa, it's good to see you here. i miss you. i haven't been weighing every day lately either. nothing wrong with that.

frouf, chocolate after mickey d's sounds sort of sinful. (but fun)

rhonda, did you and doyle get to dance anyway?

we're getting the house and everything else ready so we can leave later next week. i'm getting excited. it's been almost 2 years since we've been down. looks like we'll be down there till the middle of december. i am sooooo excited!!

well, guess we'll see if i'm first here tomorrow. i doubt i will be cuz we're running errands in the am. have a good evening, chickies. i'll catch you later.

well, who'da thunk it? i get the prize.

i am so sore from all the crawling around in the kitchen yesterday. guess that's what woke me so early. i'm surfing for ww meeting times in the dfw area. my doctor wouldn't accept any excuses from me about not being able to attend classes the next 7 weeks. let's me know how important he thinks going to them is.

have a great op!! day, everyone.

Good Morning Chicks. I feel a little less sad this morning. At least I didn't wake up crying like every day since Tuesday.

Jim's eye specialist appointment on Thursday had great results. His eye are in wonderful condition with no damage from his diabetes. His A1C test is at 5.8 and it is great if it is below 6.0. So we are quite happy about his health at the moment.

I was very busy yesterday, wrapping presents and making WW eclair cake to bring with for the birtday parties tonight. Both my Sister and BIL are celebrating their birthdays tonight and they both love the cake. I also cooked Core chicken cacciatore last night which was wonderful; Jim's favorite Core meal.

I continue to be very tired and achey which I think is from the letdown from all the stress. I'll be leaving at 2:00 today to go to the parties and probably won't be home until around 9:00. Cassie will have a visit from the pet sitters since she can't go that many hours without going outside.

I pretty ate Core yesterday at breakfast and dinner. At lunch I ate two tiny open face peanut butter and jealy sandwhiches. They were much healthier than the old days. I had about 2 Tablespoons of chunky smart balance peanut butter (it's the new stuff and it's great!), with 2T chunky Polaner simply fruit black cherry jelly on multigrain bread. It was the Corest and healthiest that I could be. I also had a couple of WW mint patties. I will likely have a gain on Monday but will go to my meeting and weigh in. Like Sandra, I believe the meetings and weigh ins are important for me.

I'll try to be good at the party today. My Niece is making Core pasta salad for me. I'm bringing a can of bumble bee gold tuna in water and 2 hardboiled eggs. I'll have that and a piece of the eclair cake and call it a day.

Tomorrow I desperately need to start cleaning my house even though my ankle is no where near recovered. I cannot afford a cleaning lady with all the Vet bills. Especially since I must start taking Cassie back to finish getting her diagnosis.

I hope you are all well. I'm going to go check up on all of you now.

Sandra, you've been struggling a bit and still managing to lose some weight! Good for you. You're a great role model for me. Did you lose the .2 while wearing jeans? That would be amazing. So will we still hear from you while you're in Texas? I didn't know you'd be gone for 7 weeks. That's a long time. Where will you be staying? I'm just full of questions, aren't I? Another question! I haven't scrubbed my floor on my knees in a long time. Jim has been using the Hoover floor mate. I just do the corners or along the baseboard where he can't reach. I don't think that my knees could take it at this weight.

Frouf, what's up with you GF? What do you think is making you eat non-Core? You are a wonderful woman to help out your Ex. Not many would do so but I certainly understand. He does seem to be somewhat helpful and reliable for you. I'm glad that the meeting with your ex-SIL was positive. I didn't know that your work situation was tenuous. No wonder your blood pressure is up. I'm sure you'll find something spectacular. It seems like you are VERY good at what you do. I'm guessing that someone will snap you up! It's REALLY great that DH has this project which will pay him money each month. An extra $2500 a month is nothing to sneeze at! I hope you are at this very moment enjoying your manicure and looking forward to your hair appointment. Monday night is going to be alot of fun for you. Do you know yet whether or not your program won?

Melissa, I hope that cough doesn't turn into something serious! You better watch it. We do miss you and look forward to hearing what's going on with you when you have time. Did you win at the races?

Rhonda, you sound like you are doing very well. I'm guessing you are going to have another fabulous this week. BTW, I HATE clutter and it freaks me out when stuff starts to pile up around me. I really need to do some serious cleaning/decluttering. I haven't been up to it but I'm trying and Jim is helping. Only 5 weeks until the wedding. How exciting! Mine was the best day of my life.

Paula, what's up with you? You didn't say much the other day. Got any good new recipes for me?!!!

Kathy, I hope you're enjoying your trip to Chicago. It's been very cold here and kind of dreary. I'm sure you thought it was freezing! I hope you're feeling better by now.

Well, I need to go eat breakfast. Yes....it's 10:30 already. I think a late lunch right before I leave for the party is in order. Maybe just some FF cottage cheese and pineapple. I'll go start the menu thread.

Hi All:

I have spent the whole morning cleaning, dusting, washing, wiping, sorting, throwing...but not on my hands and knees scrubbing anything.

Glad to hear that you aren't so sad, Vickie. You gave me an idea for my friend's gathering...why don't I make something core and take it over?? At least I'll have something to eat and won't be dependent on the others.

No, Sandra, we didn't dance but we have a group lesson tomorrow night and we're going to a Halloween dance on the 27th. I haven't been to a dance in about a decade I believe and I'm really excited : dance: It's costume and we'll go as vampires...we can chew each other's necks and stay in role that way

I hope everyone does well today.

