Hi Aud, Great to see you. I really enjoyed Mama Mia - especially seeing it with daughters! I was never a big Abba fan, but I loved the music. It was very contagious! Both my DD's want to see the Traveling Pants movie too, so we may do that together if we can work out a schedule. Honestly, I may have had more than a handful of popcorn, but at least I didn't eat the whole tub! I saw the Dark Knight with DH and I'm probably the only person in the world who didn't like it much. I didn't like Batman. I remember when he was George Clooney! And I never would have figured out that Heath Ledger was Joker if I hadn't known going in. He didn't look at all like the Knight's Tale Ledger I fell in love with!

DD16 is thrilled about the release of the last book in the "Twilight" series over the weekend. In fact, I think she's already been to Barnes and Noble to buy it. I read Harry Potter and the Aragon series with her, but I haven't read that one. Evidently it's about a vampire. I was into fantasy the same way as a much younger person and it's fun to re-visit it with her books, but I can only take so much young adult literature before I'm looking for something a little more grown up.

I was looking for something different to grill on the boat on Sunday so I kabobed some sirlion steaks with big chunks of onion. It was pretty good! And I've been making lots of LC coleslaw this summer. That makes a pretty easy meal. We always have company with us on the boat, so I tell them to bring a side dish and then eat only my LC stuff. It works out pretty well, unless they bring something really irresistable for a side. Like the grape salad I like so much!

I still haven't tried any new vegetable recipes. I'm going to go look right now! Hope everyone else is keeping cool and having fun! It's really, really hot here!!

Hello Aud & Lynn. Sorry it's so hot for you both. It's not a TX roast here (I'm from Houston originally ), but it will get up to a humid and cloudless 81 F today.

Back on track from last week. Exercise today, no more deviations in diet and definitely back to journal entries...they keep me honest.

Today is official weigh/measure day for me and I'm happy to say....

I didn't gain anything! I didn't lose any weight this past 10 days....but considering I expected to gain from our 'vacation', I think not gaining is awesome! And...I also lost another 1/2" in my waist! W00t!

Okay, doorbell is ringing...repairman...gotta run.

Hi Snappie, right now 81 sounds cool! Except I think my office is about 81 now (before 9 a.m. - bad air conditioner). The office gets hot, but the worse thing is the car!! My new (to me) car has a sun roof and a black interrior. It actually melted my plastic name tag when I left it in there. And the deordorant in my gym bag! Today I have the sun roof closed and the extra ceiling peice pulled over. Lets hope that works better.

I bought the really big bag of chicken leg quarters yesterday and they are now in the crock pot with some broth and some Italian dressing (recipe adapted from Low Carb Confidential). I want to make the cooked meat into something - not sure what. I promised to send dinner up to a neighbor with a mangled knee so that may be enchiladas, but what will I make that's low carb and yummy? May have to go look on the recipe sites.

I know I must have been way off plan over the weekend because yesterday I was starving at 10 a.m., ate my salad at noon and fell asleep on my keyboard at 1 p.m. It's gotta be the blood sugar rising and falling. I HATE that feeling. Even if I never lose a pound, this WOE makes me feel so much better! I got up today and did almost all of my complete work out at the gym (I've been slacking off). I know I will feel better this week! I know it.

Aud, hope you're getting a good day's sleep! I could never do your schedule!! See you all later.

Hi all: buzzing in quick at 2:47 a.m. Not much to report. No new work on Mom until the 21st. DD9's first day of public school is the 18th. She is nervous but as she gets older there are fewer and fewer young ladies at her private school. This year there were only three girls in her class and next year it looked like there would only be one. We decided to put her into a public school and give that a go mainly for the social interaction. I made an arragement for a service to pick her up in the afternoons and take her to her old private school for aftercare though. Pricey but I had no option for afterschool care until 5:30 or 6 ish everyday.

Doing o.k. on plan. No slip sliding.

ox
SC

Hi Calmie, good to see you. I know it's hard when your mom is sick and you can't cure her. Afterschool care used to be a problem for me! I could leave my youngest at the public school until 5:30 but after that they charged by the minute and sometimes that was a challenge. It was a relief when she was old enough to take the bus home and let herself in. I think that was fifth grade. She must have been 10. Of course, my DH was often home since he has a home based business, but we couldn't count on him being there so I had her in daycare all summer too.

I made the chicken into enchilada's last night and saved some filling to stuff into lettuce leaves. It was messy, but good. The insides of the enchilada's were low carb - I used just a little tomato sauce. I still have a bunch of cooked chicken left over, so I'll be looking at the recipes again this afternoon.

I actually did the entire workout at the gym today. Sometimes I skip the weight machines if it's crowded, but not today. I feel better!

Hi everyone, I've been staying LC and exercising at the gym daily. Still slowly taking off a few lbs. Wish it was quicker, but it isn't. I can tell though that my waist and love handles are both much smaller now. Oh and my butt is firmer and rounder, LOL.

My son was Soldier of the Week this week. I'm very proud of him!

The temps' are so hot here. 107 degrees. If I didn't have an air-conditioned gym to go to I'd plant my butt on the couch and stay there.

