All three woofers are quiet this morning after a very hectic Tuesday with contractors in and out. I did get the Fair signs done and hung without any major goofs this time.

I'm not sure what today will bring but know Paul, my contractor, is a real earlybird so must get showered and dressed and ready to receive. I think he's bringing the heating guy today.

We have a light rain today and I'm glad. Before I start digging and moving those perennials, they need to be well soaked. I think the migration will start tomorrow. I plan to get the four Hyper Pypers to help although they don't know it yet. It will be a huge job but I don't intend to see my lovely garden destroyed by men and machines.

Late this afternoon I will be working at the Fair doing registration for Homecraft. Somehow I don't think I'll be able to get my quilt finished to enter. It's still hanging over the upstairs rail waiting to be finished! Oh well...next year.

Hope your Wednesday is wonderful!

I managed to get one eye open, and I'm working on my 2nd cup of coffee to get the other one opened. We got home late last night from the amusement park, then I found out I had to take Audrey's friend home. She lives almost 20 miles in the opposite direction of my house. A hot shower and a cup of tea was exactly what I needed when I finally made it back home.
We all had an absolute blast at the park, though, and the kids had to be dragged away from the waterpark finally at 7pm. I was hoping they'd fall asleep on the long ride home, but, no luck. I have to be back at their house by 8 this morning, and I'm tempted to have us all go back to bed for a few hours since we don't have to be anywhere until 3 this afternoon.

Ruth, hope your plant moving goes smoothly! What a chore! I think my dogs would lose their minds with "strangers" coming and going. Their "company" skills aren't great.

Cottage, sound like you all had a great time yesterday. Ouch on that long drive afterwards. Was chocolate in the air?

Had a nice quiet evening yesterday. Started watching "Drop Dead Diva" while poking around "on demand". Cute show.
After the gym today, it's just hanging around here helping Beau to get ready to leave. His plane leaves at 5:20, so we have to leave here around 3. I think the drive home will be the longest in my life.

Good Morning
Mornin' Ruth. Thanks for starting us up. How exciting to be moving ahead with your building plans. A quilting room will be so nice. You'll have your quilt and another finished for the fair next year.

I've been missing getting my personal hellos in so I reread yesterdays thread. There's been so much going on.
Cat, be strong today. Smile for your son and cry with your DH afterwards. I know you are so proud of him!
Cottage, What a fun trip to Hershey park. Fun and exhausting. I'm hoping you get a breather today.
Cyndi, I really enjoy hearing about all your dehydrating. We're drying cherries right now.
Barb, its really great to read your posts. I wasn't here, but understand you've been through alot. Although you miss Brian, it must be nice to have some time to yourself and with Don.
Chelby, how is Auston doing? It must be exciting for you to plan your trip.
Nancy, glad your DH is wanting to eat healthier. It sure helps in our household. I hope it will help you getting back OP.
Sunshine, Thanks for taking the time to post the BBQ recipe. I'll try it soon.
My3Sons, I've been meaning to say I love your avatar and how it changes.
MomofSteel, great on getting back to your running. It's so important to exercise doing something we enjoy.
Kim, have you been checking in with the flylady? I like her philosophy of housecleaning.
PearlRose, after all these years I still remember the excitement of getting my Drivers License. It's such a turning point in the growing up process. Joy and safety to your DD. You must be getting really excited for your trip, too.

Me, taking a break from my pool and bike routine today and get some other things done. DH leaves for Alaska next Thurs. so we'll be leaving here and pretty much shutting down this operation for 3 1/2 weeks. The garden will self water and I'll buzz over once a week to pick tomatoes and pick up CSA veggies. Before I leave, I need to finish all the paperwork for our nursing home program. Today I'll head there to provide orientation for 2 teams. Later, I'll meet up with the knitting group for our annual social on the veranda at Hotel Colorado.

My SB question of the day; I'm in week 12 and doing fine. Part of the "tradition" at Hotel Colorado is indulging in Sweet Potato Fries. What do you all think of my indulging a bit? I was thinking of ordering a big salad with protein so that would be my main fare, but would a small sampling be ok with my salad if I called it dinner? I haven't eaten anything fried as of yet, and I don't see any issue jumping right back on the SB bus. I'd appreciate feedback.

Have a great day everyone!! Thanks for all the support.

