Good Morning Everyone!

We're starting a brand new week, is everyone ready to make it a good one? Let's all make it a great week for staying OP and getting some exercise in, too. And don't forget to drink plenty of water in this hot summer weather!

I have to go in early today, Cindy called last night to say they spent most of yesterday at the hospital with Maggie. Something about her foot, we had a bad connection. So I have to find out what's going on. She said they haven't had power out there since Saturday, either, so if it's still not on today, I'm bringing the girls over here to my place.

First of all, though, I'm off to Curves. I'm making that my priority this week.

Good Morning!...Well it's afternoon here. I just finished my coffee break, waiting for a friend to show up. I have taught myself Excel, and am helping a homeopath friend set up a database of remedies...Oh he just showed up...gotta go. Have a great day all! I'm so Happy to be back online! woo!hoo! kitty

Good morning everyone... hope you don't mind if I squeeze in here! I'm back on Phase 1 today for the third and LAST time!

Indigal...how did you teach yourself Excel? Did you use a tutorial? My DH needs to learn it and was going to try to self teach himself as well.

Cottage... Hope all goes well at Curves and that everything is going well with Maggie.

MissMess ...Have a great time with that dress! I know you will look BEAUTIFUL!!! Congratulations to you!!!

I am actually going to back to work today after a week off. Spent last week shuttling DD (10) around to horse camp, horse shows, etc. She has been riding for about a year, and to be honest, I love nothing more than to watch her ride! I'm sporting quite the fantastic farmer's tan from all the barn time tho! It's going to be a challenge to get back into work mode and out of 100% mom mode, that's for sure. If I can eat right and get all my water in today, I'll be happy with that!!!

Happy Monday Morn Beachies!

Cottage-- I hope nothing too serious for Maggie.. Way to keep on track with going to Curves.. I just got back from walkin the furkids

Kitty- Isn't excel fun! One of my favorite programs

Missmess--any way you can post a pick of the dress?
Kaeurl- your beach towel awaits!

I get to work from home this week.. I'm a little burnt out from the back and forth... and since this is a small company they dont have corporate cards..so all those flights and hotels go on my personal card and then they reimburse me.. Its up over 5 grand and I havent seen my first pay check yet! ok kids, gotta sign into work! Have a grand day!

Morning gals!

Linda, I hope Maggie is OK. Did I ever tell you my name was Maggie for a day and a half before my mom changed it? Please let us know what happened!

Kitty, good afternoon, dear! I hope your meeting with your friend went well. Do you know a lot about medicinal herbs and such? When I was pregnant with Avery I was very interested in the properties of essential oils and spent a great deal of time researching those. We ended up using a couple during her labor and I don't know if it was those or just being more comfortable having her at home, but Avery's labor was only four hours long, compared to Connor's 25 hours and Kadyn's 34 hours! I would love to get more into holistic medicine but I really don't have a reliable source to bounce ideas off of.

Kaeurl, welcome to the chat! I have quite the farmers' tan as well from all the walking we do outside. I'm hoping some pool days at my sister's house when we get back to New Jersey will remedy the situation, since the dresses for my little sister's wedding are strapless and right now I'd look absolutely ridiculous! At least they're long enough that my sock tan won't show...

We had a good day today. It was nice and relaxing since we didn't have to rush to Korean class this morning. Connor had his last violin lesson before vacation and says he did well. I was at the gym running (Tom and I did The Great Kid Switch before violin!) so I don't actually know first hand. I got a good run in - five miles - although it was hard. The gym was closed last week because of things going on on base so I was only able to run outside, and with it being so humid I didn't do more than three miles a day, so the extra two today were a bit difficult. I did it, though. Pretty proud of myself for that!

Kara

SCHATZI! Glad the job is going strong, although I'm sorry to hear about your credit card mess. Hope you're at least getting some kind of points or rewards on your personal card!!!

And Megan, don't know how I missed your post. You MUST post a picture of your dress after your fitting. I'm in total wedding mood with Em's being only nineteen days away!!!

Kara

Morning everyone. Just a quick pop-in. Going to sleep for a few more minutes.

HI SCHNATZO! Missed you!

Today is my business day at work so it's going to be a long one. Need to lie down. Talk to you all soon.

Lisa

Schatzi, Welcome back to the nest! Are you home for a while now? I hope the job is going well and that you're liking it!

Indiagal, That's awesome, teaching yourself Excel! Sounds interesting, too, helping your friend with his homeopathic database. Enjoy your day!

missmess, your big day is fast approaching! How fun, to be trying on your dress! Banish those bread & chocolate thoughts from your mind! Focus, instead, on how fabulous you look!

Kara, that's funny, being Maggie for a day and a half!!!! What made her change her mind? I keep meaning to ask you, too, when are you coming back for the wedding? How long will you be home?

It looks like it's getting ready to rain again. Whatever we do today, it looks like it'll be spent indoors. I'd better get my salad packed for my lunch, and go see what's going on with Maggie.

