Marilyn~thank you for that! I needed to hear it!

HI GALS

I have a minute or two before dinner. It has been a while since I had some FREE time-- actually my son is a little bummed I didn't go to his soccer game tonight but I am just too PUPPIED out I have had alot of tennis matches to see after work-- and they are long!! plus the last one was 3 hours from home-- I left at 4:30 am and got home from work and my daughter's match at 9pm--Last night we had dinner at church then a concert put on by a high school choir here from Fort Wayne Indiana-- they were very good- brought home two sweet girls for the evening-- they watched American Idol with us- we had a great time.

RYLEE STORIES: I really enjoy this puppy Especially since I am the one getting up with her in the night! Don't know where in the heck my dear (I will get up with her) wife is...OH yes I do--sound asleep (actually she isn't she is FAKING) Been up several times with Rylee the first few days... last night we had her sleep in our room because the girls from Indiana only had 1 hour of sleep the night before (major delay at the airport for them).. Now Rylee doesn't whine when she doesn't get her way...OH NO!! She screams-AND I MEAN SCREAMS One of the little gals here said she sounds like a dinosaur Last night we got some sleep though cause she just slept under our bed for most of the night..Thank you Rylee! My daughter hadn't seen her yet with school so she and her boyfriend and a couple of other kids came up to see her after school and tennis practice, before they flew to Georgia today, what did Rylee do? she just slept the entire hour the kids were here. A wasted 2 hours on the freeway for them I will say she HITS the paper MOST of the time with her puddles--- the others I HIT with my socks So much for new carpet. I will get Angie to take some more pictures of her to show off... don't tell anyone but I rushed home from work early today to play with her before anyone else came home.

WILMA ME TOO for Survivor and CSI-- but you already knew that! Great job on the dinners and salads for work! Remember for you it is all in the PLANNING!!

SUNNYD WOW you are doing great on the exercise-- you will be so fit by the end of summer.. how about a puppy to keep those boys occupied? Angie will be watching ER right with you..me..I usually see the first few minutes then I am OUT.. what do you think about them starting it a minute early? or have you noticed. Miss visiting with you.. will try to find more time next week, I will be working a lot closer to home.

SAMI I love the two cake idea!! I get headaches too when I try to cut back on coffee-- I usually just have my regular morning amount--A LOT- then I am fine the rest of the day with decaf. How is your spayed pup doing?

SUE Didn't you just love the Passion? You such a dear person! Always there to help. How exciting about the adoption and China trip-- I hope you do get to go!!

ANGEL I will pray for yopur son and dil-- my brothers were very into drugs years ago for quite some time.. they both went through the Savation Army-- A VERY GREAT PROGRAM!! The grand kids.. thank God they have you and your husband.

MICHELE I didn't mean to step on your toes about the trip-- I just think (from here anyway) it doesn't sound good-- but then I am a long way from you--I trust you!! and your judgement. I am going to tell you HAPPY BIRTHDAY now because I will be gone all week-end

SPROUT Prayers for you and your son dear! How you keep on track with your walking and Dr. Phil updates is quite a testimony to you!! You must be a wonderful mom-- I hope your daughter can see this when all the time seems to be with the boy sometimes-- sure she does!

EEYORE Hope your husband is feeling better.Glad to see you are back on track with your work-outs-- It will get a lot easier in no time.