Good morning, Cat. Yes, as soon as we were near the city limits, I had the girls roll down their windows so they could sniff the air. Cindy had never been to Hershey before, so she was as excited as a little kid! We all bought some chocolate to save for the ride home. Of course, I bought a bar of the Special Dark Chocolate with cranberries & blueberries.
I know how hard today is going to be for you, especially your drive back home.

Hi, Debbie! I don't think a small serving of the sweet potato fries should hurt you at this point. Just try to limit yourself, and enjoy your social!

Thanks, Cottage. As always, it's best to think it through first.

Lex, ask them if they can bake those fries instead of frying them...can't hurt to ask!!!

Good morning

Ruth - Good luck with the plant moving. Help sounds important along with a hot bath and a glass of "something relaxing" at the end of the day.

Cottage - Wow, what a fun day for everyone Here's to a quieter day today. Sounds like you found a yummy dark chocolate treat. Our Co-op has dark chocolate covered blueberries in bulk - the perfect portion control. They are soooo good.

Cat - I'll be thinking of you this afternoon as you do the hardest thing Moms are asked to do

Debbie - Apparently the shredded veggie drying idea is a hit in several places. It makes my winter a little easier. I love dried cherries but always buy them. Local cherries are hard to come by and very expensive.
As long as those fries aren't sweetened I agree with Cottage. Sounds like you already have a really good plan for portion control.

That reminds me - I've been thinking we should start a general thread about dealing with special events since it comes up so often. A lot of us have navigated the families, special events and special places thing both well and not so well and could probably generate some hints that would be useful. Hmm, to get a few minutes today..

Today is a busy day again. I've got a visit this morning, a lunch meeting and then another visit/meeting this afternoon. Luckily the weather is clearing up so I won't have to deal with rain in and out of the car.

I'm still fighting the late afternoon binge monster. I don't know what it is but that's always been my worst time of the day, between work and dinner. I'm thinking about making dinner as soon as I get home rather than relaxing for an hour first. I have to find some technique to get through that time period without battling myself every day. grrrr

Time to get moving. I need to get jelly out for the orioles before I go because they're bringing the whole family in This week it's mango fruit spread. We have well fed birds (I won't even feed the birds high fructose corn syrup).

Hope the sun is out where you are and your hump day is over quickly so you are one day closer to the weekend!

My SB question of the day; I'm in week 12 and doing fine. Part of the "tradition" at Hotel Colorado is indulging in Sweet Potato Fries. What do you all think of my indulging a bit? I was thinking of ordering a big salad with protein so that would be my main fare, but would a small sampling be ok with my salad if I called it dinner? I haven't eaten anything fried as of yet, and I don't see any issue jumping right back on the SB bus. I'd appreciate feedback.Have a great day everyone!! Thanks for all the support.[/QUOTE]

Hi Debbie! I say don't eat the sweet potato fries. You have worked really hard not eating fried foods as of yet. I will just tell you that me personally...can't go off plan. When I do get a taste of something that is considered "non-diet" I usually bust! It's not worth it!!! Sorry...probably not what you wanted to hear, but one taste of this leads to one taste of that.

You can get past those sweet potato fries. They sell them in the frozen section of most grocery stores. Make them yourself when you hit goal!!!!

Thanks, Jenn, for taking the time to give me some input. Nice to meet you and I love your avatar. Your post also opened another option for me; I will also peruse the menu for something which would be festive not fried.

Cyndi, I think a special event thread would be great. I think that especially for newer SB'ers it would be wonderful to be able to prethink things. Even as Nancy spoke of "honoring" the gift of food when we visit others homes, I do think it's possible to minimize the damage and also not unintentionally "set" oneself up for cravings. You have a way with words, I'll anxiously await.

Just a quick pop in b/c I will be gone all day. I have a doctor's appointment today b/c I have been feeling very run down for the past few weeks. I am also getting A LOT of hot flashes and am achy. My mother will be watching the boys and then we are going down to the her house to spend the day at the lake. (not as relaxing as you would think with three boys 4 and under).

Ruth - Have fun gardening. I cannot wait to have some time to do that!

Cottage- Glad you had fun last night! After bringing the friend back, enjoy a relaxing morning!

