Morning all,

Happy - the Outback Steakhouse probably got told off for being politically incorrect - do they serve emu and crocodile on the menu??? Just thought I would ask.
Ruth has 15000+ posts because she gets to tell people off and advise them of the rules etc. She's an important person, you know.
My post would be at the 5000 mark if they hadn't gone back to the beginning a couple of years back.
When you have finished with the trash at your place, I can find work for you at mine should you be so inclined.

Mel - real kind of you to send the MIL a card. I hope she is enlightened by your revelations and memories. Never pays to neglect old friends when they get ill. You tend to regret it later on.
Better go and find some more pics - we are getting to the bottom of the pile now - since you enjoyed the last lot. Poor wee duckie.

No building on Mothers day - much lying around and doing little. We went out to breakfast only to find it was not on at that particular place and they were having lunch. So we booked a table for lunch and went off tile shopping for the splashback. I am having some second thoughts on the ones I looked at earlier. DB2 thinks there is too much white and he might just be right for a change. But don't tell him that.
Then we went back for lunch and got give a nice table outside but not in the sun, had a buffet lunch of roased turkey, pork, or lamb, beef and mushroom casserole, curried chicken, roast vegetables and a medley (from a frozen packet) of steamed veg, salads and cold meats were also there + all the magnificent calories of cheesecakes, profiteroles, muffins, danish etc.etc. Mind you I didn't eat ALL that. I also got a free glass of champagne, a lucky door ticket, and a fresh long stemmed rose - mine is yellow with pink edges to the petals. Very pretty.
Nice meal - ate too much, came home and went an lay down with a book. Woke up around 4pm and decided it was time to clear out the bedrooms again. But I only got one done. Two to go.

Happy Mothers Day Annie - nice when the kids do something for you rather than buy something for you. Good on the DS

Happy Mothers Day Ruth - are you out nuturing the garden? I would have been yesterday but for the fact I slept for a long time because I ate too much and other factors (such as I just don' wanna). The grass may have stopped growing for the winter but the weeds certainly haven't.

Okay well I better switch computers and go to work. Hi ho it is Monday again. The DS2 has gone back to work after his sick/ recovery leave. I have the place to myself and don't have to watch dumb things on the telly. He does actually watch some good shows but I get so tired of the dumb sitcoms repeated for the 37th time. See ya

Nice doggy - good boy


I hate it when this happens - don't you?

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone is having a great day. This has been a hetic week. Traveled to business meeting 3 days. Eating on the road is hard. When I drive I tend to snack. I did workout two days though.

Just wanted to say hello to everyone. Hope all the lovely ladies here had a wonderful mothers day. Sure glad the weekend is over. Will tell you about it tomorrow.

short reply tody. doorbells broke last night and i had to call off the search for the broken one. it was already 10:30 and people were in bed so i had it disconnected. gotta go down and let the nurses aids mand homemakers in. wigh
hopefully someone from the office will come in early!
HAPPY MONDAY!!

Happy Monday ladies -

The weekend was WAY too short, as usual. Sorry I didn't check in at all. I was busy all weekend. I did lots of gardening and yard work on Saturday and yesterday I had lots of errands to run. I didn't get to the gym over the weekend, but with the weeding and planting, it felt like I did about 5 or 6 hours worth of upper body and lower body workout. My DH grilled chicken last night for a scrumptious dinner for me and his mom.

I hope you all have lovely Mother's Day weekends!

This morning, I awoke to the awful news of $4.00/gallon for regular unleaded. Yuck! I'm glad I carpool to work.

Annie - What a lovely Friday you had! Good for you for pampering yourself. Best of luck to your son for his interview at Caterpillar!

Shad - You cracked me up at the filing cabinet assembly. Isn't that so true. You get a kit that is missing one or two vital nuts or bolts that are only available by special order and take 6 weeks to arrive and cost as much as the kit did in the first place. I loved the photos of the sleeping critters! So adorable. And your photo of the duck and duckling reminded me of the other day driving into work. There were a couple Canada geese walking across the road with a herd of little goslings in tow. And to see those little goslings flap their wings mightily to get up onto the curb was just too adorable for words! All your animal photos are just so cute! They really make my day!