Well Angie is calling me... RYLEE must need something

IN HIS CARE- Gary

Sorry I didn't post any individuals yesterday, but there was a knock on the door, neighbor ready to go to bowling so had to close quickly.
Sami- sorry to hear your not feeling well, diet coke is very addicting, I know people who drink it as is it were coffee. Pray you'll feel better soon.
Wilma- I love CSI (although the lead person is suppose to leave the show) and w/o a trace. Use to watch survivor but thought they should have made richard wear clothes especially when it was in primetime. He is a piece of work, and they love it.
Sprout- prayers for you and your family and situation with your son, kids have so many influences today our world no longer believes in discipline or right and wrong. Check out the mayors performing gay marriages, hello there illegal. They made judge moore step down when he refused to remove the 10 commandments as well they should because of not obeying. (It is not in conflict with God's law if they are not displayed, just if they are not adherred to and followed. But different story when it forfills their agenda. Getting gay marriages approved. Anarchy will be the norm soon, just give it time.
Angel- Prayers for your ds and dil and those kids, its sad, what a life for those poor kids. Its good that you are involved to give them love and support.
E.Z.- Thanks you are a sweetie! So glad to hear your enjoying the puppy. That is when they are so cute, they can do no wrong! Ha Ha
Mitchy - Happy Birthday early, prayers you make the right decision and things work out well for ya. Sunny- WOW so that is how ya spell it a-n-e-u-r-i-s-m. Ha Ha Ha It was sad He was only 54 and had no life insurance so his wife will have to pay the mortgage ect. somehow. The kids are all grown and on there own. I bowled crappy but thanks for asking. Still fun, I bowl with a group from work there are 12 teams, so always fun visiting anyway. Hi garnet- we miss you! Hi to all others I missed. Well gotta run to a meeting will be gone all weekend working and church ect. Maybe get a second to pop in, but wish mitchy a good b-day and all a great weekend.

Gary~Sunny is so right about kennel training. It is a great idea to start when they are young and they do feel more secure if they have "their" space. I learned a lot about it when I was a dog counselor at our local humane society. You can probably contact one near you and get some info about it. It saves a lot of headache down the road and really does make the dog happier. But the kennel needs to be the right size. Often, people tend to get them too big. I know it's hard with a growing pup, but the kennel should be only as big to allow the dog to go in and turn around freely. Much bigger and it kind of defeats the purpose. Something to think about at least.

Thought I would put my 2 cents in here.

We have raised Shelties over the past 20 years and have made a lot of 'errors' on house training them but finally 'got it together' when told by a kennel the proper way - so the last pup we had was trained within 4 days. Was so nice.

What we did was
(a) first we bought a kennel cage for the dog - one that would be big enough for him when he completed finished his growing - so when he was a pup there was 'lots' of room in the cage.

(b) When we went to bed the puppy was first put outside (not on paper) but outside in the area that he was to use - and we would wait for him to do something. Then he would be put in his 'bed/cage' for the night. We put papers down on the bottom of the cage. Within 2 nights he did not mess in it as he did not want to sleep in the mess.

(c) When we were not able to be with him monitoring his 'bathroom habits' - say we needed to go down town we would put him in his 'bed'.

(d) When we ate or when it was his feeding time we put him into his cage. We would allow him 10 minutes to finish his food and then let him out, putting him outside immediately in order that he would get used to the fact to messing outside. This also trained him that he would only eat in his cage.

Doing this we found that withing 4 - 5 days he was trained and we didn't have paper all over the house - he would go to the door when he wanted out.

Don't know if this helps but it sure worked for us.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME...SUNNYD, MICHELE and SPROUT

4 to 5 days to kennel train- HA- RYLEE had Angie and I trained in less than 2 days

Actually I really appreciate your advice and we are going to try some of it tonight. Here is what we have done though just so you know:

1-We bought a kennel, a clock and a heating pad that stays warm for 12 hours--she just cried--er...SCREAMED for (it seemed like FOREVER) the first night...soooo we came down and took turns letting her out of the kennel and lying by her-- after all she was just taken from her mom hours before.
2-The second night same story...I needed to get SOME sleep after all getting up at 4am
3-Angie and I kept her in our room the 3rd night due to our high school guests..slept like a baby..all of us, Angie and I in bed--Rylee on her blanket or floor or under the bed, she moved around a lot but seemed happy and no crying.
4-Last night Angie thought it was time to "kennel" her- so she put the divider in her cage and put a blanket over it so she could just see out 1 foot under the front of it--after all she sleeps under the bed just fine..and it is dark under there with the frilly thing Angie has hanging down over the mattress.. BUT NO!!!! she does her dinosaur SCREAM until we give in and bring her to our room...DID I MENTION I AM WEAK? and a sucker for babies, puppies and kids

