Good morning everyone!

It's chilly here this morning (49) and rainy. The forecasters have *whisper* flurries on Wednesday night. Aaaahhhh!

I had a pretty good weekend until I got into the Doritos on Sunday evening. I should've kept my hands out of them but no, I couldn't/didn't. I still didn't do all that bad but it's the idea of munching and not really wanting them!

The bowling tournaments went well--DS #1 and #2 qualified 3rd on Saturday and finished 4 and 2 respectively. DS #1 bowled again on Sunday morning and finished 9th out of 30 so he was happy with that.

So how was everyone's weekend?

Hi Melissa,

I had a good weekend. It was hot here, around 83 degrees. A bit warm for the beginning of fall. My parents were here for a wedding, the wedding was nice, we did a bunch of stuff around the house, garden and for the wedding. We're pooped.

Dearest one left last night for Oregon and the beginning of the yearly school commute. She'll be gone from Sundays until Wednesdays, so i'll get some time by myself (good), but honestly, I'll miss her alot this year.

We're hoping for cooler temps at the end of the week. I hope so.

I start a computer programming class tonight. I'm going to have to organize my time better and find a snack to tide me over for two hours of class and to stop me from inhaling the contents of the fridge when I get home.

Maybe I need a school time control journal.

Had a good weekend eating wise, save some cake and truffles at the wedding.

lala

Ohh, I'm am also hoping that Susan is okay. Looks like Halifax was hit pretty hard by the hurricane.

Hurricane season is going to be long this year.

lala

Hi everyone.

I had a busy weekend. On Saturday, I was in a golf tournament with heavy rain and lightning. (didn't like the lightning part) I had a good time mainly because it was "best ball." (beginners like best ball).

On Sunday I had rehearsal for the play I'm in which opens this Thursday. After Sunday, I can take a breather.

Oh, I do hope Susan is all right after Juan (bad Juan, bad boy).

Melissa, I can relate re: the Doritos. I just love corn chips.

lala, you sure go to a lot of weddings.

The sun is out for the time being, although more rain is forecasted for tonight. I'm going to try and get out for a little walk at noon. I need to get my birth certificate so I can move ahead and get my passport.

Lala: I'll send you some cool temps--it's a chilly 46 here this morning and they haven't turned the heat on in our building...my fingers are freezing! I wore pants & sweater to work trying to stay warm.

Domina: Sounds like you're looking forward to the breather! I know how you feel. Thankfully the Doritos are gone and I don't plan on buying them for quite a while!

Susan: I hope that everything is okay there! My sister was without power for almost a week after the hurricane hit the VA Beach area. Thankfully her house (and the one they are in the process of building) was spared. I can't imagine having to worry about storms of that magnitude.

Well, we have our reservations taken care of for our London trip...I'm excited about going. I'm taking my deposit to the travel agency on Friday for the land portion. The professor who is our "tour guide" is very animated and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun. I want to get to my "personal" goal of 135 before I go--with some hard work and planning I know I can get it.

So how's everyone else doing? The cool temps are inspiring me to cook stick-to-your-ribs dishes. Tonight I'm making a big pot of chili for tomorrow. Tonight it's beef & barley soup. Yum! Nothing like a bowl of hot soup to warm the insides up!

I've been in the soup and stew mode, too even though it's 82 degrees here.

I sure hope Susan is all right; she may not have power.

Hi everyone and I'm hoping also that Susan is alright.

Melissa -- My dearest programmer works in DC and his DC suburb (more like a ghetto) was without power for about 10 days. His wife and his newborn spent most of Isabel in Deleware)....


Glad to see your reservations have been made. I'm going in October for a very brief visit, but I really prefer the spring.

I think the weather will change here on Sunday. The bulb sales are starting. I am soo excited.

As for stews, I can relate. My dear non-weightwatcher friend, a calista flockhart lookalike and I are trying to plan menus. I just bought the take-out tonight book and the take 5 book from my meeting this am. It is totally full of great ideas. I am soo excited.

Domina -- I'll take your 80 in November, okay?

So, I weighed in the am, down another .4 for a total of 5.2#. I am soo excited.

lala

Hi everyone! Well, I've lost the weight I had gained, so I'm happy. Hmmm, journaling works.

lala: Congrats to you--you are headed in the right direction. You made me laugh when you said Calista Flockhart lookalike--who wants to look like that? Women need some curves.

My SIL is coming for a visit next week from Seattle and we have had nothing but rain for a week. I hope the sun comes back. I cannot get off work, but I hope to spend some time with her on the weekend. She can go to the beach if Mr. Sun comes back.

Hello to Melissa, Susan, Austingal!

