I'm up too early on this Saturday morning, I could be sleeping in but noooooooo here I am! Oh well, coffee is on, hot and strong, have a cup or two.

Jiff your right, ole Alvin is our leader Barb tell him we are all glad he is doing so well, and keep up the good work.

Jiff I hope work calms down for you, or better yet maybe someone will contact you for a new job since your resume is on the net. YEEHA

samsgrandma, enjoy those little one's this weekend.

Leens, sour mile, YUCK

Ruth your just too busy for words, but then again you always were.

Where are peachie and MamaJ hanging out, have not seen either of them post for a while. Ladies where are you? Don't make me beat you with my imitation (of Ruth's originial) chicken purse!! Come out, come out wherever you are! A dear friend of mine took temporary custody of my chicken purse last night, she is going through some difficult times right now and I presented her with my chicken purse to "flog into submission, those that need it"

We had a scrimmage football game last night. The band performed their halftime show, at least the part they have learned. It was hot and sticky, but fun.

Hubby comes home from England today. Don't tell him, but I really did miss him.

More coffee needed!

Have a wonderful weekend!!
Debbie

Morning Debkay and all to come!

So, Debkay, did you actually USE the credit card? I told dh you were going to use it and HE fell on the floor! I just picked up your pm by the way! Guess I have been out of pocket for a while! Hope you bought and charged a FEATHER boa for dh's return! Insert sexually explicit smilie _________here! OH! got some more peacock feathers yesterday....you interested? Insert sneaky smilie ________here!

WAY TO GO ALVIN! ( I should use a happy jumpy smilie here BUT if I go and look at the new ones, I don't think I will have the time to come back....so.....insert one ________ here!) Those smilies are WAAAAAAY to cute, LOVE THEM!

Happy belated birthday to Jennifer! Hope your day was great and that all of those around you paid you the homage that you deserve!!!!! insert birthday cake smilie ________ here!!!!

Finally FINALLY I had a perfect Atkins induction day yesterday!!! I think I realize what happens. Insert confused smilie ______here! I go to weight watchers and little by little I get farther away from my low carbing roots that before you know it I am in the pasta, bread, white stuff and SUGAR and end up with one of those womanly infections.....insert yucky smilie _______here!

SO>>>>>>> back to induction as the kids gear up to go back to school....insert happy happy jumpy smilie ________here!

The boys return to school on Sept 4th, wrestling camp this week and then off they go..... LOVE YA SEE YA HAVE A GREAT DAY BEHAVE KISS KISS LOVE YA BYE!!!!! Insert mother setting off fire crackers in here own back yard smilie ________here!!!!

Have a good one.....Janice? where the heck are you?

off for another cuppa!
peach

Good morning everyone. Debkay, weekends are for sleeping in, don't ya know? It's so nice that you were able to lend your chicken purse to your friend in need. I'm sure it helped.

Leens, I hope you still have a job on Monday after the stinky car drive with Boss Lady. Of course, if she was going to ToysRUS, she must know about kids and smells.

Goodforme (Sherrie), I sure hope the flood subsides for you soon. What was the bird Noah spotted - a dove? I hope one shows up for you soon. I'd love to mail you one of the mourning doves hanging around our barn!

Jiff, doesn't that just bite when you get aggravated and lose your temper! You are one tough lady and don't need me to tell you not to let the b**tards shove you around.

Hey Barb - Ole Alvin is our hero! By the way, I use the potato peeler to make thin zucchini ribbons as a pasta substitute. Just steam them a bit and they are fine.

Yes, where are MamaJ and Peachie? Get your butts back in here.
(Just spotted Peachie's post. Glad to see you around, girlie!)

Pooky, Miree on the roller-coaster!! Is your heart back from your throat yet? Are the touristy things winding down in your area? We still have a few here but by next weekend we will start getting our village back.

Samsgram, grandbabies will keep you on your toes. I think I'd skip even the thought of exercise with a visit in the offing.

2BFIT(Sil), you sound like one busy lady. I am still so in envy of your garden. Mine is mainly weeds right now as my screwed up shoulder and the darn Fair kept me from keeping on top of things. Oh well, there's always next year.

Jennifer, your birthday sounds pretty darn good to me. You did really well on the eating too - nopt too deviant at all!

Well, I didn't make pies yesterday because the flyers came in and ready-to-bake deep dish blueberry pies are $3.99! I think I may just hie myself off to Brockville and BUY pies for the BBQ. On the other hand, that could screw up my champion pie making reputation. Hmmmmm. Decisions! Decisions!

