Good Monday morning everyone.

It's a dull, overcast day here and I think we're gonna get some rain. That's OK - the plants love it.

Had a pretty good weekend. Guests for dinner on Saturday nite. The meal turned out well - all from last month's issue of Cooking Light and remarkably low in points. (if you don't count the wine..)

Things are really heating up for me at work. I saw Patch's plea for someone to take over the Challenge thread, but I don't think I could do it justice with what I'm facing over the next six weeks. It would be a shame to see it fall by the wayside.

Glad to see that the flylady has another convert. Good on you Gail for taking the advice to heart. I too am just doing what I'm told - waiting to see what this week's zone will be.

Gotta run. Will try to catch up with everyone a little later.

Good afternoon everyone!

It rained here all weekend and so far today has been overcast and dull. The sun peeked out a little over the lunch hour but for the most part it's been pretty cloudy. We've had over 2" of rain Saturday/Sunday. The grass is definitely a lot greener and the trees are popping...tomorrow they're calling for a high of 80 (record here is 81) with a possibility of breaking the record set in 1982. We'll see.

We're gearing up as well at work...Summer is our busy time with orientations and getting ready for the incoming freshmen. Makes time go by fast though.

I didn't do too bad point-wise over the weekend. Tried to get some walking in but the rain hindered that. I did get some walking in at our local mall. Not too much else going on. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Happy tuesday.

Its grey and it seems that February has returned to the emerald city. The only thing is that all the fruit trees are in full bloom and the slugs are out of hibernation. I'm hoping for warmer weather by the end of the week so that we can mow the lawn. If not, I'm going to have to rent a family of goats.

Nothing new here. Had an okay weekend. Spent part of it at work, doing errands, gardening and trying to be sympathetic to DP and her four classes this quarter. Trying to juggle school, work and a life is a hard thing.

I'm also getting stoked for our family trip to Italy. I can't wait to show my parents lala's rome. I think they'll enjoy it. It will be the first time since 1979 that we will all be in Europe together. I hoped to be down a little, but I have no idea where I stand. I haven't wi in 3 weeks. I guess I should this week huh? I can tell you that I look way better, its just what the IM has to say.

melissa - enjoy your warm weather!

seesaw- I have wanted to do that- cook out of one cooking mag. for a meal with friends. I like the Martha Stewart
recipe cards too, not low points though.

I had company on sunday. I'll admit I went to our local gourmet store and bought darn near everything. I am so ashamed, but I was whomped.

DP has a class tonight - I'm thinking of flyladying our bathroom cupboards without her around. I think I'll find some surprises

lala

Hi Melissa and lala. It started off as a grey day here too but methinks I'm seeing some rays of sunshine peeking through at long last. TO was expecting temps of 29 celsius today. Wonder if the mayor will call out the army to supply suntan lotion - hah! a little Canadian humour.... ya gotta live here to get it.

I'm a little depressed about my weight guys. In the past, or at least since I got back to (and under) goal, I've always been able to cut back a little or up my exercise to get rid of the occasional weight gain. Not since February - I'm up about 4 lbs, and it's gonna take some seious attention, it seems, to get if off. I think I re-created some fat cells with all of the junk food I was consuming. Serves me right.

lala: When do you depart for Italy? It's great that your family travels together. Can't get mine to budge out of the town they were all born in.

melissa: Wow - 80 degrees! Bet that's welcome this time of year. We won't be seeing anything that warm for months yet. I'm content to be able to take the garbage out without a coat

My FIL is coming for dinner tonite. He's in town to visit the casino (ugh - what is it with seniors and slot machines?) so I guess I won't be doing any flyladying tonite. Can't believe I'm getting hooked on cleaning. Almost through my kitchen cupboards. They haven't been cleaned since, well, never The flylady rules!

Susan-

Our family hasn't travelled to europe together since 1979 due to my brother's terrible teens. I have to admit that I wasn't the sweetest of things, however, his ball of male teenage angst was enough for the rest of us to never travel as a family again.