Mel - As for Marie, all you can do is offer the advice of a concerned friend. She's a grown up and has to make her own choices and live with the consequences. I think I was watching the same Harrison Ford marathon as you on Saturday! What a coincidence!

Happy - I agree wholeheartedly with you that people need to take control and responsibility for their own life and their choices. As for neighbors, when we moved in one of our neighbors practically told us we have to chop down our willow tree because it drops in his yard. I know willows are messy, but I think they are beautiful and the tree was one of the reasons we bought the house. We told him we would pick up the branches or he could just toss the branches over our fence. Luckily, that guy moved out and the people that live there now are very, very nice. Sounds like you've had some awful neighbors. I wish it were possible to really get to know neighbors before purchasing a house. We are very lucky. Our neighbors are great! I wish you'd have time to get up to the Milwaukee area too on your trip, but it sounds like you'll be super busy as it is. No worries. Sometimes it is worth taking days off just to get stuff done around the house. I still have a lot left to do, but when it comes to work and the gym and the house, something's got to give, and it's usually the house.

Patty - Good for you for getting your workouts in while on the road.

A big Hi and Ruth, Rennie, CeeJay, and everyone else I have missed!

Here's to the start of a great week for all of us!

Happy Monday Everyone!!

Finished my Mother's Day off at my brother's house. He grilled sirloin, sauted mushrooms, baked potatos on grill, and watermelon for dessert. Mom and Dad went too! Got home around 8:30 last night.

Diyana....DSs interview went well, he goes back on Thursday for a math test. Ok, miss Di...you HAVE to motivate me to do a little bit of weights for my arms and crunches for my tummy. Wisconsin is not that far from Indiana, come on down and kick my tush.

MEL...Did you get your ringers (doorbells) fixed?

Patty...take a cooler with something with carrots and celery or other veggies cleaned. Whole fruits travel nicely also.

Shad...there is an animal lover in the cubicle behind me, I show her all the pix you send. How cute.

Work is hectic today, but I love it like that, it goes by quickly.

Have a great Monday all.

Love and Hugs...

Okay, Annie. Here's your

Now, go and do 1-3 sets (8-12 reps per set) of bicep curls. Go slow. Count to 4 going up and 4 going down. If you have an exercise ball, sit on the exercise ball while you do the bicep curls and really engage your ab muscles. Otherwise sit on the edge of a chair and engage your ab muscles. Exhale as you lift.

For the triceps, the tricep extension is always good. Hold a weight in both hands and reach it over and behind your head (bending your elbows). Keep your elbows close to your head pointing forward and straighten your arms up. Exhale as you lift. 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps per set.

If you're not feeling your muscles work, either go slower or increase the weight.

There are SO many great ab exercises, I LOVE doing nearly all exercises on the exercise ball engaging my abs to maintain balance, so I work my abs at the same time as other muscles. But I also do crunches, Pilates planks, and lots of other ab exercises. In addition, when I'm sitting at my desk at work, I try and do isometric ab exercises by alternately tightening and relaxing both my upper and lower ab muscles.

If you have any back or knee issues, you REALLY REALLY have to be careful. If you experience any pain while exercising, stop. The no pain, no gain theory is just plain wrong. Working muscles should not hurt. Too many times, I've pushed myself too far while working out only to injure/re-injure myself and have to take a break from working out for weeks or months or years.

Another important pointer, when you're doing deep knee bends or lunges, NEVER EVER let your knees go beyond your toes - that puts way too much stress on your knees and can lead to injury.

Also, if you're doing bicep curls or lifting other weights and you feel like you need to "throw your back into it" to lift the weight, chances are your weight is too heavy. It's better to do fewer quality exercises with a lower weight than more reps done incorrectly with heavier weights.

Some great websites to find exercises:
www.prevention.com
www.self.com
www.health.com
http://www.fitlinxx.com/Topic.htm?id=1

Important tips: make sure your form is correct to work the muscles without injuring yourself, go slowly, breathe and if you feel pain - STOP.

Also, never do strength training on the same muscle group (not even abs) two days in a row. It used to be thought that you could work abs every day, but my trainer says that abs are like every other muscle, they need a day to rest and rebuild to get stronger and more tone. I tend to do weights/toning either 2 or 3 days per week to make sure I have at least 1 day off between strength training sessions.

