Soft springlike rain this morning. The meadow is still snowy but some of the garden beds are bare. We are heading into Muddy Paw Season!

I am not getting on that damned scale ever again! Realized after yesterday's horrorshow weigh-in that we had Chinese on Sunday and smoked salmon. Yikes! Actually yesterday went from bad to worse. DH spilled his pills just as Gail arrived and we all dove for them before the dogs ate them. Then we discovered that Miss Lucy had also chewed the plug off my GF grill! I am almost sorry I kept her - note the almost. She is too darn cute! Anyhow, I took the afternoon off from life and went to a shopping centre for a break. No exciting purchases, alas!

Perfect friend Claire and her husband (who should be cloned) are coming for dinner tonight so I need to snap into action. Boning chicken breasts is first on the list - I hate that job but I am too thrifty to buy then boned and do make stock. We are having "Saltimbocca Romana" - usually made with veal but I do it with chicken. It's chicken with prosciutto (more salt! ) and sage leaves. Asparagus, a tomato salad and some pasta will round things out. For the dessert eaters, I have a plum crisp and ice cream. Claire is warm, younger, funny, friendly, intelligent, "Martha", skinny, pretty and just all around NICE. Now why would I want a friend like that? Maybe as an example?

Chat seems to have settled down. For those of you who use chat, I now have "kick-out" power so any of those weird porno creeps will be gone really quickly. Suzanne is also re-installing the login edit so only registered chicks can get in. There should not be any other changes for a bit as Suzanne will be off for a few days.

Gotta give DH the thumb in the bum treatment to get him going. His responsibility when we have dinner guests is to make ice cubes and he never remembers in time!

However, before this all gets underway, I am going to take an Avon Vanilla Cream bubble bath and contemplate my future as a Claire clone.

Have a great day!

Good Moring Ruth and all those to come!

Feeling much better today than I was yesterday, I am now feeling as nauseous as I was and I guess that's a good thing. Going for a pt session at the gym this morning--last week I spoke to my tp and we got things ironed out. My program will change and I will have my first lesson today. I have to say I am excited about it!

Dh is (hopefully) buying a car this afternooon as we desperately need transportation. Guess that's what you get when 2 people in the family work now!

Have a great day everyone--and Ruth, I hope you've taken electrical courses because it looks like Lucy boots has discovered her passion in life!

Morning all,
Pooky I am glad you are feeling better and nauseous being good...? Are you sharing good news?

Ruth in a former life I was a dog trainer. (A well kept secret as most people have a million questions about their dog when you share this info) . But here isa little help for the puppy. You can spray a mixture of Tabasco sauce and water in a spray bottle on the cords and she will leave them alone. The smell alone may turn her away, but the taste will definitely stop her. You can even “bait" her with an old extension cord on the kitchen floor. Leave it out for her coated with the mixture and she will find out fast that cords taste bad. You can use Binacca int spray for this or mouth wash as well.

On the pill thing there is a wonderful command called "leave it". Get a hot dog, some cheese or another REALLY tasty treat for her. Get on the floor with her and break off little pieces of treat and just keep saying "take it". Then you will get a piece in your fingers. (Here is the hard part for some) nails out and tell her “leave it" when she goes to take the treat, give her a little bop on the nose with your fingers, keep repeating "leave it: until she backs off for a second. Tell her "good dog" and tell her “take it" after she has made the effort to leave it. Keep repeating the process. She will learn that leave it has a negative effect. This trick will also work for "gentle" after she gets the "leave it" thing down and you need her to be gentle with her mouth.
I tell people that it is like kids and they need good manners. As you have seen with the dropped pills, or a dropped glass with something good and tasty in it why this can be so good to have this comand solidly under your belt. You can use the "take it" "leave it" thing for dinner. Make her sit and wait for the take it command. It will work for your walks as well if she try’s to get in to the plants , or garden, or worse, field droppings. The key to it is to reward the good behavior as she does it right and she will be eager to please as leaving it will result in a treat.


A little long winded, but I hope this helps you.
Hello to all that follow and have a great OP day.
Be well,
-L

Thanks, L144S - lots of good stuff there.

I do train that way but have not been doing it consistently. Life keeps getting in the way! I used green apple spray on the rungs of my antique chairs which probably is the same as the red pepper. She is starting to understand the "Leave it" and "Drop it" commands.

I have to keep reminding myself that Lucy is still just a baby at 3 months plus a bit.

Good morning ladies!!