However since then, I have had several enjoyable trips with both or one of my parents and with my brother to europe. I'm crossing my fingers that my brother will have past that angst stage by then. I'm also trying to convince him that he wants to take me to mongolia and a couple of those central asian 'stan countries with him in september ~ we could bond over yak juice.

I don't know about slot machines and senior citizens either. I think its some kind of satisfaction thing. They should design one that is based on the refrigerator- you know you get a pudding or something like a fried chicken leg if you hit the jackpot.

I don't gamble. I'd rather shop.

you'll get those pounds off fast too! I'm so busy I'm not sure I could do the challenge justice, but maybe....

lala

Seasaw, Lala's right, you'll get those few pounds off soon, I'm sure. The important thing is that you're getting right back on track after only a miniscule gain! What recipes did you cook out of CL? I love that mag. I tried their asparagus w/browned balsamic butter yesterday, and it was terrific. Had never roasted asparagus before; whole different taste.

Lala, Italy with your family, how exciting! I haven't been there since the 70's, with my sisters. What other cities/towns are you planning to visit?

Melissa, send some of that rain down here! Yesterday we had a tornado warning and lots of thunder, but no rain! Dh and Dad are getting kinda depressed, as the ranch looks like a desert and we can't afford to feed cattle all through the summer. It's unusually hot, too.

Got in my 2 miles this morning, but missed yesterday because we had to get to work early, and the evening weather prevented making it up then. Also went slightly over pts yesterday. I think there's a connection; it's easier to stay OP for the day when I get my morning jog in, which sounds strange as you'd think exercise would make you hungrier. Does it work that way for y'all too?

Hope everyone's having a great Wednesday...
Regards,
Jan

hi everyone, gotta be quick today. I have soo much work to do and no time.

Janet- we're going to stay in rome and then do a few quick day trips - I was hoping Perugia/Deruta (by train), Florence (train) and Ninfa (garden outside of Rome, by train or by car) and lots
time in Rome. We have a large apartment rented, so we can cook ourselves and enjoy some time at home.

I'm liking the roasted asparagus this year. I am stymied as to what to make for dinner, so maybe we'll finish off the wild mushroom ravs w/roasted asparagus and some other protein source for dinner.

It is awful here- cold, rainy and grey. Our lilacs are heading up and our wisteria looks ready to start blooming- I hope it happens soon.

I will happily send you some rain too. I can imagine how scarey it is not to have enough in an agricultural setting.

take care all.

lala

oops-
i forgot to say - in cleaning out our master bath last night (flylady strikes again ) I found like 7 nivea antiperspirants. Funny, since I usually buy a couple on each trip to france, germany or italy. You can't find it here or in England. Gosh, I must have bought a few each time last year and just chucked them into the cupboard.

I guess I can free up some room this time for other things .

I'll even say that our master bath is the smallest bathroom in our house, so its not hard to clean.

lala

Good afternoon everyone!

Another sunny and warm (81) day here. This is unusual for us as we're generally only hitting in the high 50's low 60's this time of year. I managed to get a nice 20 minute walk in before work this morning. Felt really good. I'm contemplating heading out for my 15-minute break for some walking as well. Doesn't hurt.

This evening is going to be busy as we have Confirmation. Tomorrow evening I'm working at WW and then hopefully I'll be doing some cleaning. I really need to Flylady with NOBODY around...it's way too hard when you have someone saying, "Don't toss this, we might need it". Anyway, I'm hoping to tackle our back room over the weekend. I need to set up to get it measured for the flooring and it's become a catchall over the winter.

Lala: I know what you mean about the Nivea products...I usually pick up hand cream from a German import store in Chicago and the cream is altogether different than the stuff made here in the states.

Janet: I hope you get rain soon. We're supposed to have thunderstorms this evening again. I'm hoping we don't get too much since everything is pretty wet. I think what happens to me when I exercise is that I feel good and in control that I tend to want to remain OP so I don't snack as much.