If you have any questions, let me know. If I can't answer them (as I'm by no means an expert), I'll ask my trainer.

Anyway, consider your butt kicked! Now don't forget to sweat!

I'm getting off my now.

a great article for upper body toning:

http://www.fitlinxx.com/Article.htm?id=1033

Thanks Diyana....I will get on it tonite, promise. My arms and tummy need lots of toning.

I posted this but I don't see it. Melody says I don't share enough lol. There was my weekend.

Oh my weekend was wonderful lol. My daughter went to a choir field trip to Kings Island this weekend. That was going to be great. I was going to clean house and pack and head to the zoo for the weekend Saturday morning. Sunday she was going to be home, I was going to be home and we were going to spend mothers day together.

The day started off bad lol, it got worse. First I go to the doc for a weight in because they have recalibrated the scale. The snooty nurse that refers to over weight woman as " the big fat woman " tells me how I better expect to add 5 pounds to what I think I weight because that is how much the scale is off. ( she enjoys talking like this to people trying to lose weight ) Well Wednesday my weigh in was 142 and friday it was 143 and this was after the 5 pound ajustment to the scale so that is great. I really lost more than I thought lol. I can't stand this woman and she is so mean to everyone. Use to really get me down when I first started going in for weigh in's but I am use to her now but darn .

My daughter calls me 3 hours from home. She forgot to take her Dramamine first thing in the morning and is sicker than a dog on the charter buss will I come and get her. Oh my gosh. I get on map quest and figure out where she is. I am going to get about an hour from her right in the middle of rush hour traffic in Columbus, oh nooooooooo. I have no house work done. No packing done. I throw a few things in a bag to take with me just in case she starts to feel better and I can stay down there ( I had ONE sock, a pair of undies that were 2 sizes to big for me, 4 sleeveless shirts ( it rained most of the weekend but at least not on Saturday) No pants, no t shirts, no sleeved shirts lol and remember the ONE sock lol. Anyway, I get about an hour from where the traffic is going to get real bad and she calls me that the meads have kicked in and she is feeling better ( at this point mothers day is going to be the girls funeral day lol ) but will I still come down in case she gets sick again. She has IBS and anything that is upsetting to her can really do her tummy in. Ok, well I am already on my way I might as well keep going. I get about 1/2 hour away and now she is feeling great and can't wait for the rides lol.

Well, this is ok. The house is clean enough I just wanted to run the sweeper and such. I took care of the animals. There are people there to take care of things. I was going to spend the weekend down there anyway just hate to be so unorganized ( at this point I had no idea what I had packed or didn't pack as the case may be ). I get to the peoples house we are going to stay the weekend at. Everyone is sick, I end up having to take care of everyone for the night lol. Hubby is thrilled lol ( oh by the way he took off work ( he works nights ) so I wouldn't have to face the rush hour traffic because I had no real idea where I was going except a map ). I go to get a shower and change clothes and now I find out about the ONE sock lol. The hubby calls his mother ( who we are meeting the next day for the zoo ) and is laughing about the one sock ( she isn't going to have a mothers day either with this kid because his funeral is going to happen at the same time as my daughters ). She takes me shopping Saturday morning and gets me clothes because you can't just wear ONE sock LOL. I am telling her no just get me a pair of socks she is saying forget it kid, you look like a bag lady and you are getting clothes. Happy early birthday and Christmas lol. So she gets me some pants and shirts and under clothes. We are at the zoo with a group of people. Does my hubby and his mother keep quiet NO WAY. I am being called the sock lady all weekend and everyone thinks it is just great fun.

MICHELLE~ THANKS FOR THE MOTIVATION FOR ANNIE...SEEMS TO GIVE ME ENCOURAGEMENT AS WELL JUST KNOWING SOME OF THE STUFF YOU DO AND READ.
GRILLED CHICKEN.... GOOD IDEA...I AM GONNA MAKE ANOTHER ROASTER FOR NEXT WEEKEND.

ANNIE~ YES THE RINGERS ARE WORKING AND SOM IS THE HOT WATER HEATER AND THE MAINTENANCE MEN!!! I BEAT THEM ALL WITHIN AN INCH OF THEIR LIVES TODAY. MGOOD LUCK TO THE DS WITH THE NEXT PART OF THE INTERVIEW!!!

