Good morning everyone! So where did July go??? Our vacation was nice, ate too much and didn't get a whole lot of activity in. The weather was not cooperative at all! Cool, rainy, overall blah! The only nice day out of the week was Thursday and I did get a bunch of yard stuff done. I have to say I did get some activity in on Thursday/Friday in terms of doing things around the house (mopping floors, cleaning, etc.).

The Football Hall of Fame was good--we realized after we were back at the hotel that we missed a section! Guess we'll have to go back! We ate out at a lot of different places and did the best I could although I did let myself go and have a twice baked potato at Joe's Crab Shack--it was wonderful! I also had the grilled grouper (one of my faves).

I'm back on track as of yesterday and am hoping for a halfway decent WI on Wednesday.

So how's everyone doing? Anything exciting happen last week?

Welcome back, Melissa. The Hall of Fame is a great place to visit. Let's see you said you were on vacation and did yard work and mopped floors?? What's wrong with this picture? You poor thing. Mmmm, twice-baked potato. I've never had one at Joe's Crab Shack, but I have at other places. Sorry to hear about your weather. You really have not had much of a summer. It rained here most of the weekend; there was a tropical disturbance off the coast.

I golfed this weekend and went to a charity art auction. That was a lot of fun. It was called a "Black and White." Attendees were supposed to wear black and white. Some people apparently didn't have a clue; one woman had a turquoise dress on. I bought a couple prints; I think I got a good deal. The frames probably cost more than the prints.

Eating-wise, I had good days and bad days. I need to WI this week or next. I'll get back on track.

The rest of the time I had rehearsal. When the play is over, I'm going to plan a Bunco party. Have any of you ever played?

Morning glories.

Back at work after a week of meetings. Must submit paperwork, abstracts, more paperwork and then run off home as they are working on our roof at work and I'm getting nauseated.

I forgot I have to give a presentation this week, yikes.

I weighed in on saturday, down .6, but still up 2.8, so slow progress. Have reigned in eating a bit, drinking more water, that is my goal this week.

Made a heaping helpful of ratatouille yesterday and still have five green peppers (hate them), so they'll become stuffed peppers for my ailing friend and her partner.

Its only going to be 77 degrees today, so I think its going to be grilling ahi tuna steaks and coleslaw for dinner.

Lisa -- Sounds like your black and white party was fun. I guess some people don't follow directions well.

Melissa -- sorry it was rainy, but sounds like you made the best of it.

Hiya Pam and Susan!

Shortish and very full week here. Seminar, getting ready for meetings, leaving on Friday night for a week of meetings in SD. Must get house ready and line up waterers and make sure dog sitter has back ups if her schedule gets wonky.

see you ladies later!

lala

lala, where are you going in South Dakota? I was just there in June.

Congrats on your loss. I still have these pesky 3 pounds that I can't shake.

Stuffed peppers is the only way I'll eat green peppers.

Hello, Susan and Pam

Lisa

Lisa --
I'm going to San Diego, sorry.

Been to South Dakota too, but not recently.

lala

Domina: I know, I thought the same thing when I was doing the cleaning but when I work it's hard to do it at night when everyone is around and the weekends are sometimes crazy. I've never played Bunco.

Lala Good for you on the loss! I find that when I drink all my water I do better with my losses; must be that I feel full or else it's the countless trips to the br Our garden is slow this year--we've had so much rain that some of our plants are sickly looking. The only thing thriving is my basil and grape tomatoes. I've only gotten 2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash *sigh* I'm not a big fan of green peppers either so I don't grow them. Hot peppers are another story...I was in San Diego 22 years ago, I'm sure a lot has changed since then. DH and I were there on our honeymoon and went to the zoo--didn't get to see all of it since it was so big!

Temps have climbed to 79 and it's sunny here--the humidity is on the rise. We're making reubens for dinner tonight so it'll be quick & easy. I can lighten them up without a problem and I don't like a lot of meat so that'll cut points for me. No major plans for the evening--finish up what little bit of laundry I have left and maybe do a little reading.

Hi to Pam, Susan!

Melissa ----

Mmmm reubens....