OK so those are problems to work on--BUT another problem we have is this-- we bought a 2 foot high fence to go around her cage in the daytime-- that way she can play in a little area-- she CLIMBS over it!! Yesterday Ron put her in the pen and went to school--Ryan wakes up and catches her in Ron's room--Ryan figures that Ron just forgot to put her in the pen---NOPE When I got home from work she was out-- I told the family last night I bet she climbs over the fence. My brother was with me today so we put her in the cage..listened around the corner to herSCREAM and then WHAM..BUSTED..she was going over the top when we peeked! AHH..not too safe...

I am working on a new sign DOG FOR SALE--CHEAP

Off to pick up my nephew then doing a family meeting with my wife-son-and ex wife tonight on buying-MAYBE-a house from my cousin, a STARTER HOME for my son..it's ONLY $380,000 just a little track house, 30 years old--ah California the GOOD LIFE--
Not sure if we can swing it-after all he is a year away from teaching- but something to think over..
Going out of town this week-end so if I don't get back here before I go HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELE

OH..1 thing I forgot..RYLEE is about 90% trained on the pee pads at least!!

I am going shopping this a.m. with friends. It's nice to be able to do something fun for a change. I still have some work to do at home but that won't take all that long.

I was fitted for my new uniform at work and WENT DOWN 1 Size!!! I was pretty excited and it gives me incentive to keep going.

Gary: You love that pup and you know it. Our dog was an outside only dog so I can't even give you advice on what to do about training her.

Sunny: I feel the same about working out as you do. I don't always want to go but am always glad I did. I am finding that I have more energy on days I work out. I need to do something more on my days off from Curves.

doitforme: I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend. So young. My prayers are with you.

Michele: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! I wish you all the best in the next year. Hope you have a super birthday.

Well, gotta go have breakfast and get ready for my day.

Have a great one.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It's really sweet of all of you! I am at work this a.m. and then to the Alpha Holy Spirit Day until about 6:30 then home to Cops and AMW. Tomorrow i'm going to church and my cousin is taking me to dinner or lunch, my choice. Think i want to go to the CA Pizza Kitchen! They have a great salad that I love. That is if the weather cooperates, we had about 6 inches of snow yesterday and maybe another inch by this a.m. I don't like the snow, feel like it should be spring already. I have presents at home from Mom, Dad and bro that I've been waiting to open! That'll be fun! Thank you again

Charlie is moving to his new townhouse, he called me Thursday and Friday he called last minute and asked me to dinner. I declined, have to much to do because of today and i don't really like doing things last minute like that.

Must start work.

Oh Gary~sounds like SO MUCH work, but SO MUCH fun! You'll think i'm crazy but i love puppy breath! They all have it, and i just love it! Have fun. Very exciting about the house for son, hope it works out for you all.

Snack Attack

By JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFI

In The Ultimate Weight Solution, Dr. Phil stresses the importance of learning the discipline of three meals and two snacks to keep blood sugar stable and cravings at bay. This means you should be eating two snacks per day to ensure that you eat every three to four hours. It is important that you plan these out ahead of time so that you aren't forced to rely on willpower when you start to get hungry.

Here are some High-Response Cost, Hunger-Suppressor snack ideas that you can easily prepare:

Yogurt parfait
Nonfat plain yogurt sweetened with cinnamon and no-sugar added vanilla extract. (If you need it sweeter initially while you are weaning yourself off the sweet taste, add xylitol, a sugar alcohol that doesn't raise insulin and helps reduce the risk of tooth decay, or splenda). Add 1/2 cup of your favorite fruit. (My top choices are diced apple for crunch or frozen berries defrosted and with a little of their juice — no sugar added of course — for a great antioxidant punch!)

Celery sticks stuffed with ...
- Peanut or almond butter.*

- Light whipped cream cheese or ricotta cheese whipped with your favorite herb mix and with 1-2 chopped olives or walnuts stirred in.