Hope everyone is doing okay today...we are supposed to get a wintry blast tonite I fear for my flowers!!!!

DS was up sick in the night did not get much sleep and skipped the gym this morning. But tonite is DD's first swimming lesson so I will have to don a bathing suit and scare everyone in the Y as it is a parent/tot class. Yippee!!!!

Have a great day everyone!

Good Morning!

Sunny, windy and cold in Houston this morning. Yesterday it was 75 today the high is 52 F.

Not much going on here. Hope all is well with everyone.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Morning chicks!

Nice to see you all up and clucking!

Just got my dh out the door for a 4-day business trip. I LOVE HIM dearly AND am so ready for him to be gone for a bit! His job is such that he's either home 24/7 working from his home office or on the road for days at a time and since he's been home for the past 2 or 3 weeks (seems longer!), a little break will be a good thing for us both. And even though the wind is blowing ninety to nothing and it's cold, overcast, and spitting little snow boogers -- I've got a little spring in my heart!

I've just realized that I've been feeling strangely passionless lately. I only put a name to this feeling this morning...and that's good, I guess -- because it's good to know what I'm dealing with. It's not really depression, I think, it feels more like an emotional hiccup than the flu -- but it's bothering me. I'm used to feeling passionate, enthusiastic, and involved -- but lately I've felt dull and boring and bored. SO -- today I'm praying for passion (and humility -- always humility!) a spirit of gratitude and humor!

Have a great day. It's a gift!

Sooner

Puppies, puppies everywhere! Our sweet little Kali likes to chew on the cord to the vacuum! Might have to try the tabasco advice! She's also taken to chewing on OLD shoes of my oldest dd (the one's I save for younger dd). Oh, and she likes Barbie too! I'd think all that hair in your mouth would cause you to gag -- but nooooooooo, not Kali.

The weater here is gorgeous today. No rain!!! But, it's very cold in the am and then warms up a little by afternoon. Actually gives me hope that Spring is coming. That, and the fact that 'something' is coming up in the garden. It'll be interesting to see what it is.

TOM is reeking havoc with staying op. Did you know that Reese's makes bite size "eggs"??? Oy vey! They are yum-yum-yum! I only had six. Maybe extra water will help with that. Also, since I can't give up coffee in the morning, I am trying desperately to cut the 1/2 & 1/2 in half. I'm using a no-fat/no-carb/lactose free creamer. We'll see................

Time now to get moving along to the next item of the day........hitting the treadmill! I hope you all have a great day!

Talking to male nurse (a co-worker) who was selling me in the low carb thing and some book he bought when he lived in the States..."People getting fat on low fat"(or something like that)...and how all the fat is replaced by sugar and that creates extra insulin in the body which gets stored around our mid sections....anyhow a simple explanation and stuff you guys already know...any how the big this is eating complex carbs and a protein at every meal...will try harder this week....

Otherwise it is more of the same...trying to get the last of my album together and work this eve.

Have a good day everyone!

Liz

Bite sized eggs by Reeses???OMG TOM had better be a fast one!! It is here for me too with about a 4 lb water gain. UGH!!!

flycleaning today. at boy scouts we did wood projects IN THE HOUSE so i have saw dust all over!!! so it is time to hit the dirt so to speak. not much else today not much fun either. strugleing to stay OP and get things done in a decent time. My sons friend's mother loaned me Harry Potter on tape and boy it is a good book read wonderfully. so That is what i am doing so i will read while cleaning.

Ruth My aunt has a GF grill and loves hers but my mother got a GE brand one and it was cheaper and you can remove the grill to clean it and open it fully (flat) to have a larger cooking space. You may want to think if you are going to buy a new one to try the GE brand it will be worth your money. the other thought if your DH is handy he can repalce the plug.

It's just amazing the amount of advice we get in here!

It's better than the Discovery Channel!

On my other website (gardening) they are talking about getting rid of warts!

Maybe we could start a Hints from HENoise?

HENoise... Ruth you are a hoot, or a cluck.. I don't know which!

I have some advice for you all. Do what I did today and call in sick to work. I haven't done that in years because I need $$$ too much. Well, I just couldn't face my boss today, so I told him my dd was sick. This is not a lie, but I could have sent her to babysitter anyway. Then, I dipped my head in the pot, I'm a little blonder than before, but still brown. I like it! Heck, I feel like a new woman!

Hope you all are having a wonderful day! Remember, tomorrow is hump-day!