April was very good about the bath. She's a lab/shepherd mix which basically makes her waterproof, so trying to get her wet to soap her down is the hard part. I run some coldish water in the tub then make her get in, and lie down to 'soak' for a few minutes while trying to spash water on her. If I pour water on her it just bounces off her coat!

Good Morning Everyone,

Penguin That is a beautiful dog you have. My friend back home in TX has a beautiful lab. Very protective of her. She never had children and he definitely is hers.

Jane Today is a new day for both of us. I did pretty good yesterday until late last night. Knew I was going to the store after BSF so took me a cheese stick to eat on the way to the store. Came home and had a nice pretty balanced Reward Meal. Then got busy and forgot to eat until I was starving. We should never let ourselves get too tired and starving at the same time. I went in and made me some asparagus, cream cheese & laughing cow cheese wraps with sliced ham. I made one too many and ate it any way. Then I ended up eating candy. So that blew my CAD day because can't have 2 RM. Any way I'm up today and more structured plan for today even with eating out. We will probably go to Ryan's and I pretty much eat very balanced when I go there any way.

I've been thinking about how I lost almost 70 lbs 7 years ago. I ate pretty much low carb all the time except for when I went out to eat then I ate pretty much what I wanted. In restaurantes where I could I brought home about half the food. There were some places we went to eat that Tony and I halfed a meal. Need to go back to doing that. I had kind of taken the idea of Dana Carpendar's diet and CAD and made up my own way of losing. I think that is what I'm going to have to do this time. I think we have to do what works for us and stop listening to what others tell us we need to do. I used to love the CAD group I found on another thread, but they have got into arguing about sweetners. I've left the group. I'm not getting caught up in that junk. Life is too short to spend it arguing over things that are considered "options" in the diet books. Oh well, that is enough of that. I am just thankful we have this group here.

What is everyone doing today? We have a busy day planned. DH wants to go to Staples. I want to go to wally world over by the Rock Hill mall (all Walmarts do not carry same things) and see if they still have red fry pan to replace the one I've worn out. Won't exactly match my set but close. Just the 2 of us I only use the small size. Found one to match my other set that was Tony's Mom's at the Walmart stores closer to me. My larger pans only get used when the kids come. Even found me a small crockpot to make things for two.

May try to hit Hobby Lobby at the same time to see what I can find. Yes the fabric paint is what I was thinking of. I went on line and found info on it and even gave the brand name that I think I used to use. Hopefully we'll get some good walking in by walking in all 3 of those stores. Will eat out, but doing CAD makes eating out a breeze. In fact, it becomes a pleasant treat.

Tony's nephew called yesterday and told him they are still coming for T'giving and they are bringing the turkey and dressing. I am so glad because I don't want that leftover. So I've got to start thinking about the foods to put around it. Not a real problem. Tony BIL is picky so it is probably corn and then whatever veggies I want. Will try my hand at making a low carb cheesecake for a dessert and have just that so that I don't have any leftover junk food. I like how you either send it home with your kids or trash what you can't handle Jane. I've decided it is better in the trash or down the garbage than on my waist.

Well, got to run. Didn't mean to be so long winded today.

Hope everyone is doing well and y'all have a great day.

Welcome Linda!

Love the page, Jane. Your grand daughter will love it.

Man....you're a busy girl today Trish!

Penguin - you made me laugh while visualizing you and your dog in the tub.

All is well on my little planet today. Haven't done any sewing today - just haven't been in the mood. I did make a peach tea cake for the mister and a batch of hummus for myself so haven't been a total couch potato. I'm going to try a new recipe tonight for portabello mushrooms with melted cheese & tomatoes.

Also went and worked out this morning. Get this.....I have a blister from boxing! Nothing like being obsessive, eh? I am loving the boxing though. Next week I might add some kicking.

Was sad today when I picked up the mail and didn't have my yarn order. I was looking forward to knitting another set of dish cloths this weekend. OH well.....I'll find something else to work on. Maybe pulling out the paper from the 30 blocks I've paper pieced? Oh joy! I'll put the photo of the blocks I've made and the pattern up on my blog if you want to take a look at it.

have a good weekend everyone.

Penguin - like Kris, you made me laugh, too. April is gorgeous!

Trish - yes, we do have to do what works for us, so you're a smart lady to go back to that. About pans, I weeded through mine, and gave away quiet a few after our last chick left the nest, since I just don't need that many anymore. Then Neal came in from an auction and brought me several more! I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't want or need them, since he was sweet to buy them. Did you make it to Hobby Lobby? I love that store! They have the best scrapbooking selection of anyplace. Gets me into trouble, lol.

Kris - how'd the recipe go? Sounds de-lish! I haven't boxed for real, but have done it with the Wii, and I tell you, it really gave my arms a work out! No blisters, though, lol. Here's hoping you get your yarn today. I'll look at your blog photos in a bit.

