Seems like we are all getting back into the SB groove. Yesterday I made a vegan version of unstuffed cabbage. I use red lentils instead of meat. I add a little red pepper flakes to give it a kick too. More than half went into the freezer which is great when you live alone.

The fireplace is cranking and so is the oven. I got an oil delivery yesterday. At this rate I will need another one by the end of the month LOL.

Pearlrose hope your headache subsides. Do you drink coffee? The headaches may be from the artificial sweetener in the diet soda.

Beth I wil consolidate the decorations but not until it warms up a little. You were smart putting them in DS’s room. Mine are hidden in the basement LOL. You know that means I wont get to them until next Christmas.

I do need to go to a wake later (college friend’s father). I ventured out to get a baby gift yesterday only to find my favorite local gift store closed. I forgot they close for January. I did manage to get over 9 hours of sleep last night!!! I get up around the same time when I am off but I find it easier to go to bed on those nights too. Hope to get another 8 plus hours tonight

Stay warm chicks this cold spell has to break eventually.

Good morning!

Thanks for getting us started, Jennifer! I’m sitting outside with coffee. Just looked at the streetlight and there are some snowflakes. I figured our weather had to break sometime, too. Your recipe sounds great! I have a whole head of cabbage. And lentils, too.

Kirk Is improving slowly. He is still stuck upstairs. Totally off pain meds and sleeping well.I take him up a plethora of different foods for while I’m gone, and the neighbor comes and takes the dog out. It’s working for now. Me, doing OK. Managing to keep up with the housework and keeping Kirk out of total boredom.

Well it got too cold outside. I’ll get in and do some chores and make my smoothie then head to work. Stay warm everyone!

Good morning, chicks.

We are enduring our last super-cold morning...at least for this week. The forecast for the week looks much more seasonable.

Yesterday was very productive. In addition to the de-decorating I managed some laundry and (finally) graded some papers that I was neglecting.

Today I need to get some groceries and I want to do some sort of workout. Of course, DH will have the games on.

Here's to an OP start to the week, chicks!

Good morning,

Just finished my yoga and breakfast and sipping tea. Yesterday I worked til noon and then DD2 and I went to the mall, I hit up bath and body works and got some deals on soap. I was prepared and took a baggie of veggies for a snack and then last night I made a turkey chili, it was good, DH even like it. I have leftovers for my lunch today. Still eating op and scale continues to move down ( I love the first week of getting back on track).

Jekel I don't drink coffee, just tea, I did drink a half cup of black tea instead of green tea yesterday and that helped to ease the headache, it's just slight now should be gone tomorrow. I need to take down Christmas decorations today

Beth sounds like you had a great day yesterday, we have rain this afternoon that since the ground temp is so cold is going to turn to ice so I will be staying indoors today. That is a good plan of putting the decoration in your son's room

Debbie glad to hear that Kirk is on the mend, glad you are able to juggle everything.

Have a great day everyone!

Was in earlier and lost my post - very cold fingers, I guess. We ran out of propane in the back room of the house so it got pretty cold in the kitchen although the oil furnace did its best to heat the extra cold space. I skipped Church this a.m. (although Bruce was preaching) to track down my propane supplier. Finally got him on his cell - he was about 200 miles away and his truck was empty so it looks like delivery won't happen until tomorrow IF he can get more. We are still in record breaking cold up here. -40º is the same in C as in F!

Thanks for mentioning chili! That will be perfect and warming for dinner tonight and I have ground turkey thawing right now. As usual I have loads of kidney and black beans plus the other ingredients so will make a big batch for the cold days ahead. I also plan to stash away Christmas stuff and plan to be very selective about what we stash away. (I seem to have enough to decorate another house or two and that does not include the boxes that have not been even upacked this year!)

My man just arrived home and says we are not going outside today unless the house catches fire. Because of the cold, there were only 14 people at Church this morning although there are usually more than 60. I told him it was because he was preaching! Now I need to make him coffee as "punishment for disrespect of the Cloth".

Stay warm and cozy today!

Ruth I hope you get a propane delivery ASAP.

Good morning everyone. Just a quick check in while on the train. Managed to resist fresh baked bagels and spreads at work this morning. Although a hot bagel in my pocket would make a great handwarmer! We are getting a wintery mix later today. Will elect to ride the bike at home rather than go out.

Hope everyone has a great OP day!!

Good morning,

Yesterday was interesting to say the least, I got all the decorations and tree put away (except for frozen signs in front yard couldn't get them up and outside lights) and then I got hit with some kind of bug, couldn't keep my lunch or afternoon snack down, so stayed in bed for the rest of the day. Was able to keep dinner down and woke up feeling fine if just a bit weak. Glad today is a wfh day. The predicted rain came but only a few spots iced over and we are in the 30's today a virtual heat wave.

Ruth I hope you are able to get some propane today.

Jekel keep warm on the train

Have a great day everyone!

Good morning from still chilly Delta. It's the first back to school day - long Christmas break this year - and the school buses have been cancelled because of the snow although the schools are open. I bet some folks will decide to do chauffeur duty after the long holiday!

Sure hope we get propane today although the temperature is going up to just above freezing later - 34ºF will feel like gardening weather after this deep freeze spell. The back room may also warm up a bit. Delivery today is not for sure - could be Thursday but I may dig out the fans and blow some warmth from the kitchen into the space. I also have a SIL lined up to relight the pilot lite on the stove IF we get delivery. Very handy to have a group of "techy" step-sons and grandsons!