Tortilla roll-ups using low carb or whole wheat tortillas
- Almond or peanut butter* whipped with light whipped cream cheese or lowfat ricotta cheese. Spread 1-2 Tbsp. on tortilla, add 1/4 cup chopped apple for some crunch.

- Cottage cheese or light whipped cream cheese, salsa, chopped red peppers and jicama.

Great portable snacks:
- 10 raw nuts and a fruit serving.

- 1 oz. lowfat or nonfat cheese (especially string cheese) and a fruit serving.

Apple slices and nut butter

Baked apple
Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake, fill with lowfat ricotta or cottage cheese and top with a Tbsp. of freshly ground flaxseed meal.

Smoothie
1 scoop whey protein powder, 1/2 cup berries, 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt or cottage cheese, 1/2 cup ice and 1/2 cup water, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Try freezing this and have as a popsicle.

Faux trail mix
1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal, 1 Tbsp. dried fruit pieces (no sugar added) and 1 Tbsp. chopped nuts.

1 cup steamed edamame
(soybeans) in the shell

1 cup veggie soup

Raw veggies and dip
Use olive oil, Dijon and balsamic vinegarette or nonfat sour cream mixed with your favorite spices.

Rice cake topped with
- Nut butter and a tsp. of chopped no sugar added dried fruit

- Whipped cream cheese and salsa

*Read the labels and choose the peanut butter that doesn't contain partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. Almond butter is a great source of essential fatty acids.

March 7


Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.


Confidence. There are days when we feel we don't even know the meaning of the word. It is hard to stay confident when we feel so weak. It is important that we realize where confidence comes from. Our confidence comes from the Lord. It comes from no-where else. All we need do is look at the example of our blessed Lord, and we will see that He alone gives the kind of strength necessary to meet every challenge. The things He overcame cause our dieting efforts to pale in comparison. If Christ is truly our Lord and Master, then we will have confidence enough to succeed.
Today's thought: I am sure to lose weight because of Christ in me!

Dr. Phil's Tip of the Day

Our tip for today has to do with you and your behavior. Have you ever wondered how much of your life is a function of habit instead of conscious choice? Have you ever wondered how much of your life is really being flown on automatic pilot instead of you deciding what's in your best interest and what you really want to do? You have to ask yourself, is what you're doing today what you want to do or is what you're doing today simply what you were doing yesterday?

If that's the case, you need to re-think it. There's never been a better example than with your eating habits. We don't understand how much we've been mesmerized by the marketing machine. We don't understand how much we've been programmed to think that food is fun, food is sexy, food is success. When in fact, it needs to be nutrition.

Stop and ask yourself, "Am I eating what I want, or am I eating what someone has programmed me to think I want?"

HI GALS

Well Angie and I got home from my step-d's soccer tournament in Westlake Village (Michele knows where that is) The weather was absoluteeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyy gorgeous! In the 70's. EVERYONE was out--like it was the first day of spring/summer.
My step-d won 2 and lost 1 so she didn't make it to the championship game, but it was a good week-end anyway. My daughter won her tennis matches in Georgia Thursday, Friday and Saturday so so far so good!

MICHELE Hope you had a great birthday--NOW--about that puppy breath.....Angie has been putting garlic in her food--something about keeping away fleas--anyway--WOW!! is she ever stinky after eating Good move on the date--demand respect! as far as the late minute things if they get to be too much--you are handling right.

SUNNY Did you and Joe sing in church today? Angie and I went to my sister and brother in laws church today--he is in the band, keyboards and my little neice-5 years old played handbells with some other kids--sooo cute. My wife's mom (who recently moved) and sis live real close to the tournament this week-end so we just stayed with them and visited--neato.

WILMA Did you have fun shopping for that SMALLER size!! Great job on the work uni!

SPROUT Thanks so much for the Dr. Phil updates.

Well the son and nephew took good care of RYLEE while we were out of town. Boy did I miss her don't say anything to Angie--ah heck she probably knows

Gotta go.........Ron put his homework off again

SAMI, SUE, ANGEL, GARNET EEYORE---HELLO, hope all is well.