Good morning everyone,
Let's just say that the weekend was not on plan in the slightest and leave it at that. Today is a new day and a new week. I did so much decluttering this weekend and it felt great...I also redid my kitchen spice shelves and pot/utensil racks, and it's so much nicer now and so much more user friendly. I'm really happy and now I actually have some room to stock up on things in my kitchen like spagetti sauce, chicken broth, etc. Today and tomorrow I'm leaving work early to pick up my son from the last days of school (my sitter's last day was Friday, but she will still be working for us here and there the equivalent of one day a week), and then camp starts Wednesday and my schedule shifts to 8:30-4:30 for the rest of the summer. My boss has STILL not told me whether she will allow me to reduce my hours in the fall, but I imagine she will do it at my review which she hasn't even scheduled yet (sigh).

Anyway, it's feeling like a bright week for some reason...not sure why, but I'm going for it! Hope everyone has a great day.

Good morning We are off to DW's appt. this morning so not sure how long or what that will bring. Luckily this place has WiFi so I'll bring my laptop and get some work done if there's much waiting. hope we come home with some answers and they are manageable answers.

Last night's dinner plan changed when I realized there really wasn't a big white rock at the edge of our yard. There was a giant puffball growing back there and it was in great shape (lots of times when they are that back they've started turning green inside). After a couple of pictures I sliced it up for mushroom steaks on the grill. We still have about half left and I'll saute those pieces with some kind of protein chunks & peppers for tonight's dinner. Definitely a surprising and yummy find. We really have had a lot of rain this year.

Hope your Monday is a breeze

Good morning!

Matilda ~ You sound like you're in a good place this morning and starting off the week on a positive note. I'm sure with your attitude, you'll have a great week!

My weekend didn't go as planned, but I did manage to stay OP through it all and successfully complete my Phase 1 redux. My son brought over a scrumptious looking carrot cake yesterday to thank me for having Amber & Tyler most of the weekend, but I only took a small forkful of Jake's piece and made Dustin take the rest home. And I felt powerful for resisting.

The girls are in Hunt Camp every morning this week, and I'll use that time to get things done and run errands so we can have the afternoons free to play. I'll have my Friday off this week since they're going away for a long weekend.

Cyndi, can you post a pic? I'd love to see what one of those looks like.

Thanks for starting us up, Matilda. You sound pumped about the kitchen mini-makeover. That's a great start for a bright week!

Cyndi, I love puffball! We usually have several pop up behind the barn and I love them. That reminds me, I've not found any morels this year. I'll be thinking about you and DW today. I hope the doc can give you some answers.

It's a pail of milk morning here with a heavy fog. I know it's really sunny behind the stuff as last night's sunset was clear as a bell. We sat around the fire last night after dinner and enjoyed the sunset and the evening. The mosquitoes enjoyed me! Heather had fixings for Smores "for the kids" and I even had one. They sure don't taste as great as they did when I was a child. We even sang a few campfire songs. It's amazing what is still lurking in the back of our memories!

I slept until nearly 6 again and am about to get into my garden duds and crank up the morning. The veggie and flower plants I bought last week are finally out of my car. When I went to Church yesterday, they teased me about being a funeral car that got lost on the way to the cemetery!

By the way, I had no trouble resisting the rum cake - Heather's dog, Crash, ate the whole thing while we were having dinner!

Raising my mug to a sunny and successful Monday.

Linda, congrats on resisting carrot cake. I think it is my favourite, even over rum cake. I hope your week is god and I'm glad you have Friday off. Just realized we do too since it's Canada Day! Do you have Monday off too because of the Glorious Fourth?

Cyndi ~ I'll be thinking of you & Julie and hoping her doctor has some answers and a plan of attack, too. You must be pretty knowledgeable about wild mushrooms and such, I know I'd be pretty darned hesitant to eat any puffballs growing in my yard!

Matilda - here it is. Just for comparison, I do not have small, dainty hands. We learned to ID a few types when we were kids and my brother and I would have contests in weather like this. We would scavenge all morning and have sauteed mushrooms for lunch. Puffballs are super easy. Just make sure you slice through the middle and there are no gills. I've never seen anything that does but apparently there are some varieties that look similar but have gills.

ETA - Carrot cake is my weakness too, as long as it's good carrot cake. Congratulations Cottage

Ruth ~ Yes indeedy, I have Monday off, too, for the holiday. I'm looking forward to a nice 4 day weekend. And the best thing of all - Caitlyn will be back home!!!!!!!!

Good morning ladies. LOL! I have never even heard of Puff balls and had no idea you could eat mushrooms that you find in your yard?! LOL!!!! I'm so not a green thumb/planter/gardener..... Mathilda, glad you are enjoying your re-invented kitchen. I love that feeling, too. I hope you get your hours this fall! Ya, smores really aren't all that good.

We are leaving to go camping this morning and I've got all my food prepped and ready to go. This plan I'm on is pretty precise so I didn't want to wing it while we were camping. Now, we just have to pack up the cars and head out...when everyone wakes up! My official weigh in is today so I hope my ticker will change nicely. Have a super week!!!!

I'm getting quite an education today... never heard of puffballs before. We woke early to hail and DH got up to pull the teen's car in the garage. I have a workout with my mom later and then will do cardio at home once the sleeping teens leave my basement.

Eating and exercise have been good. I've been at or below my goal weight for several days now so think it will stick. This is the third or fourth time I've gotten here with SB and this time I am NOT going to regain!!!

Good Morning

We had a friend over last night and I stayed up way later than usual. It's time to get going! I'm off to the pool for yoga and working on my own routine for when I start teaching in August.

Take care everyone!

Well we got the answer we kind of expected based on the research we had done. It's not the worst but it's certainly going to be a bit to manage. The Dr. is pretty sure it's myasthenia gravis. Blood work was done and treatment will start soon. It's an autoimmune disease that impacts the involuntary muscles and can be anything from debilitating to going into long term remission. I guess we were hoping there would be some simple answer out there that we weren't aware of. People cope, we will too

Sorry to hear that but glad you at least have an answer now. My husband's uncle had this.

Hello everyone. It's just another day in sunny San Diego!