I'm going shopping today to finish up Christmas gifts. Then tonight Neal and I are going to eat with friends, with a stop at the club.

Ouestion - several of us are posting at this thread, and the Age 50+ General thread, too. Should we try to combine the two? If so, what should we call it?

Have a good Friday.

Hi Crafter Friends,

Kris You go girl! Boxing and kicking? How I would love to be able to do that, but my body... bones wouldn't take it. You are doing great. I would love to have a wii, but DH isn't interested.

Jane No I didn't get to Hobby Lobby. Stayed in Wally world longer than I intended and my back started hurting so we came home so I could take ibuprofen. Last night I went on line and found a place called FreePatterns.com and downloaded 2 doily patterns to crotchet and started one last night for my dining room table. It is for a coffee table, but I think it would be beautiful on my oval DR table. So I am back to making things again keeping my hands busy without thinking about or being involved with food and eating. Yea I woke up this morning thinking I may not have done my last round correctly so I've got to check that out. Stayed up too late working on it and I was too tired to do the last round. I think I might get involved with cross-stitching too. That looks like fun. I used to do embroidering and made a lot of my own patterns years ago. I would love to try knitting. I knew a man who knitted for relaxation. It was a nightmare for me when I tried it because I make my stitches so tight that I couldn't get my needle in between them. Anyone have any idea how I could teach myself not to do that? There are so many beautiful things made knitting.

Not much going on the rest of the day today. I talked to my Daddy this morning before calling his sister/my aunt to wish her a happy BD. She turns 84 tomorrow. I know when I call her that it is going to be at least an hour call so called Daddy first. Turned out he was in a rare talkative mood and I absolutely love it when he is. He is 86 and I think we talked for over an hour. I thank God that I still have him as my Mama passed away 17 yrs ago. So my morning was spent on the phone. My aunt has had the shingles for 2 years and her doctor told her she will probably have to deal with it the rest of her life. Isn't that terrible? I didn't know you could have them that long. Makes me think I might want to spend the money for the shingles vaccine which is very expensive the last time I checked on it.

As for the combining the 2 threads, it doesn't matter to me. I'll do whatever y'all decide.

Jane you and Neal have a fun night out with your friends.

Everybody else have a great evening.

I'm enjoying a day off today, but why is it going by so fast! Here it is almost 3 already! I spent the morning giving the house a thorough cleaning, then went for groceries and made a nice lunch for when my daughter got here. She brought out Carley to spend the weekend with Jake and I, and my other granddaughter, Amber, is coming over after school to spend the night, too. I plan to give the girls manicures and paint their toenails while we spend the evening watching the newest Ice Age movie, and take them out for pancakes in the morning before sending them back home.

Jane, I hope you had a good day shopping and were able to cross a lot of names off your list.

Trish, your aunt and I share the same date birthday! Both my parents are still with us, thank the Lord, and actually only live about 2 miles away, so I see them often. My mother and I still spend hours on the phone, though.

Hi all,

Penguin - I think Genesis is one of the most fascinating books of the bible. How many people are in your group? How's the scarf coming along, or have you had time to work on it?

Trish - I have the same problem with knitting as you're having with crochet! I'll start my stitch tension just fine, then the next thing I know, they are so tight, I can barely get my needles in. I finally gave it up, since it was making my fingers hurt. One of the ladies here will be able to give you some good advice, I bet. Wouldn't your insurance pay for the shingles vaccine? Several people in my family have had shingles, too, so I probably should get the vaccine, too.

Linda - Happy Birthday to you! What a fun day with your daughter and granddaughters! I haven't seen that movie yet, but it sure looks cute. Any special plans for today?

Kris - hope you're having a good weekend!

Mary's 3 girls will be here in a while to stay over. I'm not sure what we'll be doing, but since it is Indian Summer here, I know we'll be outside as much as possible.

Have a good day!

I have determined that Friday's are my worst eating days. The hard part of my week is over, I can relax etc. I'm waiting for the weekend to start! Hubby brought home a small pizza from our favorite place. Celebrate! Hmmmm. I did okay yesterday but I could have done better. I didn't know we were going to get the pizza until Hubby called right before he left work so I didn't 'save/plan' any room in my food plan. So I had two snacks yesterday instead of one, then pizza on top of that. Oh, well. I'll have to remember to be more careful next Fri. Maybe start a new project to keep me extra busy.

Linda, Happy Birthday! The manicures and pedicures sound like fun. How was the movie?. Hubby and I really like the first Ice Age {we own a copy, LOL} but the second was rather weird. So we hope the third is better. Strangely, my favorite charater is Diego. Pancakes sound yummy. Tis tradition here that Hubby get up first on Sat mornings and make me breakfast, we switch out between pancakes, french tost, eggs and potato and egg hash. Sadly, this morning he had a playdate with a friend to weld on a muffler for Hubby's truck. I had a Luna protien bar and milk. Huff!