Good morning! A chilly 46 here this morning and more rain *sigh* We had a little bit of sun yesterday but this darn rain just isn't going away! They finally turned the heat on in our building yesterday so I'm not freezing.

Lala: Congrats on your loss! You're heading in the right direction. I love it when the scale reflects the hard work I've put in. I have the Take-Out Tonight cookbook--I made the sweet & sour pork and forgot to put the sugar in! LOL, I remembered AFTER we all done eating! Nobody complained but I'm sure the sugar would've enhanced the flavor. The General Tso chicken is good too.

Domina: Congrats on the loss! I know that I'm going to be up for my WI today--dear old TOM has not made his appearance and I'm bloated. I know that next week the weight will be down but it sure plays with my mind. Journaling works as long as I'm honest with it.

DH and I made a nice big pot of chili last night for tonight's dinner. It'll be perfect since today is so cold & rainy. Last night we had beef & barley soup.

Hi to Susan, Scoutruns, Austin, and anyone else I missed!

Hi everyone.

First of all, thanks for your concern. We had our power restored yesterday at about noon after 35 hours. We're among the very fortunate since about 100,000 people are still in the dark.

For the first time since the storm hit, I ventured out beyond our immediate neighbourhood this morning. The devastation is incredible. It's hard to believe that there were only five deaths attributable; from what I saw today, the potential for greater loss of life was enormous.

In terms of property damage, we had little. Several uprooted trees (10-15 minimum) demolished the steps leading from our back deck, and a small corner of the roof was damaged by a falling tree limb. The beautiful old pine tree in front of the house has a serious tilt on, and we fear the power company will be taking it down since it's leaning on electrical wires. We obviously don't want to lose it but it may be inevitable for safety's sake.
Looking around, I consider myself lucky. This city has had its heart ripped out.

The power hasn't been restored in my office building yet so I'm still at home, going a little shack-wacky since I don't want to add to the traffic congestion by going anywhere in the car. Guess I'll have to be content to sit back and listen to the sound of chainsaws and sirens.

But I'm OK. Talk to you all soon.

Susan: Thank goodness there weren't more casualties! Glad to hear that your house had minimal damage. Too bad about the tree in the front yard. I don't do well when I'm confined to the house, of course there's always things to do but generally when I'm bored I tend to graze.

I was up .8 at my WI today and that's okay since TOM has yet to arrive. Still doing well with journaling; I know I need to work on my water intake. With the temps getting cooler it's harder to drink the water.

Susan,

Thanks for checking in. I'm glad to hear you didn't have too much damage, but its really scary to see what can happen.

Its very hard to lose grand old trees, we lost one on Dec. 31 and there is no way in our lifetimes that a replacement tree will ever create the same effect.

Melissa --

Sounds like you had a little blip. Getting and staying hydrated is my biggest challenge.

I made the pastitio (sp?) from that cookbook last night. Quite tasty and definitely will be consumed for dinner tonight. The thai and asian sections really intrigued me.

Our schedules are a bit whacky until we figure out how the monday, wednesday classes will go.

lala

Hiya everyone,

Things are quiet today, so I assume everyone is okay.

Dearest one found the greek pasta dish to be delightful, so its a keeper. My cleaning guy loved it too. I had some for lunch with a salad.

Tonight its pasta with chanterelles and a fig and arugula salad. I'm dying to make poached pears, so that will be on the menu too!

Other than that, I'm pretty busy with trying to figure out why nothing is working at work. Argh.

Anyone have any exciting weekend plans?

lala

Hi everyone! I'm so glad it's Friday and to top it off it's NOT raining this morning! It's a beautiful fall morning with crisp temps (39) so my plan is to get out and walk over my lunch hour because I just know that the rain will be back! Some of the trees are just starting to change colors and I love the way the sun catches them.

Lala: I'm going to have to try the pastitsio. I've had it at our Greek festival and I liked it so I'd like to make a more healthy version.

Things here are pretty quiet--I'm all done with the mailings that needed to get out and we're settling into the semester. It's nice to have a little breather. The first part of the semester is always a blur because of all the things that we do.

No major plans for the weekend--I really need to tackle some cleaning. I've been flinging the past two weeks and this past Tuesday took a bag of clothes and 2 bags of shoes to the Women's Care Center. It felt good to be rid of the stuff. I'm learning not to look in the bags once I've filled them!

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Melissa-

I am going to send my flingings off this weekend too! I'm going to try and fling some more. In some cases, I look at a garment and say? "what was I thinking"?

No big plans for me, take down the garden (veggies), buy bulbs at our bulb sale, clean off the porch for fall/winter, fling for 54 items (maybe magazines) and get my homework done.

Everyone else, stay cool or warm! Fall is here!

lala