Cat -Have a good cry on the way home and know that you son will do great! (This coming from a mom when her 3 year old started preschool)

Lexiss- Thanks for the comment about the avatar. A friend made it for me. I agree about the sweet potato fires...a small serving should be okay! Just be sure to jump on the bandwagon right away. ENJOY!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

You're welcome! Nice to meet you too. My daughter helped me pick my avatar. I love roses and colors. I have decided that my goal is to look good and feel great about myself. I have spent too many months eating whatever I want. Now I am paying the price. I can't have any of those foods now if I want to lose weight. Right now I don't like what I see in the mirror. I'm going to do something about it. From today through Sunday is going to be a super challenging diet week for me. My sister is coming in from out of town. We usually hit all kinds of restaurants together, etc. Also I have a graduation party that I am going to on Sat. I'm worried that there will not be anything diet friendly there.

Good morning, everyone! Another late start for me this morning, but at least I have a good excuse; I was reading SB Supercharged into the wee hours last night!

Ruth: The plant migration sounds like a BIG job, but I understand why you're doing it. I wouldn't be able to bear my garden being wrecked to nothing for a renovation/addition either. I hope you have a wonderful day! And you never know, maybe you'll soon get a nice break where you can get your quilt finished!

Cottage: That stinks that you got home so late last night, but I'm glad it sounds like everyone had a good time! I hope you and the girls are enjoying a very quiet morning.

Cat: Thinking of you today! My dogs are like yours, not too excited about constant company.

Lexxiss: I have implemented some of the FlyLady techniques and I do like her "little bit a day" philosophy. I personally would indulge in a few of the fries, as long as I KNEW that I wouldn't let it get me off track afterwords.

Cyndi: I agree that a thread about special events would be GREAT! I'm fighting the late-afternoon binge monster with you. My biggest downfall is the never-ending trail of snacks that someone brings in and my inability to avoid them. We can get through this and get back to healthy eating all the time!

mythreesons: Hi! I hope everything goes well at the doctor's office today and that their able to give you some answers/suggestions. Keep us posted! I hope the lake is enjoyable even if it's not relaxing!

Jenn: Hi! I don't know if we've "met" before. It sounds like you've really got a good plan in place to keep you on track! That's great! For your activities coming up; with your sister, I think it would be lots of fun to discover new, healthier options that taste delicious! That way you could still visit a lot of restaurants, but not get off plan. As for the graduation party, if you know the hosts, just give them a call and ask them if they would mind if you brought a veggie tray to pass. That way you would know there would be something friendly to eat!



DH and I had a "meeting" last night to discuss my current plateau and we agreed on a rather detailed plan for the next 8 weeks to hopefully kick start my weight loss again. He's been against me going on P1 in the past, simply because my workouts now are pretty high-intensity and I do get light-headed if I keep them up on P1. So, we've come up with a compromise; I'll do the two weeks of P1 starting Monday and cut back the intensity of my workouts as needed. After that, I'll transition as prescribed into P2 and kick my workouts back up. My end of the deal is that I'll track my food religiously and his is that he will meet with me every Monday night (after Monday morning weigh-in) so that we can re-evaluate where I am. I know I could hit another plateau in the future, but as long as I keep following the SB lifestyle and he keeps planning my workouts, I don't see this as having a high-failure possibility. Plus, it gets me more involved and therefore a more willing participant.

Okay, enough of that. I'm really supposed to be working! Hope everyone to come has a great day!

I just wanted to stay in bed this morning!!! it's nice and cloudy and cool... perfect sleeping weather.. but who wants to sleep when it's weigh in day! LOL

I did go weigh in and had dropped another 3 lbs.. so that's a total of 10 lbs thus far! woo hoo!

except for eating wrong over the weekend, I've been nothing but faithful! and enjoying it!

in less than a week.. I'll be a grandmother for the first time! it's starting to get a little scary!
But I know everything will work out!
I'm just a little disappointed.. cuz she keeps saying she doesn't want me in there with her.. and it hurts my feelings a little. She says she wants it to be a special time for her and her husband. (it's even weirder to say that.. she's only gotten married july 2nd.. and she is still living at home ... ) she'll be moving to Alaska to join her hubby who's stationed up there, as soon as she's recovered from the birth. Crazy year this has been!

I'm trying to decide what delicious recipe I want to try for supper tonight!
I've got the evening off and have time to make something really good.
well.. I'm off to find what ever it is!!
Tina

Last night was just so relaxing with working out at the gym after work and then eating dinner at Don's and hanging out watching TV until bedtime. You know you're getting older when you really look forward to watching TV with a friend rather than going out and partying.

I did manage to get teammates to agree to back me up so I'm going to take two weeks of vacation starting Friday. I'm not sure if I'll go anywhere or do anything special since I don't want to spend a lot of money so soon after buying the car but it will be nice to have a break.