Lots to get done indoors this week and I must confess I am glad Christmas is behind us. (Threw out the remains of the Christmas cake yesterday but did keep the shortbread cookies for Bruce the Scot.) I am determined to make next year's season one more calm and organized and spend more time at home.

Enjoy the week and stay as warm and cozy as possible.

Quick check in for me too.

School was fine, took my sneakers and got a walk in afterwards but had some errands to run on my way home (2 out of 3 were school supply stops!) and it was pretty greasy on the way home. It was that wet heavy snow. So glad to be safely home!

Ruth, a colleague reported a friend that lives in Watertown has to wait 2 weeks to get fuel, they are so backed up from the cold. Hope your delivery came! As for Christmas, most Januarys I resolve to make next season more organized. Let me know how it works out for you.

Jennifer, good job resisting bagels! I think I have lost my water weight but now the real work starts.

Pearlrose, hope you are feeling back to normal.

Have a good evening, chicks.

Good afternoon!

Finally things are getting back to normal here! Mom is finally out of the rehabilitation hospital and doing great. She still needs to go to out patient to continue her therapy, but at least she is home. My brother and his family went back to TX yesterday. My sister's family is flying back to Colombia on Thursday and my sister and mom will stay a few more weeks possible a month.

Today the kids went back to school and I stayed home taking all the Christmas decorations down. I need to go to Lowe's to get a plastic container to put some extra decor I got this year and then I will be done putting everything away. I also managed to sweep and mop the entire house and now doing some laundry and taking a small break before I need to prepare dinner.

Ruth, I really hope you were able to get the propane today.
Rose, I hope you are feeling better by now.
Jennifer, not eating the beagle was a good decision. I really need to get back on plan as soon as possible, with mom's stroke and all the stress I been eating like crazy.
Debbie, Hugs to you, and I hope Kirk gets better soon.

Hope everyone is having a great start of the week!

Hi everyone!

I had to go in and open at work this morning because I had the key but then I asked my coworker who was wanting hours to work for me today and tomorrow. She came in at seven and I came home. Kirk was grumpy and grumbly this morning and I had a meet up with the public works department about the water leak later in the day. Fortunately, we all agreed that the water leak was the cities problem. Yippee!

Isa, glad your mom is home!

Gotta run....hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow morning!

Good morning,

WFH today, have several conference calls and hoping it is a slower day than yesterday. At some point today I need to run to the grocery store to get a few more items, don't like buying a lot of fresh vegetables as they go bad so quick. Eating continues to be op and I am now official down 1 lb for the month, got rid of all the holiday weight I had gained too. Feeling much better today. The weather seems to have lightened up for a few days before we get a snow storm on Friday so will take advantage even though it is rainy.

Ruth glad you are having a calmer schedule now, hoping that propane was delivered

Beth glad you were able to get your walk in at school, hope the roads are not bad today for you

Isa glad your mom is home now and on the way to recovery

Debbie nice that it's the city's fault so they need to fix, hope Kirk feels better, one of my employees fell yesterday on ice patch while moving and broke her pelvis too.

Have a great day everyone!

Good morning!

Sometimes when there is just so much to do and I’m frustrated, I try to do something and count it a success. This morning I’ve started the dishwasher, take in all the ornaments off the tree and boxed them properly And I found time to enjoy a cup of coffee and check in with all of you. My day is a success no matter what else does or does not happen. Actually, the big deal of the day will be getting Kirk to the orthopedic doctor. One down there I will pick up his medication at Costco and return something while doing a small grocery shop.

Food wise, have not been doing so great getting 100 percent back on track. Thank goodness I have all of you to keep me motivated and I know it will happen. Soon. Perhaps even today.

Rose, congratulations on an official 1 pound down. That’s a big deal! Kirk would empathize with your coworker. It seems this is a frustrating heal. When somethings in a cast you can learn to work around it. Hopefully we will get some answers today as to what he can and cannot do.

I have found a great way to keep my veggies fresh. I am mediately trim and wash them when I bring them home then I wrap them in all the details and seal tightly in a plastic bag getting as much air out as possible. Cucumbers, I only sealed tightly in a plastic bag. Lettuce, I also use the tea towel first. It’s amazing how long stuff stays fresh. I keep my kale and parsley in a covered cake box with a tea towel on the bottom folded over it. I don’t have anything that ever dries up or goes bad and I keep things for awhile.

Have a great day everyone! I’d better go upstairs and visit the patient before he gets grumpy. LOL

Good evening, chicks. Not much to report here: another (fairly) calm day at work, managed a workout and am mostly OP with food. I am doing P 1.5 since I have not given up the orange veggies (sweet potato and squash) and had a piece of multi grain bread today. For me it is really about making a conscious decision to eat with no mindless snacking and staying away from the sweets. There were cookies in the staff room both yesterday and today but I was pleased when I did not indulge.

Debbie, hope Kirk got some guidance and will soon be healing.

Pearlrose, I am down 3 pounds of what must be water weight and am looking for the next downward movement. I am glad you are feeling better.

Have a good evening, chicks.

Good morning,

Another wfh day for me but it is jammed back with conference calls today. Yesterday did a grocery run and gave the dog a bath and washed his blanket and the cover of the ottoman where she likes to sleep. Definitely starting to have more energy now.

Debbie I think you have a great mindset of counting getting some stuff as a success. Thanks for the tips on the veggies I will try

Beth I have done a Phase 1.5 as well, because I have been adding berries to my morning routine and I am having squash as well, what I decided to do for one month is give up dairy and grains.

Have a great day everyone.