Rhonda

hi, chickies. we are home from training. i am getting pretty accurate with the longbow--and i am loving shooting it. we ate a non-core meal today. i have to tell you, though, that i put myself back on core most of the time but am counting pts. today's a high point day. i've already had 19. i'm taking the grands shopping tonight and will take them out to dinner. grandpa will be presenting an archery seminar on building strings. (i'm glad i don't have to go to that one.)

vickie, my floor was embarassingly dirty. it needed a major scrubbing. i'll never buy another one that has grooves. give me flat surfaces any time. i am very very sore today. i think that's why i woke up early.

i thought about wearing jeans to ww yesterday so i could blame any gain on them, but i decided to dress "light." i had 2 or 3 meltdowns in the 2 weeks prior to wi, but managed to stay in some form of control most of the time. i was really worried about not getting to w a much what with all that's been going on around here. plus, i have been known to gain 11 lbs in 2 weeks. (did that back in the spring) i knew i hadn't done that this time but was afraid i'd gained some.

our ww leader touched on dieting without exercise. she whispered to us that it can be done, but that losing would be much slower. she said we'd probably maintain or lose about .2 lb. this rang a bell with me.

i won't be able to be online while in transit. i used to have cellphone connection for my laptop to hook onto the internet. i don't have that any more since we changed from cingular to verizon. those cellphones cost over $300. we couldn't afford to spend that on another cellphone. however, i will be able to get online if we stay at the rv ranch. they not only have wireless net but also provide free landline phones. i'll just plug my laptop into their phone system and will be good to go. that reminds me. i need to find out the local phone number for outdoors.net.

the rv ranch is just south of fort worth. my son/family live about 15 miles south of there and my bro/family live about 15 miles north. a lot of my texas friends live within 10 miles. there are ww meetings all around. we will be just a few miles from kathy. kathy, we need to connect. i'll call you when we get there.

we have gone south and stayed long periods during winters since 99. we didn't go last year. normally i gain around 10 lbs while down there. almost everyone we visit wants to congregate around food--and a lot of times in restaurants. this year we're down there during the holiday season. talk about panicking! my doctor is helping me. i'm taking diet pills till after the first of the year. i go back to see him (i think jan 5) shortly after we get home. i'm again to show him my ww card as proof i was attending classes. he was upset with me for only going once last month. i promised him i'd do better. i am not going to take any more diet pills. my jan 5 visit should just be a final check in on my weightloss. i'm hoping to lose 10 lbs this trip instead of gaining it. i know it's lame to take diet pills, but i need that crutch right now.

we have plans to shoot about 7+ archery tournaments while down south. texas has an ongoing tournament called "shoot your way across texas" (sywat--pronounced "sie watt") folks competing must shoot at least 3 tournaments out of many many that are taking place all over the state in archery shops from november - march. overall winners (scores of top 3 tourneys plus day 1 at the state championship) receive really nice awards.

i won't be elligible for that cuz we'll be in montana during the state championship. however, i should be able to qualify for a trophy that will indicate which tournaments i've won. up until this year curtis' physical condition has kept him from being very competitive. we're hoping his shoulders hold up for him this year and he can shoot some higher scores. we love our texas archery family. it's going to be good to be with them again.

have fun at the birthday party. i haven't made the eclair cake in a long long time. wish i had a piece.

i'm writing a book here, aren't i?

rhonda, what fun!!!! i would love to see photos of countess rhondula and count doylula. i like the idea of taking core foods to gatherings. did you know you can make core dip by just stirring dry ranch seasoning into ff sour cream? it's better if made a day ahead.

dancing makes me think of my taryn rose shoes i got off ebay. did i tell ya'll they came yesterday--and i love them!!! talk about comfortable!! i wear size 8 medium. i got size 39M brown sandal heels. now i have 2 pairs of shoes that go great with my brown/black dress. rhonda, this is the dress i'm wearing to your wedding. i'll probably wear the black shoes and save the brown sandal heels for spring. they came to me in the box with the shoes inside a velvet bag. the $310 price tag was still on the box. i got them for around $50. i have a bid on some black loafers now but don't think i'll get them. i'm not going to bid again. bidding is up on them about the time we head south. i think someone will outbid me. if they don't, i'll have to contact the seller and send payment from texas when we get there.

i'm talking too much here. sorry. curtis and i are both wound up today. guess we're getting our adrenaline flowing with excitement about heading south. we're soooooo ready to get out of town.

my tail, legs, hands, and arms are sore. i am not in shape to scrub floors. glad i'm through for awhile. the travel trailer is a cinch to keep clean. (remind me later that i said that.)

kathy, i hope you're having a good time in chicago with sean. let us know if you find trader joe's. also, i'll be giving you a buzz on the phone soon. it's going to be soooo good to finally meet in person.

melissa, are you getting caught up on reading here? i hope you're having a good weekend. i'm sorry work is still the pits.

frouf, i'm ready to read another of your adventures.

got to go. i need to post today's menu. i'll be back tomorrow. have a good evening, chickies.

Rhonda, I'm glad what I said clicked for you. I almost always take stuff with me to parties. It makes it easier for me and takes the pressure off of me and the hostess. Today was hard for me. Everyone else was eating these great coldcuts on wonderful looking bread. I survived but I feel a bit deprived. I need to guard against eating badly tomorrow. Sometimes that happens to me after parties.

Sandra, I will hate it while you're gone if we don't hear from you. You're lucky that you get diet pills. I'm jealous. My Internist absolutely won't even consider it for me.

We had a nice time at the party. I just got on so that I could check my email. I'm really tired. The four great nieces and 2 great nephews were all wound up today so I'm worn out.

I'll be back tomorrow.