My Girls have finally called a truce in their war. I can't imagine what happened but they have been really nasty with each other the past few days. Something may have happened when we left them alone on Monday for a while. Anyhow, Hershey is loaded with matted fur so we will be gradually clipping her down. Lucy's trainer does not want me to clip her "and ruin her coat" but also is too busy to do the fur stylist routine. Can you tell that I really don't like this woman? I am going to start removing mats from Lucy anyhow because I can't stand it any longer. When a dog lives in a kennel, it doesn't have coat problems but my Girls have a pool, a grassy yard, a cedar hedge and a garden to play in and their fur shows it.

Well, I'm going to throw in a load of laundry and make a shopping list. Then off to the Big City of Brockville. Hope I can stand the excitement.

Have a lovely weekend - and do something nice for yourself - like buy a pie instead of making one!

Happy Saturday, Happy weekend! Is there a smilie for that? Laying in bed smilie?
Doing chores smilie?
Flylady smilie?

That is it for me. indoor chores this am, and some running around in the afternoon. Nothing strenuous, I wouldn't want to get any exercise! Cloudy and some rain expected, but we need it so badly, and at least it's cooler!

Well, I will check in later and see what everyone's up to.

Hi Ruth, Peach and Debkay!

and to all to come!

dottie

peachie I never did make it to the store I wanted to go to, so the credit card did not get dusted off, after all you didn't hear any thumps from London. It's amazing that your hubby did the sympathy thump (fall in the floor) in Joisey. No, no new boa, but I did buy new drawers!! HOT DOG!!!!!!

Morning Everyone! I have been MIA in SOOOOO many ways this week!!! School has started for both my DS and I and things start getting crazy and next thing you know......all the good from the summer goes out the window. I haven't exercised in 3 days, but I am going to get in a good workout today. It has been so hot here that by the time I get home from school I am like a limp rag. DS has had to be up to football practice at 5:30 every morning (except yesterday during our huge gully washer thunderstorm). Then he has practice after school til 6:00 or so. This has thrown the whole house into zombie mode. I am hoping that after today (last 2 a day) things will calm down. And maybe I will be organized at school a little better. I have 28 kids this year, possibly 29 if an IEP gets changed. Let's see what else, been rehearsing with about 60 community members to sing with the highschool choir (DS is in it ) for a memorial service for 9/11. It has been enjoyable and the music is beautiful. I didn't realize how much I missed singing. (shower excluded ; ) ) My birthday is Monday so I sure hope I shape up my attitude before then. It will be interesting to see if DH recognizes the day--it is always a toss up! Okay, that is it for me---I've been thinking about you guys all week, but getting near a computer has been like trying to cross the Sahara on foot! I will sure try harder at it next week--along with a few other things!!! I need to go back and read this week's posts to find out what all of you have been up to!! Take care all of you!!

Ruthie, I was on the roller coaster with her! And it's a kiddie one too, so it's not like there was a lot of lumpy bumpies in there. And she was grinning ear to ear, loved every minute of it!!

I am trying to get my life back, how is it when you have guests everything falls out the window? I have been tired so dh let me sleep in this morning.

I have to make it a quick post because my ISP is doing some weird things with the connection and it keeps going on and off.

Hope you all have a great day!

Hi everybody. My, you're all so busy, busy, busy. So nice to see such enthusiasm...for life if not dieting.
It's a gorgeous day again. I just learned that we on the West Coast have just had the dryest July and August (so far) in recorded history. Nice for us but not so nice for our prairie farmers to the east who are having their worst drought since who knows when. Keep your fingers crossed and/or say a prayer for these folks who have put their hearts and souls into building up their farms and ranches only to see them go down the tube for lack of rain.
I went out to pick a few peas this morning and ended up filling two ice cream buckets. Then a spent a pleasant hour on my patio listening to our waterfall and the birdies at the feeder. Even caught glimpses of a hummer who was enjoying the nectar of the butterfly bush right beside a pretty flutterby. I ended up with three good sized bags of green peas frozen and they are still coming. Also, the green beans are ripening fast but I didn't plant a lot of them as we don't like them preserved in any way. I spent a bit of time thinning my short row of carrots before it got too warm out there.
Tonight I'm supposed to be going to pick wild blackberries. Yum Yum! Love those blackberries and they are especially big and sweet this year, I hear. I hope to get lots frozen and lots of jam made for dh.
I so enjoy all your posts but just don't have it in me to reply to each and every one of them. Keep 'em coming.

and nice to see you all. TOM started, so maybe my stress levels will go down. can't wait till all this ICK stops, and my heart goes out to you sherrie. just keep taking your iron and b12 and stuff.. at least they'll help keep you healthy.

i wore one of debkay's shirts yesterday, hoping that some of her serenity would rub off on me. and i told EVERYONE that's what i was doing. not sure it worked, but i felt better.

oh the good old days, with early morning band practice!!! and now it seems as if even the football players have to start early!! they were always softer than the bandies. they didn't have to be up before the crack of dawn. but looking at what annie's son and deb's daughter are going through, it makes me wonder if our society is being too hard on kids who want to do extracurricular activities. such a long day! and so much work involved!

and i keep thinking about a nice visit to canada. wouldn't that be nice??? i LOVE canada!

walked for 2 miles this morning. with the dog. she's gotten used to this routine already! the first morning, thursday, i had to drag her off mom's bed. yesterday, the second day, she came when i called her. and today, she came into the kitchen with me, and sat by the back door and wagged her tail!!

and she was actually polite to a woman we saw along the way. maybe there's hope for her.

we've done a couple of errands so far, and gotten the nails done, but otherwise a quiet day, nice and rainy. the first one in a long time.

wish i had more stuff to say. wish i was more interesting. please know that i'm thinking of you all. and hoping you're having a great weekend.

Hi everyone..... sheesh! It's evening already and the first time all day I've had a chance to come by! I am exhausted..... dd took Sam to a friend's house for supper and dh is feeding/bathing Rosie..... I said I needed a break - after all, he WORKED all day and I was here alone with the little monsters.. ooops, I mean little angels!! I dearly love my grandkids, but they are sooo energetic!

Well, I better get back there before he drowns the little darling! Hope you all are totally enjoying a relaxing weekend

Went to a wedding today. It was so pretty and so emotional. It was a girl (38y/o)who's husband was a motorcycle policeman whow was killed about 6 years ago while while writing a ticket on the freeway. Someone came up on the median and ran him down. They had two daughters about 5 & 8 y/o. Well the girls are about 11 7 14 now and they were the only attendants. After the bride & groom exchanged vows and rings, the groom turned to each girl and made a commitment to them and gave each one a bracelet. It was so touching. They had lots of good food too.

My BIL just called and need an extra comptuter. I told him I had one he could have, but he'd have to come get it. He wanted to know what our plans were for the night DUH...I think we'll sit on the couch... Alvin said he was sorry he's a party pooper, but I'm glad to be able to sit on the couch with him!

I didn't get around to resizing my gs's picture, but let me see if I can load Alvin's Before pic. I'm going to get Mark to make a NOW one this week.

Have a great rest of the weekend

Ageoldie - your wedding story caught me by surprise and made me weepy. This ol life is tough sometimes but there are sparkling moments that we come across here and there that make the journey worthwhile and restores us all. Thanks for sharing.

Debkay - Love your band stories. Sounds like you are really enjoying yourself. You sound like you have a great relationship with your daughter, as I do with mine. Melis has joined the choir this year so I'll probably be shuttling around from performance to performance too! And loving every minute of it

AdoAnnie - Nice to see that you are (barely) surviving the 2 a day practices (I know, I know, your SON is the one practicing - lol) AND the start of school. Our school (Jr. High & High) started on 8/13 so my kids are all broken in already. Cody (newly in 7th grade) is having fun using Bryan (LARGE 8th grader - over 5'9, 175 @ 13 now) as "My Body Guard". Bryan (who is EXTREMELY gentle and wouldn't hurt a fly) is getting a kick out of it all!

Jiff! TOM? Ick! I like your method of letting all around you know that they may want to watch their step. I need to try that one. Glad that your dogger is into the morning walks - it won't be easy to beg off every once in a while when she gives you those sad puppy dog looks.

Oh Linda! Enjoy some blackberries for me! Blackberry cobbler with French Vanilla ice cream is my all time fav! Oops - sorry. Hey! But there was an LC ice cream recipe floating around a while back, huh?

Hello to Ruthie (I giggle and think of you everytime I see an ad for that XXX movie thats out now), Peachie, DonDar, Pooky, Janice and everyone else that I'm missing!

Bryan's fall tournament baseball season has started and he had/has practice today and Sunday (3-4 hours each) since we have our 1st Tourney next weekend. He is on a USSSA/AAU 14/under team and will be playing up and down the state all year. It is really fun and I am so glad that he decided to play 'at the next level' since he was getting bogged down with the rec. ball stuff.

Bookkeeping business stuff continues (read that as it's NEVER ENDING) but I have been doing fairly well with eating OP. I need to get moving again, tho. I was doing pool exercise every evening and then did all that walking on vacation but haven't been doing much of anything in the last couple of weeks! Gotta get back to Curves!

Sorry I don't post more. I really want to get to know the newcomers here. But with 3 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat, a homebased business, ailing (but getting stronger!) mom and a retired/disabled (read that as HOME 24/7!) husband, reading the dailies every morning with my coffee is a far as I usually get! I do think of you often and relay your cute/funny/touching/scary stories to my kids on a regular basis.

Love ya,

Kel

Hi all,

You all have such interesting lives. Mine seems downright boring by comparison.

