Hello to everyone. I can't believe I'm starting the thread this week; I think I've only done it once before.

Well, SIL leaves today. We've had a nice visit, but I think I'm ready for her to leave (does that sound mean?) Actually, the most disconcerting thing about her visit is the JUNK FOOD. The day after she arrived, she went to the grocery store and brought back all kinds of junk foods and drinks. Prior to WW, I might have joined in, but now I just don't want it in my house! I really wasn't tempted to eat any of it, but just watching her and my niece eat that stuff bothered me. They are both overweight (any wonder?)

We went to the Kennedy Space Center which was a very good tour. We were there most of the day and they were exhausted. My DH and I could have gone on and on. It's an energy thing.

Here's an example of lunch that day: I got a vegetable sandwich and a coffee; DH got a salad with broiled chicken strips and coffee; SIL got a turkey sandwich and Coke; Niece got a small pizza, a foot-long hot dog, french fries, potato chips and a Coke. Later she got a Slurpee and another Coke.

I'm sorry to tell all of you this, but I'm staying on the straight and narrow. This visit was a real eye-opener!! I will not eat like they did ever!!!

How was everyone else's weekend?

Hi Domina! Thanks for getting the thread up and running!

My weekend was relatively quiet. Saturday was absolutely gorgeous so mom and I decided to take a little road trip. We went to Willoughby, OH to check out a tea room. It was a perfect day for it since the sun was out and the leaves are just starting to turn colors. We took a more "rural" route rather than the thruway so it was nice and relaxing. We had lunch at the tea room (they require 48 hours advance reservation to get the afternoon tea) and really enjoyed it. I splurged and had chicken in a phyllo crust...it was so good and not something that I generally have. There was quite a bit of chicken along with some broccoli and cheese. Very tasty! I purchased a tea pot charm and a chain. It was too nice to pass up and it's a nice reminder of the fun day.

Yesterday was not a good day eating wise for me--it could've been worse but I'm not at all pleased about sticking my hand in the peanuts on more than one occasion.

Domina: Doesn't it just amaze you to watch others eat? When we traveled with my in-laws for a wedding I couldn't believe what they ate for breakfast...it would've been a weeks' points for me. They didn't eat lunch and then would eat a huge dinner (fat-laden). I could gag just thinking about it! They are overweight as well.

Not too much else going on here--weather continues to be sunny and I've been taking advantage by getting out for walks. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hi ya Ladies!

Susan -- Happy Thanksgiving.

Quiet here as it is columbus day and most of our building is Feds. Nice, but our email is down and since the network people are feds, forget it, no email today. Bad since I need to correspond with people on the "outside".....


Domina -- Oy, its not a Seattle thing this junk food, I can tell you that. I'm sorry you had to go through that. The best thing is for them to learn through example, you and your husband are fit and you eat sensibly, maybe that will get through their skulls. I hate to see poor eating habits instilled in children though.

I have never been to Kennedy. That would be fun.

Melissa -- Woo hoo, road trip. Sounds like fun. We had a pretty good weekend, we both worked on Saturday after taking care of our to do lists and enjoyed a torrential rainstorm and windstorm that keep our dear Jacques from enjoying his evening constitutional. Yesterday I did a major cooking frenzy for some friends who are not feeling well. I made some stuff out of the simply the best cookbook (chicken marsala -- yum) and other light cookbooks. It was fun and satisfying. I also have some good ideas for our own meals, so that is even better.

I need to make another three batches of pesto today. I was gifted with huge bunches. Yikes.

Other than that, must finish my programming homework and get some work done. My dream would be to leave work early (shh) and run home and mow the lawn before it rains all week!

lala

Melissa, the tea room sounded great. That's my kind of place. Ah, yes, leaves changing--not much of that here.

lala, I'm glad to hear that the junk food thing is not a Seattle pasttime.

Thanks, ladies, for letting me rant about the junk food. As you could tell, it got to me.

Domina: No problem! Sometimes we just have to vent There are 3 other tea rooms that are close that I never knew existed, or else they've just opened. I'm excited because when I've been to FL there are so many that's it hard to pick. The leaves aren't quite up to peak yet--I'm hoping they hold off until my trip to MI next weekend.

Lala I have a 3 basil plants in my garden and really need to harvest it. I probably should make pesto up and freeze it. There's nothing like fresh basil!

Not too much else happening around here--the weather has been great, although rain is supposed to be coming later today. I'm hoping it holds off until after lunch so I can get a little walk in; I'm not going to hold my breath.

Have a great day everyone!

Good morning everyone. Back at work following an extra-long weekend. It was great to get home to see the family. I'm happy to say that my Dad is feeling and looking so much better than he did in July. He's taking a new anti-depressant and it has made a world of difference.

Not a good weekend as far as healthy eating is concerned. We had Thanksgiving dinner at a cabin in the woods on Sunday. I ate way too much food (no doubt due to wine consumption). It continued yesterday on my way home - stopped at Wendy's for chicken fingers and fries of all things! I dusted off my WW journal this morning. Have some serious work ahead of me from the feel of my clothes.

Domina: So many people eat badly - it really is an epidemic of sorts. I know a lot of women who always have their hands in a big bag of potato chips or cookies, yet can't understand why they can't lose weight.

Melissa: The leaves are absolutely glorious here. The reds and oranges defy description. This is my favourite time of year.

lala: The pesto sounds lovely. I didn't plant any basil this year and I missed having the fresh stuff on hand.

DH did a lot of work in the back yard over the weekend and it's looking much better. A local broadcasting company sponsored a six-hour radiothon yesterday and they raised over $1 million to go towards rebuilding of one of the downtown public parks. Nice to see the community come together like that.

