Good morning, Chickies!

It's dull out there but NOT raining for a change. I definitely will be gardening today. The problem with rainy days is that I buy more plants so things are really stacking up on my potting table! Yesterday was gorgeous but I was out and about all day and wiped by the time I found a free hour! 5 PM is too late to start gardening, IMHO!

This is a holiday weekend for the American chicks - Memorial Day. There will be lots of summer folk returning to their cottages this weekend and boats and trailers parked in front of the liquor and grocery stores. It's nice to see them back and recognize the PA and NY accents. Of course, we don't have an accent!

We were supposed to plant the 13 barrel planters in the Village this morning but they have not been put in place and filled with earth so that's not happening today, I guess. I have set aside lots of plants in the Greenhouse and would really like to get them out and planted. There is a work bee at the Fairground tomorrow and I hope to get those planters done with help from the other Board members. Summer is on the way and I still have not completed the switchover from winter clothing!

Remember that Monday is May 31 and the end of the May Fluff Challenge so govern yourself accordingly over the weekend.

What's happening in your neck of The Beach?

Morning Ruthie you Queen of the Garden, if you have lots of plants you can send them to me as I have not bought one thing yet. I am hoping that Sunday will be sunny and I can get to the garden center to buy a few things. I am thinking a bleeding heart for my new bed.

I am very tired this morning we did not get home til 11:00 last night we were pretty emotionally drained by the time we got home. The family seems to be holding up well but I am sure that today will be so hard on them. My heart breaks for his little guy who is only 8.

Well I must go for a bit and see if I can get the dishes done and wait for my last little one to get here he should be coming any second. Talk to ya all in a bit.

Good morning! It rained heavily here last night, Ruth.
I bought some annuals in the Market yesterday. And a few herbs. Some lovely Spicy Globe basil and my favourite... French tarragon.

Little Chick, I'll send you down a bunch of bleeding hearts. My large one seeds the ground around it every year, and I usually have about a dozen new ones to give away every spring.
That dear little boy... ... the same age as my youngest. I can't even imagine...
I hope his Mom talks about his Dad a lot over the next few years. It's so easy to lose memories at that young age.

Running to the bank... back later for coffee...
Hugs to all.

morning chickies,
well here i sit at my desk sposed to work til noon today. i don't see me getting much done today as far as work goes. my mind is elsewhere. i've been doing good since i started back on the beach. i got on the scale this am and it said 237.5 3 times (yes i hop on and off the scale when i see a new number pop up in a sad attempt to see if it is lying to me or not.) i was at 243 on wed when i came crying back to you all. this weekend will be a really big challenge for me. so keeping my fingers crossed, planning all my meals, and giving my best shot at exercise are the goals here. wish me luck.

the dance went well ds was all smiles when he got home last night. it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be and he rattled off a whole list of lil'chickies that he danced with. dd showed a little bit of her wild side (she gets it from me....what can i say) she got a group of her girlfriends together and they did a lip sync performance with my little shy lindsey featured on air guitar. i guess it was a big hit!! poor little ds lost his baseball game so he was slightly bummed they will try again tonight.

little chick again sorry for your loss it was so good of you to go and support your friends family. poor little boy i hope he has strong support with him it will surely take alot for him to get through. good luck with the busy weekend!!! hope the gym show goes well.

ruth i am truly hoping you post pics of this fabulous (sp?) garden when it is in bloom. have a happy planting weekend

ellis how did ds make out at his game last night? the herbs sound great. i love rich smelling plants in the garden.

hope you all have a great weekend i won't be around much but will catch up with you all next week.

Hey Jodi YEAH for you great loss. YGG. I too have a dd who is just like me both of them are really. But I too have one that has a need for a bit of adventure now and then. The little guy has a great family. They are one of the tighest famlies I know, not only are they brothers and sisters but best freinds as well. They hang out together all the time. It is wonderful.I am sure that they will keep his dads memory alive for him.I am sure that the gym show will be great. Anyway I must run I have to run dh up the road an hour away to get to the funeral on time and they get back home as my friend and co worker is going to be looking after the wee ones. See ya I will check in again later.

