Good morning! The weather here has been fabuloso. I had all sorts of rehearsals this weekend, played some golf, went to a play (West Side Story) and had my hair re-colored (go away, gray). I did really well eating-wise. I guess I was too busy to eat.

Susan, have you recovered from your trip?

lala, how was the "Hatch Day" party?

Melissa, how's your father?

Pam, how is Lauren doing?

Hi everyone,

My party went splendidly, though I don't think I would want to even triple the guest list. Now I know why they call brides "bridezillas". Anyhoo, the room was marvelous, the food was great, the wine was also excellent and the company divine. We had a great view of the space needle and parts of queen anne and downtown. If we had started at sunset it would have been breathtaking from one corner. One of my friends took copious pics, so I'll post when they are ready to upload.

I'm glad its over. Whew....

My TOM started on Saturday and I have been an eating machine all week. Its time to buckle down because I really have to fit into my once loose skirts for the summer. We have temps in the 60s here and Its no longer pants weather.

Yikes.

I also leave for Rome in 9 days and I better get a major grip before we go there and am tempted by all that gelato.

Lisa -- glad to hear things are going well with rehearsals and eating. Can you send me some energy please.

Susan --hope your back amongst the living.

Hi to Melissa and Pam!

off to edit DP's paper and start working.

lala

lala, I'm glad your party went well. I didn't know that you were headed to Rome. What a great city. I'm envious. Have some gelato for me.

Yup, Rome for 10 days with now a two day interlude to Cambridge for a 2 day workshop on data exchange. Oh well.

We're taking the couple that DP stays with in Oregon during the week as a thank you. It was supposed to be my 40th BD party/present, but I feel like we've done this quite a bit now... However, Rome is Rome and I'm happy to be there anytime of the year.

Lisa -- what flavor of gelato?

lala

Good afternoon! It's a balmy 50 degrees here and the sun is occasionally peeking out but it's going to be short lived--temps are supposed to plummet down into the 20's and snow is in the forecast Typical Erie weather.

Lala: Sounds like your party went really well. I can relate to being an eating machine--that's what I was the week before...this past week has been much better and I'm really putting forth the effort to stay away from the "junk" and I feel good. I'm hoping for a good WI on Wednesday.

Lisa: I like it when I'm busy because like you, then I don't eat I'm getting my hair cut on Thursday and can't wait.

Hi to Pam & Susan!

My dad is doing okay although his "cigarette" breaks are becoming more frequent. I think he thinks that because he's had this surgery that it's okay now...there's nothing I can do about it.

Hope everyone had a good day!!

We are having very windy weather here--40 miles an hour. Strange.

lala, Chocolate, of course. Actually, I like almost any flavor of gelato. Rome should be great.

Melissa, sorry to hear about your dad's smoking. You're right; he thinks that he's good to go post-surgery.

Hi, Pam and Susan.

Hi everyone,

Melissa -- I should have posted yesterday about your dad's smoking relapse. Have they tried something like zyban to get him to stop. Its a SSRI -antidepressant that they use for cessation of smoking. Its either something like that or some sort of serious intervention of someone's part. Maybe the DSs should plead with him.

Lisa -- 40 mph is very windy. Do the birds react?

I'm home today waiting for my window washer and working from home. I can actually get more done here than at work. If someone from my group wants me, they IM me on our work IM thingie. I am not kidding. Its way better than email.

did okay last night,except for one skinny cow.

Today should be even better.

lala

lala, does Zyban work? I haven't heard much about it. The birds only react if something hits the window or house. They stay snug in their cages.

It must be nice to work from home; it's not a possibility in my job.

A Skinny Cow isn't bad.

HI Ladies,

Another snowy cold day here. I brought Lauren to the doctor in Hartford this afternoon and got caught in a terrible snow storm on the way home. It took us a little over 3 hours to get back! My nerves are frazzled, so I'm enjoying a nice glass of wine right now while I type. The doctor gave Lauren the go ahead to go back to school tomorrow, but if things keep up like this they might get another snow day. If the roads aren't too bad I may go in to the office and face the mess that I'm sure has accumulated in my absence.

Lala so glad you enjoyed your party. I hope you can post some pics. I'm so envious of your 60 degree temps and your upcoming trip to Rome! How wonderful.

Melissa glad your Dad is doing better. You're right, there isn't anything you can do about his smoking. Hopefully if he can't stop completely he will at least cut back. Sounds so similar to what we go through with my Dad. I remember my Sister and I bought him a Nicoderm patch and begged him to try it. He gave it a try and actually continued to smoke with the patch on! He gets so mad at us if we even bring up trying to stop smoking. How's your weather? Did you get snow today also?

Lisa Wow 40 mph winds, hope you don't get any damage! Congrats on the good eating this weekend. Mine has been off and on. When I get really stressed I don't tend to eat very much.

Hi to Susan.

Well ladies off to watch the Gilmore Girls with Lauren. That show is so cute. Talk to you later.

Hi everyone,

Lisa, I know that zyban is used for help people stop smoking, its an anti-depressant and apparently it helps people by stopping their desire to smoke. I have no idea about its efficacy for anything but depression, but its used widely for smoking cessation without nicotine replacement.