SHAD~ THE CAT WAS FUNNY AND THE TWO OF THEM ADORABLE. HOW SWEET. HOPE ALL THE "IT" STUFF GOT DONE PROPERLY.....OR AT LEAST THEY LET YOU IN:yike: GOD....WHAT SCREWUP WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT? WONDER IF THEY ALL LOSE SLEEP TRYING TO FIGURE OUT NEW WAYS TO MAKE EVERYONE ELSE CRAZY

PATTY...

WHAT A DAY. MARIE AT LEAST GOT TO SPEND SOME MORE TIME WITH ME. SHE SAID SHE'S A BIT IN AWE OF HOW MANY DEPEND ON ONE WOMAN AND EVEN MORE SURPRISED HOW FAST AND THOROUGHLY I CAN GET THINGS DONE. SHE WAS EVEN SHOCKED THESE BIG MEN ALL LISTEN AND JUST "TROT OFF WITH THEIR INSTRUCTIONS" ....BUT SHE DID TELL ME THAT MY EMPLOYEE SKILLS NEED SOME HONING. THOUGHT I WAS A BIT ABRUPT AND COULD HAVE PHRASED THINGS DIFFERENTLY. I TOLD HER I USED TO AND NOTHING EVER GOT DONE.
WE SORTED SOME STUFF OUT TOO. SHE DID TAKE EVERYTHING TO HEART BUT WAS WORRIED ABOUT DYING AND WANTED TO TELL JEN AND I THAT SHE HAS MADE OUT A WILL. SO I GUESS THAT ALL THIS WAS ON HER MIND AND FOR SOME REASON IT TOOK TILL TODAY TO MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT. SHE SEEMS VERY RELIEVED NOW AND WE PARTED IN GOOD STEAD. MAYBE I WILL GET TO SEE HER ONCE MORE BEFORE SHE LEAVES.
TOMORROW IS FOOD SHOPPING. I AM OUT OF VEGGIES AND FRUITS.
HAVE A GREAT NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE

RENNIE I JUST READ YOUR POST AND HAVE NOT STOPPED LAUGHING....SOCk LADY.....MAYBE YOU CAN MAKE THOSE STUFFED SOCK MONKEYS AND SELL THEM!! THERE ARE 2 FUNERALS....NOW IS IT THREE WITH THE MIL??? ROFLMAO
I KNOW ITR WASN'T FUNNY AT THE TIME BUT IT'S A GOOD STORY NONETHELESS NOW!!! LOLOL OMG!!!! TOO CUTE. HOPE YOU LIKED THE EARLY PRESENTS!!
I NEEDED A GOOD ALUGH TODAY! THANKS!!

Annie - That's great you're going to do weights tonight. I'll think of you as I'm in my weights class.

Rennie - That's awesome that the scale was better than you thought, but what a -ey woman! She's awful saying that to people. As for the rest of your weekend, I know it must've been interesting going through all of that, but looking at it as an outsider, it sounds pretty funny. Sorry. I hope you had fun at the zoo!

Mel - Glad to hear you got the maintenance men in line. They better get and keep everything ship shape so you can have quiet downtime! I hope your friend Marie realizes that she can increase her chances of living a longer healthy life if she just makes some simple lifestyle changes. She needs to do what her doctors tell her. I know I don't need to be telling you this - I'm sure you've already said it all to her.

Di-Melody
I take everything in stride lol. Once I knew my daughter was going to be ok and her weekend wasn't shot. I was fine. You know, you all have to help me plan something REAL SPECIAL to get back at those two. The group of old darlings we were with I am very open with and not shy at all. I love to hear them laugh BUT I think hubby and his mother ( usually love her dearly ) need to have a trick played on them. I did tell her I was sending her son back home to her but she said I didn't pay a deposit so I couldn't return him lol. I told the hubby I was going to leave him at the zoo and not take him home and he said oh would it be any different than dealing with the kids lol. They really have it coming lol. Sock monkeys lol I make them for the kids at Christmas time lol.

Geez I forgot today, and now I'm too tired to think. Catch you all tomorrow. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz