HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY! I doubt Puxatawny Phil will see his shadow when dawn breaks this morning since it's cloudy, but I could never figure out the six more weeks of winter thing, anyway, since it's only the beginning of February.

I finally gave up trying to sleep and am enjoying the peaceful quietness of the predawn with a good cup of coffee before the day gets started and sort my thoughts. I guess I'll spend most of the day at the Hospice Center with Mom. They do have wi-fi there, but for some reason I couldn't get connected to it yesterday. I'm going to take a thermos of soup with me today, along with a salad, yogurt, and an apple. I discovered that although the food they serve there is pretty good, it's very carby and there's nothing but junk in the vending machines.

It looks like we got another sugar-coating of snow overnight, and more is expected tomorrow, but at least the roads are fine and that horrible wind has died down.

What's everyone doing this weekend? Any big football fans out there? Come join me for coffee and a chat before the day gets away from us.

Good morning, Linda. As you know, I'd love to be joining you for coffee today.

Around here, we will be waiting for Wiarton Willy, our albino rodent, and there's another big furry rodent, Shubenacadie Sam, in Nova Scotia. I read somewhere that this is an old Celtic tradition - crazy people, my ancestors! We have cloud, cold and snow so no shadows will be seen.

Today my sister Joan and I were to meet for lunch and "catch up" but she called yesterday and sounds just horrible. Her husband called me later to say she is really, really sick and has been flat in bed for the past four days. He's very worried as Joan never is sick enough to stay in bed, especially when we were going to shop in trendy Westport after lunch.

So my day is about to be re-planned. Maybe I'll go to Home Hardware and buy a new toilet seat. Whoopee! I am also going to do a spa with my badly neglected houseplants and assure them that Spring is coming. I'll give special treatment to the English ivy which I am planning to use when I do flowers for a wedding in July!

Hope your weekend is good and the Superbowl snacking is not a big problem.

Good Morning

Hi Linda and Ruth!

My day has already gotten away from me....I need to go find coffee and get ready for work.

have a godd day everyone!

Good morning, Ruth. So the groundhog thing is a Celtic tradition? I'll have to look up the origin to see how it all got started. I'm sorry about your sister being so ill, and I hope she's under a doctor's care. I'll add her to my prayers for a speedy recovery.

Jake just got up and he's feeling miserable and thinks he's caught Tyler's cold. It seems that everyone is this household is sick except me, and I'm trying my darndest to stay healthy. Better days are coming. Right?

Good morning.

The floor contractor is coming back this morning. Yes, I thought we were done too! There were enough little imperfections that their solution is to give us another coat. So DH and I are heading to MIL's this morning; it is a good time to help her pack up stuff she would never be able to pack on her own in preparation of her carpets getting cleaned next week (following her water heater flood). We'll probably eat lunch out with her but I know a few options in her town that will allow me to stay OP, albeit surely higher calorie and sodium than what I'd eat at home.

Have a great one.

Good Morning ladies! Linda, I hope you have a peaceful day spent with your mother. Bringing that good food is a wise choice I'm sure. Ruth, I hope your sister gets better soon, and you should go buy the very finest toilet seat money can buy Lexxiss, I hope you have a good day at work. Karen, hope the floors get done to everyone's satisfaction

It's just another work day for me, but always busier on Saturdays. I'll give myself a high five in anticipation of another clean cookie/pastry-free day! (10 days in a row now) and a for all of us.

Good morning It's a lazy Saturday here. We planned a birding trip but i'm in no hurry. It's ridiculously cold out there. I've never been a fan of cold but now that I have my own personal weather system it's challenging to bundle and unbundle all day.

Cottage - Glad you are taking care of you. Hope you and your Mom have some good time together today.

Ruth - Sounds like an exciting day

Debbie -

Karen - glad they are fixing it and hope you are done after this!

Holly - I am always impressed that you can stay on plan in the winter. From scratch pastries are my weakness. I just try to stay away. Congratulations on 10 clean days!

Okay, time to think about breakfast, dig out the long underwear, and get brave. Maybe another cup of coffee first though

This is what I get for sleeping in until 7:30 am....a full chick room already!
Ruth, well I'll be darned, you weren't kidding about the albino rodent! We're only about two hours from Phil, here. I won't even try to spell the name of the town .
Cottage, enjoy your time with your mom, and good thought bringing food with you. I would joke about making sure you eat your blueberries to keep illness away, but it didn't work this time for me! Hope you don't catch it!
Debbie, have a great day at work.
Karen, that would annoy the heck out of me that they had to come back.
Holly, yay for you on no pastries....those are my favorite. Although I admit it would be way easier to resist at the end of the season than the beginning!