I have tons of zukes and yellow squashes. I'll ship them out to you. The problem is that we also get a box of produce from a farmer once a week. I am overwhelmed and DP is not eating it as fast as she buys it....

My folks are in San Diego and I love the zoo. I have two meetings there this year, I am happy and so is my boss, I save bucks by staying with them.

lala

lala, Well, duh, I just naturally thought of South Dakota. Sorry about that. I've always heard that San Diego is a nice city.

I've never tried vegetable gardening. I like to plant flowers and I've planted spices. The only thing that survived was chives.

Hi Ladies,

Hot and humid here in New England..at least through Wednesday. It's days like this when I wish we still had our pool. When we bought the house it had an above ground pool. The kids enjoyed it, but it was such a pain to maintain and with the weather the way it is in New England, we really didn't use it that much. When the liner gave out a few years ago I decided to have the pool taken down and now I have a very pretty garden where it use to be. Kids were a little mad at first, but they have gotten over it.

Melissa Welcome back!! Sounds like you got a lot accomplished over your vacation. How are things going at work? Still busy, or has it quieted down until the students come back? The summer is going by so quickly the kids will be back in school before you know it. My daughter has exactly 4 weeks of summer vacation left.

Lisa I laughed when I read about the woman who wore turquoise. Some people just don't get it. Sounds like it was a good time.

Lala include me to the list of people who don't like green peppers. It's kind of odd because as a kid my mom would make stuffed peppers quite a bit and I would eat them but now...yuck!! The company I work for is having their annual business retreat in San Diego this year in September. I've never been, but I've heard it's very nice.

Well I should get back to work, my home computer is operational again so I may sign on again later. I'll talk to you soon.

Hi everyone,

checking in from home. I went home as the stench of tar was too much. I actually am making some headway and only 45 minutes of work to go...

Pam -- I was wondering about those pools. I was flying over Chicago on Friday and saw tons of them. I figured you turned them into skating rinks in the winter. Did you drain them?

Lisa -- In your hot weather, you would be set for tomatoes, squash and corn or a fabulous tropical garden.

Well, I thawed ahi filets from Trader Joes, DP is having lime/cilantro drumsticks and the cat and dog will be begging.

Everybody getting yummy peaches yet? I just had the most amazing peach. I wanted a frozen chocolate covered banana, but got a peach instead. Someone must have eaten the last banana.....

lala

Hi everyone. Summer has arrived in Halifax, compliments of the Tall Ships which seem to bring the sun with them whenever they visit.

We had a marvelous, busy weekend. Our friend arrived on Friday at noon to spend the weekend. We attended the most beautiful wedding on Saturday and had an absolute blast. Food was divine, the wine flowed and the bride and groom topped off the evening with a dip in their pool (most of the guests were already in as it was exceedingly hot!!)

Watched the Natal Day fireworks from their condo overlooking the Halifax waterfront, then spent yesterday out on another friend's sailboat, watching the sailpast as the Tall Ships headed out of port.

I'm totally exhausted today, but in a good way. We have more friends to see tonight before they leave town, a dinner party on Thursday nite and DH's neice and her family arrive on Monday, so the pace will continue.

I'm heading back to regular Saturday morning weigh-ins starting this week. That's the only way I'll regain control. I know you all knew that but were wise enough to lett me arrive at the decision on my own.

BTW, I like green peppers so you can send me all your extras!!!

Good morning!

Lala: I like reubens and being able to control how they're prepared and with what really helps with the points--mine were 3 points compared to 18 that you get in restaurants! No peaches here yet--of course I haven't been out to the farmer's market so maybe they are out and I just don't know it! I'm more of a tomato, veggie person than fruits (other than blueberries, apples).

Pam: It's hot/humid here today--it's already 80 and it's only 9 a.m. The weather is supposed to break tomorrow and then we'll be freezing from the sounds of the forecast. It's quiet here for the time being--my boss is off this week (vacation) so I'm getting things caught up. Students will start coming back next week (athletes) and then the freshman arrive on the 22nd. I figure I have 2 mores weeks of quiet and then it'll get busy again.

Lisa: I love planting flowers and try to get perennials so that I get a constant wave of color in my gardens--I have 3 rock garden areas, rose garden and flowers in the front of the house. Lots of area to weed & take care of.