Went to my weekly meeting today and they were handing out the new awards for members who have been coming 16+ weeks -- it's the new SAS (Stay and Succeed) award. All Lifetime members received it as well. I also lost another .2 this week...woohoo!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Gee, I'm swamped, and I've been neglecting the 3FC site. I don't like it when work gets in the way... So, just a quick one til next week. (I'm off tomorrow)

Janet: The recipes were all from last month when they did a feature on their most successful recipes (why mess with success)? The menu was as follows:

Warm Spinach salad with curried apple/walnuts
Roasted asparagus w/browned balsamic butter
Beef kabobs (can't remember the name) w/roasted yellow pepper sauce
Mushroom rice (done in the oven)
Chocolate mousse (first experience cooking with tofu)

The salad and rice were in other parts of the mag but the others were considered among their best-liked. I must say, the meal surpassed my expectations. I had only tried one of the recipies before - the rice - so I was really feeling out on a limb.

lala: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm angry with myself for having pushed the envelope so far. But my half-marathon training program at least keeps me on the exercise trail and sooner or later, my healthy eating habits kick in again. At least I got rid of the junk food. But the battle continues, ya know? On the flylady note - I found two excellent candle holders in my de-clutter binge last nite. This is such an interesting journey!

Melissa: You're making good use of the warmer weather I see. Wish it would warm up just a little here. It will be around the freezing mark overnite tonite - makes me shiver thinking about the run I have planned for the morning. Br-r-r summer's not yet arrived in Atlantic Canada.

I'll catch up with all of you next week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Hi everyone-
I'm very uninspired this am to get the phone calls, proposals and editing done that needs it. sigh.

so, it looks like we may have 24 hours without active precip. here in the emerald city. whoo hoo. Our community garden was staked this week, so DP have blocked of time tomorrow night to start digging in compost and making beds. I tell you, we live an exciting life. Its that or homework .

I skipped yoga this am. I am whomped. Did a clean up of my side of the bed last night. Its beautiful now and less cluttered. I'm letting DP off the hook until after finals. I also found another 2 bags of clothes to take to the shelter. That is my this weekend project. Getting the stuff to the right places.

I also found about 10 books I had picked up on trips to London the last few times, that for one reason or another I have yet to read. Very nice, now I'm not going to buy anything new when I'm there and I have a stack of summer reading.

melissa- I love nivea lotion - I like the stuff that comes in the little container- you can get it all out unlike with tubes. In my clean out I found another three bottles of l'occitane shampoo that we bought because it was discontinued along with a boatload of soap. I have a ban on bringing toiletries home for the next year or two. We're suckers for soap, but you gotta use it!

susan- I hope its nice enough to do your run tomorrow. I am still thinking of training for a half marathon too. I think its time to shake up my routing a bit. Its nice to go shopping for household items in your own house isn't it?

I hope kena, patch, myra, kt and janet are all doing well. One day we'll have to have a cyber bbq.

okay, off to check on files and get started. sigh.

lala

Susan, thanks for the CL info! I had just tried the asparagus recipe and loved it; now I'll try those others you named. I love trying new recipes. You mentioned a half marathon; is it a special event, like the arthritis walk?

Melissa, thanks, surely we'll get some rain soon. It has been in the 90's, muggy and sunny, and my poor garden is slurping up every drop I give it. What kind of award did WW give y'all? Like a keychain charm? I remember years ago they gave us a one-ounce silver coin...

Lala, your trip sounds just lovely! And what a great idea to rent an apartment. How did you find it? Online? I would love to go back to Italy some day; right now DH is hooked on Paris, so that'll probably be our summer vacation this year.

Hope everyone has a great tgif tomorrow!

Hello ladies,
Sorry I am MIA so much all the time. I try to take some time each week to scan the posts to see what's happening.

Things on the job search hunt have certainly picked up some over the past few weeks. I had a job offer about two weeks ago that was pretty decent, but it was a bit of a drive (about 70 miles round trip) plus I wanted more vacation than they were willing to part with. I figure I've been in the job force for nearly 20 years & I'm not about to backpeddle when it comes to vacation. I also didn't see much future for advancement. So I told them I wanted to think about it for a week & I told them Tuesday that I just wasn't interested.