We decided to use our regular (vs. Keurig) coffee maker in the mornings to save that insane cost, but it takes sooooo long!! So, in a minute I will be sipping my coffee before the family awakes. I have some cleaning to do (the office, send someone in if you haven't seen me in a couple hours...), and cooking for tomorrow's festivities. My hubbie also bought me a smoker for Christmas, and requested brisket...so I bought a lovely one to smoke today .

The coffee is beeping!!

Twynn, I read a report a while ago that said the most economical way with the Keurig is to use the K-cups that you fill with your own coffee. It's a bit of a PITA to clean them out but does save the environment as well as money.

Good morning chatty chicks. I couldn't sleep any longer from all the clucking lol

Glad to see everyone has something to do today. Kudos Holly, I always admire your strength. You have a greater challenge than most of us. Ten days is quite impressive! Great job.

Having dinner with friends (oh their menu is lousy for SB) Must ride to help undue damage that is sure to come after this night. Hoping to stop at Whole Foods. I want to make the almond joy bars, but cannot find coconut flour. Quick trip to the post office on the agenda today. I have been pairing down my bags and selling ones I rarely use on ebay. Believe me I am not high maintenance at all!! Heck I may go to the post office in my cycling attire just to save time!

Have a great day

Hi Everyone! I am thinking about trying SB again and thought I'd stop in to look around.

I wanted to comment on the Keurig coffee maker. We bought one and the refillable K cup but took it back after reading the directions. Even with the refillable cup it just uses so much more coffee! Considering the amount of coffee that DH drinks it would have driven us to the poor house! So we're back to our regular coffee maker. I should be drinking Decaf, so we got a little 1 cup coffee maker at KMart. It is a Black and Decker Brew and Go. With 1 TBS coffee it makes a large mug of coffee in just a couple minutes. $14.95. Anyone who needs a cup of coffee really quick in the morning should try this out. You could be drinking a cup of coffee while you're large slower coffee making is brewing a pot!

Anyway, I had the book about the SB diet and can't find it now. I'll have to look a little further. I hope I didn't give it away. Some friends are doing SB and they are doing great, so I thought I'd give it another try.

Nice to see you back Slm. The revised food list in the stickies will help you along.

By the way, when I use my K-Cup, I use just a tablespoon of coffee too and it works fine.

Good morning,

I have been up for a while and have laundry going already.

Cottage- great planning for food enjoy your day with your mom

Ruth- Ground hog will not see it's shadow here either

Debbie- have a good day at work

Karen- I would be upset if they had to come back but at least they are fixing it

Holly- you are doing awesome pastry is my weakness have to avoid

Cyndi- hope you stay warm while bird hunting

Tywnn- I heard the Keurig is expensive, kinda of glad I never got into coffee, tea is my thing

Jennifer- I am going to have to look up that recipe is sounds good. Have fun with your friends

Carol- welcome to the beach

Today trying to get all of the laundry caught up and have to pack either today or tomorrow as I am going to conference on Monday. I have lost 7 lbs for the month of January (but that is weight I gained during the holidays) so the big test will be getting past the number the scale is on now. The good news is all food is provided at conference and they always have op food, I just have to make sure not to eat any of the off plan they food they have as well. Wish me will power for this trip

Have a great day everyone.

Well, I managed to stay in the house and out of the cold blustery weather all day yesterday and I'm glad. I may not venture out today either. Since getting home from Cuba, I've been really feeling the cold. I guess some of my tough Canadian blood boiled away down there. The dogs are happy because I give them more snuggling to warm up.

Spring must be coming because I have a meeting at ten this morning to plan some events for this July's Delta Fair. Luckily it'll be here so I won't need to go out. We are also going to start work on getting a grant to winterize the Fair Hall. Things are cranking up!

Time for another coffee and perhaps I should think about muffins or something besides coffee for the meeting.

Have a good Sunday.

Good morning The cats insist it's feeding time and they may be right. Pesky little things
We had a good day of birding even though we didn't see much. It was just fun to be out searching, chatting with other birders and seeing the countryside. Our target lunch spot was packed so we tried a new pizza place that advertised fresh, local, and organic ingredients. Turned out to be a good choice - ww crust, fresh portabellos and spinach. I even managed to stick with two slices. The boy is fast becoming a birding fiend. It was really fun to watch his excitement over new birds and plotting to find the target bird. It's nice to find someone to share my obsessions

Today is laundry, cleaning, cooking day. I'm putting turkey stew on with the leftover holiday turkey. Definitely making something sweet from Elana's Pantry then maybe a couple of other go to foods for lunches on the run. It will be another busy week so preparation is key. After that maybe some more Wii Zumba. It's so much fun finding time for it is easy.

Right now I'm going for another cup of coffee and feeding those cats.