Morning, Weezle! Looks like a long boring day ahead for you, better rest up now!

Lisa, are you doing alright? I might be reading into your posts, but you seem very stressed lately. Tell me to mind my own business if need be, but I just wanted to give you a cyber-hug.

Linda, when I was born, my parents didn't have a girl's name picked out. They thought I was a boy (my dad has one brother who had two sons when I was born, my paternal grandfather is one of five boys, and my great grandfather had thirteen brothers). So, my dad decided to name me Maggie May after the Rod Stewart song. As the story goes, my dad went down to the hospital cafeteria to get some lunch the day after I was born and the nurse came in with the birth certificate, which my mom promptly signed as Kara Jean. (My parents had worked at a suicide prevention line with a woman named Kara, and Jean is my mom's middle name.) I assume they had discussed that as an option but I really don't know!

The kids and I leave next Monday. Our plane leaves Seoul at 10 am and gets into Philly at 3:30 pm. Same day. That's funny, huh?! Tom comes in on the 14th, and the wedding is the 18th. I'm getting so excited!

Kara

Hey chicks. Feeling kinda gross in the tummy this morning. I'm trying to eat oatmeal but what I wanted was a big, bland bagel...but hey, we do what we must. Water also doesn't sound good...what is my problem?

This weekend went by quickly, mostly we hung around the house except for a party at a friend's on Friday night and then backyard Bible club on Saturday morning, and church yesterday. I did some freelance work (for some people who have never heard the word consistency!! an editor's nightmare!!).

I got to work early this morning! Chester refusing to sleep interrupts my sleeping-in habits, which I guess is good. Off to read...

PS Love all the wedding talk. My own was three years ago tomorrow! Let's see your wedding pics! Sadly, I don't have any professional pics on my computer but here are some that friends/family took:

Kara, the time change is so funny. That's a long flight though with little ones! When I flew back from China we left at noon and got back at 12:30 the same day.

Morning, gals. Brian is finishing up breakfast and then I just need to load the ice chest with bottled water, diet tea, and our lunches and then we are on our way to San Antonio. I suspect the traffic through Dallas will take us an hour. Hmm. Maybe I should take the loop around. At this our that might be faster than going through town.

I printed off all the driving directions (house to hotel, hotel to Sea World, hotel to water park, hotel to Zoo) and I think we are all set. I have printed out menus of the restaurants at Sea World. I can't get much info on the food at the water park. We will just have to do our best.

I'm going to go ahead and create the August Exercise challenge before I leave but I'm going to need one of you to tally up the total minutes and post the queen (top minutes) and the princesses (those of 1000 minutes is usually what I do). I would really appreciate the help. Thanks!

I'll be having computer withdrawal but it should be relaxing. I picked up to books on CD at the library for Brian and I to listen to. I'll post when I get back.

Barb I will do that for you. I will read back through the weekend posts to see how you do it. I hope that you and Brian have a safe, fun trip!

Megan You definitely need to post pictures of you in the dress!! That is so exciting.

Weezle Hope that you have a good day!

Cottage Good for you for making Curves a priority this week. I had a pretty decent 2 week run with exercising in June and then have barely done a thing since.

Jessie I love the pictures!!!!!

Schatzi So good to "see" you! I am sure you are thrilled to be home for the week. I am sure DH is happy as well.

Kitty I wondered where you were too! I always hate it when people who post regularly seem to drop off the boards. Welcome back!!

Kara I am sure you are getting SO excited about your trip. You are a brave woman to travel with three kiddos.

Kauerl Morning!

Me- We had fun last night, although were there much later than I had planned. Good times, though. Today I need to catch up on some laundry and get the house tidied. I think I am going to pack up the kids and go to school to work for a bit.

Two days for the WHOOSH FAIRY to visit for the month. My ticker is currently lying by 2 pounds.......

Jessie, you're beautiful! Your dress is so nice! Happy anniversary a day early!!!

Barbara, have a great time in San Antonio. We went down the summer we lived in San Angelo and LOVED it despite it being sooooo hot and me being sooooo pregnant! Great city! Tom actually found the dorm he stayed in when he did his basic training and we have a picture of him and Connor in front of it! We did the Alamo, some great science museum, and walked the river walk. Great restaurants down there!!!

I'm off to bed so I will check in with you gals in the morning. I am really loving this The Best Life Diet book and I really recommend it. It seems to compliment South Beach pretty well. I love Greene's approach to dieting as a lifestyle change (much like South Beach) and how he encourages you to make small changes over time so you're not overwhelmed. He has a great "hunger scale" that will be so helpful to me when I'm home, as I don't know how feasible it will be to count calories when others are preparing the meals. I needed a new little project to keep me going while we're in the hotseat of food temptations and I think I've found the perfect solution. The first step of his diet is increasing your exercise and then paying attention to your satiety cues - exactly what I will need to do!

Anyway, off to bed. Hope you all have a great start to your weeks!

Kara