Pam -- geez, the weather is not getting any better. Yech. I would be drinking even more than wine if I had a three hour drive in the snow. I'm glad to hear that Lauren got the all clear for school just in time for snow.

Melissa -- I hope things are smoother today.

I will post party pics tomorrow. I look like a well, nevermind, the party was nice and maybe I shouldn't have worn a baseball cap all day and floofed up my hair a bit. I had no idea there would be so many pics.

Did get work done today and my windows look great. I managed to get outside at lunch and found a snail on one of my hellebores. We are now getting snails. I hate snails.

Skipping bookclub tonight, I read the book, but decided that its okay to skip once in a while. I am almost done with my paper and I would love to finish it tonight ---footnotes and all!

Hope Susan is okay.

Have fun ladies.

lala

A little cooler here today--50's. I have my professional meeting tonight. I'm taking a friend with me who is looking for a job. I'm hoping that she can do some networking. Besides, I want her to stay in this area (a little selfish perhaps). If she doesn't find something here she may move to Tennessee or Alabama. She WAS a WW success story till she had knee surgery. Now she is really overweight. I keep trying to encourage her. I know that if she was OP again, she would feel better.

Pam, that's good news about Lauren. She's a trooper. I used to dread driving in those snowstorms. I can really relate to your frazzled nerves.

lala, thanks for the info on zyban. I can't wait to see your photos. Your paper is almost done! Hallelujah! You will feel so relieved when that's finished.

Hi Melissa and Susan.

Good morning! The past 2 days have been frigid! Yesterday was a chilly 14 and today isn't much better. We're way below normal in temps. We've been lucky and have dodged the bullet in terms of snow. South of here has gotten more. I'm tired of snow, cold.

Lala: My dad has insisted to the dr that he can cut back/quit on his own. He is taking lexapro for depression and it seems to be helping with the depression and I thought it would also help with his smoking. The discharge nurse at the hospital gave him info on smoking cessation but he didn't follow through with it. Both of my DS's have pleaded with him from the time they were small to quit.

Pam: We've been lucky with the snow but the frigid temps have taken up residence! The wind chills have been 1 above 0 so the wind bites you when you go outside. Glad to hear Lauren is progressing so well! Did you have a snow day today?

Lisa: 50's sounds like a heat wave to me but I know it's cold for your area; at least you have sun to go with the temps

Susan: Hope you're back on a "normal" schedule with sleeping, etc.

We're getting stuff ready for our orientation mailing and I'm coordinating our daffodil sale here at work for the ACS. It's a busy time of year. I'm heading to my meeting at noon and hopefully my hard work of staying away from evening eating is going to pay off at the scale today! I've been writing everything down and staying where I need to with the exception of those cookies on Saturday.

Hi everyone,

Its a bit cloudy here and its good for the plants. I wish we had real rain, the state and our county will be announcing a drought today. No March showers here and we just had one of our dryest Februaries on record. Suffice it to say, I will be cutting back on planting this year. Maybe I'll just divide some stuff instead.

My Paeonia mlokosewitschii (molly the witch) has buds already. Its my easter peony. I can't believe it. It will be a lovely buttery yellow and divine. I hope I'm here to experience it.

Melissa- I'm glad to see your dad is on a anti-depressant, but he needs to honest with his doctor. I was hoping the DGS would be the key, but he's hooked.

Wasn't it dotti and al from dwlz.com that managed to both stop smoking packs of cigarettes a day. I don't know if its worth toodling over there and see what they have on their website.

I love daffodils! I love masses of them. It must be fun to see them all, however,
coordinating a sale would be challenging.

Pam and Melissa and I expect Susan --here's to hoping the weather calms down. Pam, did you make it in to work yet?

Lisa -- Can you help me find a job? I am really starting to look. I am not a happy camper and its making the rest of my life miserable.

As for my paper, all I have to do is rethink my conclusion, beef it up. Add a few references and call it art. I really became overwrought over this thing, but it was fun to read about sanitation reform in Paris and how it differed from the US. Very exciting.

Okay, now I'm off to read about two grants I need to get excited about submitting.

later taters,

lala

Melissa, your weather sounds horrible. Good luck with WI tonight. A daffodil sale? Are you selling bulbs or plants in pots?

lala, your flowers sound great. I hadn't heard that Seattle was having a drought. That would not be good for gardens. I need to get thinking about my flower beds. I'm not very good about the layout of my beds because I just buy whatever looks pretty and then I plant them, so I have a real variety because some things die off and others don't. It's a real mishmash. My mums are still gorgeous. One year I bought one of those things you roll out and water it (it's full of seeds). The flowers were beautiful and all different types. That was fun. The next year I bought another one (from another store) and it was a dud!

The daffodils are "live" and cut so they're still in the "bud" state--once you put them in water they open up--it's a breath of Spring! I love watching them open. I've coordinated the sale here at the university for over 10 years for the Cancer Society.

Lisa: My flower beds have a little bit of this and that, I love staggering the plants so they bloom at different times. My lavender really took off last year and I need to thin it out.

Lala: No drought here, lots of rain/snow but in the summer we dry out and usually have "sprinkling" bans. It'd be nice if my dad were honest with his dr.

Well I have to say my work at not eating at night and following the old Fast Track has reaped results--I'm down 3.4# this week!!! Now to get rid of the other 3 and I'll be really, really happy.