Hi ya Ladies,

Susan-- I'm glad to hear that your visit with the family went well and that Dad is looking better. Give yourself a bit of a break as it was Thanksgiving. NGAMO. However, the Wendy's chicken fingers --- hmmm. I think I would have probably hit tim horton's for some timbits instead..

Just think, you Canadians have an extra six weeks to go Christmas shopping.

That is great that the community was so generous in donating to the Park's restoration. You certainly have beautiful parks in Nova Scotia and magnificient landscapes.

Melissa- My basil is still sitting in its water bath soaking their toes. Tonight is pesto time. Thank goodness for cuisinarts, eh?

Well, I weighed in this am and am up .2. I figured that would be the case as I weight trained yesterday and ate dinner at 9:00 pm.

Is it okay to just call it a maintain?

And ------ Why did I eat dinner? I actually made dinner -- yup, from scratch as soon as I got home from class. I think I just wanted to do something for me. Nice enough as it was, I didn't need to eat so much last night. I wasn't even that hungry.

Oh well. I weigh in on Sunday this week as I leave Monday night for a week of travel.

Domina -- have you recovered from your guests?


Okay, thanks for letting me vent. I'm going to post my recipe now.

lala

To all: I'm sorry for the wrong month on the thread; just chalk it up to my houseguests (I have to blame someone).

Susan, it's so good to hear about your area recovering from that storm. Ah, the leaves sound gorgeous.

Melissa, I hope you got that walk in.

lala, Wow! homemade pesto; is it difficult to make? I wouldn't freak out about .2 gain.

Yes, I think I've recovered from my houseguests. It's just different having someone else under foot. Our pool got a lot of use though. We don't swim in it as often as we should.

Hmmm pool, I like it!

My parents just sold villa de lala and are looking in the same 'hood for a smaller house. The one they really like has a pool. I could get used to spending more weekends in Cali if we had a pool....

Pesto --- take a big bunch of basil leaves, wash them, pull them off the stems, put in cuisinart. Peel three big cloves of garlic, add to cuisinart, take 1/2 c toasted pine nuts and add to cuisinart. Whizz together, while whizzing, add a bit (3T) of good quality olive oil into tube of cuisinart. When smooth (don't over do it), take out and salt to taste.

I don't like it particularily garliciky and we don't add cheese until we use it.

I will freeze it either in ice cube trays (reserved for this use) or in smallish tupperware containers. I sometimes add a bit of oil to the top to prevent oxidation.

Points -- don't ask, you don't use it all and probably more like 1 pt per T.

lala

lala, thanks for the pesto recipe; I'll try it.

Hello to Susan and Melissa.

It is beautiiful here today--70's and less humid. Yesterday was 90 degrees and extremely muggy. What a difference a day makes!

I'm getting my hair cut tonight and then it's off to choir practice.

Hi everyone!

It's cool here today, only 51, and very windy! We had some strong storms roll through just about 5 p.m. last night with heavy rains--pretty ugly evening. So far today the winds have been brutal and there are a number of businesses & homes without power.

On an up note I was down .4 at today's WI so I'm pleased with that. I'm working at getting back to my comfort zone.

Domina: I always enjoy getting my hair done--it's pure relaxation for me and I look forward to being fussed over.

Lala: Thanks for the recipe! I'm going to try and put some together since I have a large amount of basil. Have you ever frozen the basil leaves? I've heard you can do it but haven't tried it.

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Melissa --

I wouldn't freeze them, I would just make a puree with them.

You don't even have to put the nuts in, just some garlic and some oil, sometimes the nuts are rancid.

I ran out of pine nuts, so last night I used hazelnuts, quite a bit milder.

I liked them.

I wish it was nice here today, its rainy and our sewer guy is coming out in an hour and checking the side sewer on the yearly rota. Should be fun way to spend lunch eh?

DP comes home tonight, not one minute too soon, I could use her around the house.

So, here's a fashion question for you all....

When do you start wearing hose? Its getting cold and I'm wearing a skirt today with a twin set, mid heel mules and no hose. I have no real issue with hose, my legs are pretty tan still, but now I am feeling nekkid.

I guess I should look for hose, eh?

I look professional, just a bit casual.

lala

Melissa, yucky weather. Congrats on the weight loss.

lala, When I lived up north, I wore hose at this time of year no matter how tanned my legs were. Alas, the companies I've worked at no longer dress professionally. It's "business casual" which has turned into sloppy. Sorry, that's just my opinion. I also think that employees act the way they dress.

Another fashion question: are leggings out??

Melissa --
sorry I didn't notice the loss, there is less of you ... congrats!

Domina --
Its okay, my office mate is wearing polar fleece, board shorts and flip flops. Talk about biz. casual.

As for leggings, I think there is a place for them, but in general, I think they have been replaced by "yogawear", so no more tight stuff, but more "flowy, looser".

However, in FL ymmv.

lala

Lala: If it's warm you can get away with not wearing hose. I've been back to wearing pantyhose since September, but then again, the weather here is quite a bit different than yours On a pesto note, a friend of ours had given me a recipe a number of years ago and said you could substitute walnuts for the pine nuts.

Domina: I agree, business casual in some areas has become sloppy rather than a little relaxed. The university has guidelines for us but I consider my every day office wear more on the business casual side because I don't wear suits. In any case, Fridays are our "jeans" day and we can wear university apparel with jeans. I know that when I wear more casual clothes, i.e. jeans, my productivity is definitely different than if I were wearing say a skirt, etc.

More clouds this morning and rain is expected a little later today. I'm off for the afternoon--taking DS #2 for a follow up on his eye from the baseball incident back in April. This appt is with the specialist to see if the double vision, etc. is getting better. DS says it is so we'll see. Not much else happening here.