I must be the only one that hasn't seen the Dark Knight yet. It's not typically my genre of movie, but I did want to see it cause Heath Ledger was playing the Joker. My son and DD loved the movie.

Aud, you're right. I like it when relatives are here, but when they leave, even though I miss them, its nice to kick my shoes off.

Lynn, I am from Houston (20 years?) and lived in Dallas area for 12 years also. I remember the scorchers...the melted things in my car...the vapor lock (back in 80s)...the gridlock of rush hour traffic in the sweltering heat..I feel your pain.

Calmie good luck with that. I remember taking my older daughters out of private school and moving them to public. The oldest made an overnight adjustment, but the two middle ones had it a little rougher. I think every child is different. Just talk to her about it - it should help her adjust.

No Lily, you aren't. The first showing of it here by the base is tomorrow night...which I'm going to miss...because with a single small cramped theatre (one screen) and this entire military base, the only way I'd get in would be to stand in line for hours.

And then...there's no AC in that building...I'd have to sit in sweltering heat jammed in with a bunch of other people. In addition they always have the sound up too loud in that theatre, actually hurts my ears (its that particular theatre, not all of them).

So no, I'll pass. I want to see it but I'd rather wait until I can rent it.

Another hot (83) day forecasted here. I'm about to leave for a doctor's appointment. Hope you all are having a good day.

Hi Lovely Lolitas!!! Home a bit early today. Lordy I can relate to the heat. We have had a few 107-111's days here. Of course they had to hit during the worst of the fires. At one point I think California had 1400 fires burning at once. The last week or so it has been between 101-103 here and it feels downright balmy. Today we had the first humidity that has occurred all summer so the deceptive puffy clouds look inviting out the window...until you step outside.

Had so much fun on Sunday. I went to Michaels to pick up some hot glue for DD9's "decorate your own corkboard" project and ALL THE HALLOWEEN GOODIES WERE OUT!!!!I love that. I love halloween. I love the fall best of all seasons.

Lily: Great to hear about your son.
Lynnie: The enchilada innerds sound downright yummy.
Snappy: Kind of a mixed blessing when family leaves huh? There is the initial relishing of an empty house for a bit and then the let down.Especially since your family is so far away.
Auddie: You cursed me with the early morning posts! Check out my post time for my last one. I woke up at 2:30 and finally gave up trying to go back to sleep at 4:30 ish. Ugh I hate that. Especially since DD9 has some warped sixth sense and always knows I have gotten out of my bed and within 5 minutes of hunkering down with my coffee in a dark room with the laptop...I hear her shuffling down the hallway and get the inevitable, "Why are you up? I'm tired...whine, whine, whine. Today she actually accomodated me by falling asleep sitting up on the living room sofa and slept until 6:30 ish. Yay me.

O.k. off to fix up a lettuce wedge salad (addicted!).

ox
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How do I make lettuce wedge salad? I need to get addicted! Thanks so much.

Calmie, I was up a lot last night too with an upset stomach for absolutely no reason!!! Of course if my DD came shuffling in, she would scare me to death - she never wakes up!! I turned off my alarm at 5:30 and dozed until about 7, so no gym this morning and the extra hour and a half in bed didn't help much either. I probably would have been better off going to the gym!

Actually, I did see DD right at 7:00. She was on her way out to optional cross country practice. Hard to beleive any 16 y.o. would get up that early for an optional practice, but she's really into cross country these days. She's now about the second fastest girl on the team and sometimes runs with the boys. It's so unfair that even the fast girls can't keep up with the fast boys! She runs with the middle boys. My only fear is that she'll injure herself and end up sitting out both cross country and dance. With all the running they do - lots of them end up injured. I don't see that much of DD16 since she's been driving. A year ago we were together all the time. I miss her.

Snappie, as the only person on earth who didn't love the Dark Knight, I think you're smart to avoid the crowded hot theater. I would definitely wait for the DVD, if I were you, but then I'm probably just too old.

It's storming out this morning, so the heat wave is broken for now. We never made it up to 107. I think 98 or 99 was our high. We must be north of you, Lily. But that was plenty hot enough for me! I suspect the heat will return before the end of the summer.

Ladies...all the ladies...all the ladies in the house!!! O.K. Jumping in with the fact that I have no desire whatsoever to see Dark Knight. Not my thing. Might watch it on a future "movie night" at home with DD9 and DH if they decide they gotta see it. Humidity went away today. Just super warm out.

Here is how I make a lettuce wedge salad: Take a whole head of lettuce, cut the core and cut into wedges. Wash and drain. Put the wedge on your plate, drizzle with thousand island dressing (I make sure to look for -2-3 carbs per serving...when it is thousand island you don't need to use a lot because it is so rich). Throw on two finely chopped hard boiled eggs, a tsp of finely chopped onion, a handful of diced ham or crumbled bacon, a sprinkling of shredded parm. Eat with knife and fork....WONDERFUL.

ox
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I appreciate the recipe. I'll be going back to school in two weeks (Yikes!) I had hoped to go back many pounds lighter, but I didn't get serious about losing weight til the end of July. Oops!

Anyway, this sounds as if it's also portable. I've been worried about what I would take to school for lunch since there's NOTHING within miles that would be Atkins legal.

Thanks so much. We got a break from the humidity and heat too. Yay!