Susan: Whew! Sounds like you had a really busy weekend and the week sounds just as busy for you! I agree, regular WI's really help you stay on track--good for you for coming to that decision.

Well, DH leaves Friday morning for Ireland and will be gone until the 14th--he's excited and I'm a little apprehensive about it. He'll enjoy himself I'm sure. My best friend is flying in on Thursday for the weekend and we're heading to a tea room on Saturday and doing some shopping. She's going to freeze here if the weather forecasts hold true and the temps are only going to be in the low 70's for our highs and in the 50's in the evenings. Well, better get moving here and get some things done. I'll check back later on.

lala, I guess what has scared me away from vegetable gardening are insects and little animals that eat your veggies. Mmmm ahi sounds good and anything with lime.

Melissa, is DH headed to Ireland for Rugby? I love rock gardens. That reminds of my grandmother, God rest her soul. She had gorgeous rock gardens.

Susan, whew is right. You were sure busy; I burned up calories just reading all that you had done.

Pam, I've heard that above ground pools are labor-intensive. We have an inground pool and we have to keep up with the chemicals. We have an automatic pool cleaner to do the heavy stuff.

Well, I had an OP day yesterday and so far today I'm doing great. I have a hair appointment this evening and then off to rehearsal again. The shows open on Friday and Saturday. In one show, I wear a black wig and in the other I wear a long blonde wig. The blonde hair actually looks good; I'm thinking of coloring my real hair blonde. What do you think? Right now it's colored dark auburn; my natural color used to be mousey brown and I have mucho gray.

Hi everyone,

So far no tar, so I'm at work.

Melissa -- DH's trip sounds fun and you'll enjoy having your friend around. There is a tea room right near me, I haven't been there, but it looks beautiful. I'm sorry to hear its muggy.

Susan-- I'll send you the rest of the peppers, but this batch is committed. I'm going to run up to our friends tonight to pick up before the cleaning guy comes and then run home and prune and declutter my office -- the paper sink. I leave for a week on Friday and I'm really feeling the crunch.

Your weekend sounded amazing. I loved Halifax and love fireworks. The combination of the tall ships, the views and the fireworks would make my weekend. I also love weddings, especially ones with good food and booze.

Lisa -- Its time again for the hair appts. I have one tomorrow. Don't be scared of critters and insects, home grown tomatoes far surpass grocery store tomatoes.

Me, I found two snails (!!!!!) in our garden. I'm freaking. Snails are not from here and I have seen them move into our neighborhood. I'm extra vigilant now.

Okay, back to work.

Have you guys been to buca di beppo? Its a chain with huge portions. Anyways, my meeting next week has two buca dinners. It ticks me off a bit because the food is mediocre and there are a hundred better choices within walking distance. I guess that is what you get when you put graduate students in charge of making dinner arrangements.

lala

Hi Ladies,

I just finished eating a weight watchers frozen entree for lunch..I'm trying very hard to have 2 OP days in a row. The scale showed a pretty scary number this week and even though it's partially TOM it's still too high. I think tonight for dinner it will be a grilled veggie burger and a tossed salad.

Susan WOW what a fun weekend you had. The wedding sounded like a lot of fun..I enjoy that type rather than the too large, too formal ones that brides usually kill themselves getting ready for. I have also come to the realization that I need to be accountable to someone also with weekly weigh ins and have decided to try the weight watchers at work session that will be starting later this month.

Lisa Go ahead and try going blond. Actually I'm almost there myself. My natural color is mousy brown, then I went auburn and now I have a very light shade of brown with some blonde highlights. I too have quite a bit of gray

Melissa enjoy your quiet time at work. Does your son attend the college that you work at? Our weather is going to get much cooler tomorrow which will be nice, it's been very hot and humid since Saturday.

Lala No, I didn't turn the pool into a skating rink, but that's actually a pretty good idea. I honestly do not miss having it and I really love the flower garden that I now have in its place!! The cilantro drumsticks sounded yummy..did DP give a few bites to Mr Jacques ?

Well time to go..hope your all having a super Tuesday, I'll talk to you soon.