I did have an interview with a university that caters to working adults. I miraculously was called back after the "informational interview." I didn't know what to expect going to that & it turned out to be some information given by them as well as a couple of stints of each of the applicants to stand up in front of the rest of the group and tell about our background, skills, why we should be considered for the job, etc. A bit nerve-wracking to say the least. I was thankful for the experience as a WW leader standing up in front of a group or else I know I couldn't have done it. So I had another interview last Friday (they asked back 3 of us out of the original 10-11 that were there the first time). I had to do a 5-8 minute sales presentation plus then they asked me the usual interview-type questions. So Tuesday I got a call stating that out of the 3 candidates, they want to hire 2 (one is me!). But they are only budgeted for one, so the women in charge is trying to get approval from the higher ups to hire both of us. If they can only hire one, than they would hire the other person first because she had more experience in the sales aspect of the job. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed & hope it works out. Think positive thoughts for me.

Planning a trip home to see my mother, brothers & sisters in the Twin Cities this weekend. Weather here has been extremely warm & I am loving it. Great to get back outside to do my walking instead in inside on the treadmill.

Glad to hear you all are doing well & flyladying like mad! I must get started with that as well. Will keep you posted on the job.

Take care all,

Janet,
I'm staying in an apartment that faculty in the UWashington Rome Program use. Its part of the perks of being an alumna .
Its not cheap, but it will sleep all five of us in relative comfort with a view of St. Peters and overlooking the campo dei fiori.

However, last year, when we couldn't get into an apartment at Rome Center. We used another service -I think sleepinitaly.com to find somewhere in Rome that we liked. We ended up with a cute little apartment that served our needs (sleep, shower and hang out) for about 80 dollars a night.

In Paris, we have a couple of good hotels we use, but getting an apartment is way better. I don't know when you like to go, but we usually go in October, Nove, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar (some years, each of those months) when its cheaper. I hate spending more than 100 dollars a night on accomodations, when you could be shopping, eating etc. with that money .

I'm thinking Paris in Oct, Nov this year. It just depends on DP schedule. She is getting into the school thing and my travel addiction means we are not going everywhere together.

Yikes, it sounds hot where you are. I need to leave and come back to work, my dog is in the car and its about 57 in the sun.

lala

Good morning everyone! The temps have been relatively warm here--this morning it was 77 when I got up but in a matter of an hour the temps dropped to 64 and a thunderstorm rolled in. We're supposed to be more within our normal temps tonight (40's) and tomorrow it's only supposed to be in the 50's. I'm looking forward to it being a little cooler. The weather we were experiencing was more like July!

Susan: I have been taking advantage of the nice temps and walking either before work or during my lunch hour. I won't be able to get out today as we have our WW At Work today at noon. It doesn't appear that the weather would be cooperating anyway.

Lala: It's funny how you mention the Nivea in the little containers--that's exactly what I use. I have 2 in my desk drawer and a little goes a long way. I never thought of there being much of a difference between American products and products from overseas but I can definitely tell! I've been in a slump at work as well in not feeling like tackling anything. I'm hoping to wade through some paperwork this morning and hopefully do some "flyladying" here in the office--we're starting to get boxes in for the summer orientation program and I need to get things organized. This afternoon should be a good one to do this since my boss is taking the afternoon off

Janet: The award is a pair of hands clapping with the the number 16 on it. It goes on your 10% key chain. A lot of the members have expressed that this is really nice and it came at a time when they really needed it. Have you had any rain yet???

Katie: I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Hopefully they'll be able to find money in the budget for both of you! I know here where I work they find $$ when they really want something so hopefully they'll be able to do the same!

I don't have any major plans for the weekend although I feel a strong urge to go through some stuff at home. I need to move the winter clothes out of my closet and wade through some stuff that I keep pushing off. We'll see--hopefully the urge doesn't go away

Happy Friday!!!