Jane, When it was announced last year that we were going to do Genisis, I wasn't thrilled. Growing up in the church, I have heard these stories all my life, but I find I'm learning a lot more than I thought. CBS {like BSF} is very indepth and we have lessons to do every day, then a lecture and commentary every week. Ahem, we don't grade the lessons. The whole class is about 300+ women {this class is only women}, my 'group' has another co-leader besides myself, and 10 other women, {other groups have more: my mom's group has 20 total}. Thanks for asking about the scarf, my hands are better I just haven't felt like working on it. The style of knitting change has turned into a big 'dread factor' I don't mind if you add us to the other group. I was hoping we could 'mainstream' the craft group and try to get others involved. There's a 'What craft are you working on ???' thread that I posted a link to our group, but so far no takers. I wonder if the thread being in the 50+ is 'hiding' it? I was hesitant to join since I'm not in this age group, but I think you were the one who posted 'age doesn't matter'. Did that make sense??? LOL. Thank you for the compliment of April. we got her from the Humane Soc when she was about a year+ old {we think she's about 8 now?}. they handed us a book to look through with pictues and discriptions. We had talked to the workers about what kind of dog we wanted and had almost decided on another dog named Sable. This one worker kept telling us to look at April. Well, her picture was dark, she's black, and her eyes were glowing red! We didn't want the 'devil dog' but we finally saw her and knew she was the one for us.

Patty, Hobby Lobby is one if my favorite places! I feel the loose knitting comes with practice. The more you knit the better you get at the motions and the easier the stitches are to make. I learned from a book at the library when I began. Now, LOL, there ar videos on YouTube. I used the ones from www.knittinghelp.com a knitting forum I belong to. Try the continental method! I'm trying to make the switch from English to Cont and finding the Cont much easier to do. The switch OTOH, is a pain! April is definatly MY dog!

Kris, I"m glad you enjoyed the boxing! I use workout videos at home, and kickboxing is a favorite. Added bonus it works your whole body at one time upper, lower, and abs, LOL, plus cardio!

As you guys may have noticed some days I can't think of anything to say, and some days I can't shut up! Guess which day this is?????

Linda Hope you have a great day!!! You are such a good Grandmother. Sounds like a lot of fun with your granddaughters. I always had so much fun with mine. I look forward to Tony's grandchildren being here for Christmas holidays.

Penguin We are doing a 4 week study on Creation at our Sunday night small group at church. I thought the same thing you did when I found out we were going to study it. I have heard the story of Creation so much and taught it myself in Children's church and Sunday Schools that I couldn't imagine I could learn anything new. But we had the first lesson last week and I was surprised. They came at it from a whole new way emphasis on the fact that our faith cannot be shaken when we know the Creator and are confident in His creation of everything. I too am learning a lot more than I expected.
As for the pizza deal, remember that one off plan meal or snack is not what does us in. Everybody experiences them. It is when we let it cause us to stay off plan that it becomes a problem. Just be good to yourself today by getting back OP. Even if you happen to be up a lb, just remember that it isn't a real gain and it will come back off. I think we get into trouble when we beat ourselves up when those things happen. I'm talking to myself as much as I am to you as I am bad about beating myself up. Always said that I don't need anyone else to do it for me. Tony's daughter is very thin. I have watched to see how she eats. She is what is called an Intuitive Eater. She eats when she is hungry and eats only as much as she needs to feel satisfied. I don't think she knows what it is to be stuffed. I love to do IE, but haven't been successful at it yet. Hope that changes in the near future though. Any way I notice there are times that she eats, as we would call it, Off her normal way of eating. It isn't a problem because the next time she eats, she will eat normal for her. I've learned that normal weight people do not obsess over an off meal like dieters do. I think if I could come to that kind of peace with food and eating, I would be able to do a lot better and might not even have a weight problem.

Jane Enjoy your girls. I know you miss them and I'm so glad you get to have them this week end. How did your shopping go? We've got presents for Tony's DD and DIL, but nothing for the guys or the children yet. We usually have everything bought by now and ready to mail. We are way behind this year.

Well, better run. Tony will be ready to eat soon. I made a beef stew and it smells sooooo good.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hey Ladies.... Can I join you guys here?!?!? I LOVE quilting and crafts but I see this is in 50+ and I'm only 20 :-( haha I'm currently working on an interactive rag quilt for my daughter. Its going to have different animals and colors so hopefully it can be an educational tool as she grows up (Shes only 9 months right now)

BrittniMarie Sure you are to join us here. What a neat idea for a learning tool for your baby girl. Is that her in your avatar? She is so cute. We look forward to getting to know you.

Welcome BrittniMarie,Glad to have you join us. {I'm not 50 Yet either!} I'm glad to hear we have another quilter join us!

Cute outfit in your avatar?? Halloween costume or just playtime?

What are you studying in school??