Jodi! You're already losing!! High five, baby!!
Sorry about your son's game. I don't know whether my DS lost or won his game (there's a lot of confusion over that, and I'm glad. Because really, who cares! If only they'd just have FUN, huh?), but he was TOTALLY distressed because he got ummm... what's it called... He was the last batter twice, and got tagged. Tagged? You know what I mean. He was "out". He said, "Mommy, I DON'T want to talk about it!"
So I told him about when I was a kid, and had to play baseball in school. In my whole life, I've only hit the ball ONCE! We always had two captains who would pick teams, and I was always the last one to be picked. In fact, the two captains would ARGUE over who should take me! "You take her!" "No, we don't want her. YOU take her!" God. What a childhood. I'm surprisingly well-adjusted, all things considered.

Little Chick... thinking about you again today...

Good morning ladies
My DH had knee surgery the other day so I have been busy taking care of him. Thank God for pain medicine!!!
I've been trying to get caught up on everybody's posts and it sure is mixed with happy/sad times.

Ellis~~When does your dad have his surgery? I hope that all goes well. This should be a breeze after the bypass he went through . Remember: pain medicine is your friend Good to hear hat you are still exercising with your trainer. "surprisingly well-adjusted"?????

Ruth~~So sorry to hear thar H is needing more constant care. You have to do what is best for both of you, even though it will be difficult.

Little Chick~~My heart goes out to your friends family. This is such a sad situation and my prayers are with them and you.

Jenne~~I hope JoJo behaves on her car trip.

Jodi~~Welcome back, girl! Congrats on your recent weight loss

Beachgal~ "Harder, harder"~~too funny That raspberry chicken and Great Grains sounds wonderful. It sounds like you are enjoying the recipe book. Maybe I will get it.

Welcome to all the new chicks and hello to all that I missed.

Morning, Chickies! Typical Pentagon day -- arrive at 0700, only to find our office got the day off. SNAFU (Situation Normal: All Fouled Up!) Here we all sit -- once you drive the long commute in, it's too much hassle to go home without accomplishing something! O Wonderful -- we just got released. I'm hitting the road -- Happy Memorial Day -- to Canada, too

Morning,

Just sipping on my 2nd cup of coffee trying to rustle up some energy!

Jodi WTG on your loss. Just plan, plan, plan for the weekend and you will be fine!

Well, I made it through my food challenges for the week without blowing it! I went to dinner with friends last night and stayed totally SB with the exception of wine. I didn't overindulge in it as I was driving. Had coffee while everyone else had dessert and skipped the bread completely. Afterwards we went to a bar where one of my friend's husband was singing- didn't drink, just sat and enjoyed the company of my girlfriends. Very fun night, and I feel good about my food choices!

We are off to go swimming at a friend's house- will check back later~

Morning, all!

Huge day ahead, trying to get a massive freezer delivered before 250 frozen chicken breasts arrive tomorrow. *whew!* Plus a presentation in a professors class on careers, which is always a bit nervewracking, but lots of fun. DH and I are going out to dinner tonight, which I am looking forward to. I need a break before I hit the books like a crazy woman and do tons of gardening this weekend (if the darn weather cooperates! )

We had this white bean and roasted red peppers recipe from Cooking Light last night. It was pure heaven and is Phase 1 okay...I will type it in later today when things calm down. Very, very yummy!

Little Chick, hugs and prayers for that poor little boy and his family. So glad you are there for them, and I am sure they are too.

Ruth, what are you trying to say about people from NY? Only the people in the City have accents. Hope you enjoy all this gardening and get lots of help tomorrow!

Jodi, on your weight loss to date! I am sure your camping trip will be tons of fun and am here you on! So glad your kids had such a blast at the dance. : Those are such precious memories! Sorry about your DS' game, hope they do better today. However, I do agree with Ellis, having fun is the most important thing!

Ellis, OMG! That is exactly what used to happen to me when we played softball! I HATED it! We had a game at the end of Sixth grade that was the entire grade against the faculty. Everyone had to play. That was the most awful day for me! Still hate sports in general. Terrified of what kind of mom I'll make when I have kids that want to play...I'm going to have to suck it up and use my acting skills to appear interested. Everyone says when it is my kid, I'm going to be interested, but even when my husband plays, I have very little interest. Yucky sports! I sound like a five-year-old!