I am recovering well from surgery, went back to work Thursday. I worked about 3 hours today. Weekends are very relaxed, which was nice. Next week I should be working 5 hours per day, every day. Hopefully that will go okay, and I can increase the hours from there. I really do feel fine, so hopefully will have no problems.

I took my daughter for orientation at the high school yesterday. I can't believe my girl is going to high school. Her older brother is going to be a junior, but they are so very different, doing high school will be very different for her than it is for him. She is so looking forward to it. I am looking forward to watching her enjoy it.

I see the plastic surgeon again in about two weeks. I am less than thrilled with my results. It is hard to tell what is swelling and what is the end result. I am trying hard not to panic, but it is hard.

I keep trying to have a "perfect protein day", which is similar to my old weight watchers "perfect diet day". Just one perfect day. But I can have a few perfect hours, then the old binge mentality kicks in. Darn! I have lost all I will from the weight loss surgery, and am about 40 lb above what I should be (by the charts). The surgeon is happy with where I am at, but after a lot of contemplation I would like to lose a bit more. I would like to just take it 10 lb at a time. Lose 10 lb, see where I am at, and decide from there. Needless to say, if I don't start having some perfect protein days, I am not going to lose 1 lb, much less 10!

I feel fine, am taking my supplements, and my last lab work was fine, but people keep telling me I look pale, or asking me if I feel sick. Talk about messing with my confidence! I feel fine until people start asking if I am sick, then I have to worry - do I really look bad? I feel fine, not overly tired, etc. I don't know if this has to do with having surgery 4 weeks ago, or if something else is going on. I would feel kind of stupid calling my WLS surgeon and telling him I think I may need to get my labs done early because people say I look bad! I don't see him again until October.

Otherwise, life is good. I'm glad to be back to work. I'm dying to get back to exercise (remind me of that when I really can, and find a reason not to!).

Dawna

Good Sunday Morning everyone!

I'm on Miree duty this morning while dh sleeps in. Coffee in hand and ready to catch up on the posts.

Dawna, I had no idea you had wls! I'm sure that you will do just fine, Jiff and Debkay are total pros at this!

Kel, anytime you can get in here is just fine with everyone! Glad to see you're busy as ever and keeping OP!

Barb, that's a nice pic of Alvin, always great to put a face to people I can't wait to see the after!

samsgram, welcome to everyday of my life! Miree I swear has enough energy for 2 kids and I get tired out a lot! I can't believe I want another one...sigh, am I a masochist?

jiff, I think that you are doing amazing with the dog walking--just think when you couldn't even getto the end of the driveway? Way to go girl!

Hi Linda! Sounds like you found yourself a slice of paradise--wish I could have joined you

Annie, we sooo forgive you It's not easy juggling family and going back to the classroom to do prep. Hang in there!

Hi Dottie, glad to see you posting I know how busy you get and I hope you're finiding a slice of relaxaton somewhere

Peach, way to go on your perfect induction day!

Deb, hope you had a nice night with dh...

Ruth, I don't know what gets into pups either. My mom has 2 shelties and they get into little spats too. Oh and did I tell you? I'm getting a sheltie puppy! The babies will be born in Septmeber and will be ready to go by Halloween. The father is my mom's dog and since she can't keep the pup, we're getting the pick Miree will be in seventh heaven.

I've been trying to read some of the posts and catch up but whew too many this early!

I've been working alot of hours due to be short handed at the ice house. I finally hired two girls and have them mostly trained. And of course the never ending office paperwork, tax paperwork for both of the businesses. The bookkeeper is insisting on getting everything monthly now instead of every six months. Ok, so I'll give it to her as soon as I've finished it! I'm a bit behind!

Somewhere around everything else I had four rooms in the house repainted and some seriously needed flylady stuff. Let's see, I've been back from our Atlanta get together about 3 weeks? This past week I was digging dirty clothes out of the back of the boys closets - total laundry to do - 23 loads!!
It took me 2 days, but finally done!

Oh, for those of you who've read about or met my friend Dawn. Last week they discovered her brother (30 y/o) has a brain tumor. Prior to surgery they informed the family that due to the size and location of the tumor they would not be able to remove all of it. He had surgery last Friday and discovered it was cancerous. He has a three year old baby. Please keep him in your prayers.

Since returning from my "hiatus" DH has been more of a dh than a shdh. So there may be hope that he may become the SweetDH that I married!

Hopefully I'll wrap up the paperwork for the bookkeeper this week and be able to have my puter time again! I've sure missed you chickies!

Hey, what's the word on the southern get together this fall? I need to have an escape planned - you know, something like the light at the end of the tunnel? :hypno2:

Off for more coffee!

Luv ya'll!