Sil, good to see you! Somone posted the actual joke "harder harder" in the Scotch and Humour thread in Alternachicks. Not nearly as funny as I remembered. Maybe I read another version? The cookbook is awesome. Very worthwhile purchase. So glad your DH is getting better. He's lucky to have you as his nurse! :

Have a super day everyone! Will check back in later.

Ellis and Beachgal--

I've been lurking and trying to get back with it...but I had to share that I also relate to the "being picked last for sports" thing. I was two years younger than the other kids in my same grade so was already unpopular because of that...but when it came to sports it was even more humiliating to have them fight over which team had to be stuck with me.

I am adopted. It was quite a surprise later in life to learn that my biological brothers are both big time jocks and very fit!

So, to this day, I loathe sports, working out, and anything related to either. Not good for someone who is overweight and out of shape.

[ We always had two captains who would pick teams, and I was always the last one to be picked. In fact, the two captains would ARGUE over who should take me! "You take her!" "No, we don't want her. YOU take her!" God. What a childhood. I'm surprisingly well-adjusted, all things considered.

are we playing this is my life?? i was not exactly what you would call "sporty" as a kid either. "girlie"? yes, "chubby?" yes but no not sporty...... as a matter of fact we were playing a game of kickball a few weeks ago with the kids and their friends and we let the 2 youngest be captains neither one of the little snots picked me then either some things never change. anyway sorry your little guy got tagged out ellis mine did also and was really not a happy camper. the thing is around here once they move up agewise to little league the fun goes out the window pretty much and they become these fierce competitors (sp?) so they are only having a good time when they are winning. some sort of prehistoric man training i think

thanks to everyone on your good wishes, i needed some sort of loss to boost my spirits. flippin lifestyle changes!!! what happened to the simpler times when i was just plain old fat and sassy??? don't get me wrong i am moving forward but this is some deep doo doo.

on that i will go and feign work for 24 more minutes and then bust out of this office like a tornado. you know quite honestly if i were my boss i would have to fire me but shhhhhhhh don't tell.

Sounds like you all have been busy! Gardens, baseball, dances, you're all so busy.

Doing good here. Slight overdose (ok, huge overdose) on fruit yesterday. Ugh. But the scales were kind. Not losing, but not gaining. I think TOM is coming to visit....blechhhh

Rainy and cold here. Should keep the vacationers at bay. We have 1100 acres of sand dunes about 20 minutes from here and people come from all over the country to ride them. I guess it's nice for them, but for me sand dunes + emergency room + memorial weekend = aaauuuuuggggghhhhhh. I do have to work a 12 hour shift tomorrow and I imagine I'll run the entire day.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Relax and enjoy it.......uh Ellis, I haven't received that bracelet yet??????

But I did! Happy Dance! I got my bracelet back from the jeweler's today and it is gorgeous! It makes such a lovely tinkle sound as I walk and really makes me smile. I am going to have a blast adding to it! : I hope to scan it in sometime soon so you guys can see it!

Glad to know that I am not the only one who was picked super-last for sports teams, but it sucks that you guys were treated that way! Hey, we're still losers, except now we are the good kind! SoCalBirdLady, sounds like you're a perfect example of how nurturing affects us...hopefully I can convince my kids to be active, but not sporty!

So sad about your DS' little league team, Jodi! What a shame that it is less fun and more competition. Ugh!

Oooh, RNMom, sounds like you have a heck of a weekend ahead! Do you guys keep dustbusters in every exam room to get rid of the sand or does the ER end up resembling "Survivor: Hawaii"? I hope it is less stressful than you think!

Hope everyone has a super fun weekend! We do not get Monday off, so I suppose I'll be here on Monday...doing a Jodi-type day of work.

RNMom~~So sorry that you have to work the holiday weekend. I know what you mean about the "holiday patients". I work on a cardiac intervention unit and we get the people who over-eat, over-play, over-drink and then get chest pain. When will they learn??? I usually work weekends but am taking this weekend off to be private duty nurse to my DH, who had knee surgery this week. Have a great weekend if you can.