Good morning and Happy Monday (yeah, right). I had an interesting weekend. I thought I was having a good Friday last week until I accidentally stepped into a hole in our yard and twisted my foot. I didn't think much about it till 1 AM when the pain woke me out of a sound sleep. DH was concerned so off to the emergency room we went. I had some x-rays and, thank God, nothing is broken. I just have a bad sprain to my instep area. They told me to use crutches, but having never used them before, I found them more dangerous to use. I really did the couch potato thing on Saturday and part of the day on Sunday .

We're heavy into rehearsals for the play I'm in, so the director was not thrilled to see me in a "funny shoe." I hope to be better by opening night on Thursday. I've iced it and put it up. Of course, I can't go walking, so I feel fat today!! Please send some good vibes my way

Even though I was a couch potato, my eyes were still glued to the TV because of Pope John Paul II. The world lost a great man. I was sorry that he passed away, but I'm glad that he is no longer suffering.

How is everyone else?

Hi everyone,

Lisa -- ouch! Was it a vermin (mole, vole, gopher hole) that you stepped into or have you guys been doing some creative landscaping? I would definitely keep babying it to get better.

I have to admit that I did not watch anything on the Pope, but saw part of the procession on tv this am at the gym. I can't say that I am sorry we left rome a week ago today, but I can tell you that it was sort of somber at St. Peters on the Saturday night before Easter. DP and I went for a walk to St. Peters around 10PM that night. Its beautiful at night, all lit up and the the Bernini arms are glorious. I can't say I agreed with all his policies, but I'm sorry for all those who cherished him. He did good for many folks from all faiths.

The bells in Rome are probably quite splendid and somber this week.

We had a very busy weekend. Many little things going on including our annual easter egg hunt with 260 eggs and 18 participants. Some wimped out due to rain and illness. It was pouring, but we had fun. I was exhausted from egg stuffing, cooking and entertaining. However, the garden looked spectacular.

So, other than that, I'm hoping everyone is doing well. I'm trying to catch up after taking half of Thursday and all of Friday off trying to get over this nasty cough...

I'm trying hard to get back into the swing of the better eating thing. I have a short week here as I'm in Denver for Th-Sat for a meeting... At least you can make good choices in Denver, right?

lala

lala, it wasn't a critter hole; it's an indent where the wellhead for the sprinkler system is. I recall that each year you have such a great event as your Easter egg hunt. That must be fun. Who is invited? Are they all relatives or friends or neighbors?

Yes, St. Peter's at night is some sight. Rome must be a zoo right now.

I sure hope you are feeling better. Too bad you have to travel again; you don't get a chance to recover.

Lisa: I hope the foot heals quickly for you! The best thing you can do is to keep it up and take some anti-inflammatory to help with the swelling, etc. I agree with the crutches--I'm not very coordinated and could see myself hurting myself worse! I, too, was caught up with all the coverage on the Pope. He had a certain charisma about him that drew people in and even though he had some strong views on certain issues he was respected.

Lala: I'd rather have had rain than the snowstorm that hit us Saturday/Sunday. It was terrible here--we got 12+ inches in town and a little east of us received 24"!!! Geesh! I didn't go anywhere yesterday (couldn't because the streets weren't plowed)--so I did some baking and cooking

I'm still working at the Core plan and it's going pretty well. I'm using the WPA's for the things I can't live with out like chocolate. I did get some AP's yesterday shoveling snow so that's one good thing. The time change kills me--this morning it was hard to get up and get moving for work; tonight I'm planning on getting to bed at a reasonable hour so I won't be so tired.

Pam: Hope your weather was better than ours this weekend. The upside is that it's sunny today and tomorrow we're supposed to hit up into the 50's and Wednesday back into the mid 60's!

Susan: Hope you're feeling better.

DH had his surgery on Friday and everything went well. I'm ready for everyone to be healthy--my trip to FL can't come soon enough! I'm taking my mom back to the doctor on Thursday so they can check out her incision, etc. so I'll be out of the office since we have to travel 2 hours. I'm hoping to make a stop on the way home at the outlet mall...I told DS #1 that I twitch every time I go by and can't stop, Have a good day ladies!

Melissa, Ohmigosh, you had more snow!! When will winter end for you guys?? I'm glad DH's surgery went well. You're right, you've had a lot going on. You're a woman after my own heart--outlet stores. I love 'em. In fact, I'm thinking of going soon to the ones near here. Our weather in FL has been gorgeous; it should be nice when you arrive.

Everyone--we have a new pool enclosure, so all of our hurricane repairs are finally done!! It's so great to have all of that behind us. I'm thankful because there are many people here with blue tarps on their roofs and other damage.

Hi Ladies,

Monday already..the weekends sure go by fast. Lauren and I decided to take a little mini vacation and left on Thursday to visit my best friend in Charlotte. We had a great time..did terrible eating wise but its back to clean living today. The weather here is yucky cold and rainy but I shouldn't complain after reading Melissa's post...yikes 12 inches in April! It's suppose to get up into the 60's by Wednesday so hopefully I'll be able to get some yard work done.

Lisa take care of that ankle. Those sprains are painful! I'm sending good healing vibes your way so your not wearing the "funny shoe" on opening night. Glad the pool enclosure is complete..you are fortunate to have all your repairs complete. I also have been following the news reports on the pope. I was amazed at how much he visably aged in his last few years..he really had a lot of illnesses.

Melissa I'm glad your DH's surgery went well. I have the same itch when I pass any mall. I really love to shop, but I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance and I'm in dire need of some new spring clothes. Hope all the white stuff melts quickly.

Lala your Easter egg hunt sounds like a lot of fun. Our easter was kind of low key. I miss my kids being young and wanting to look for eggs. Hope you can shake that nasty cough soon. Take care of yourself.

Hi to Susan hope you are well.

Well ladies the time change is affecting me also.. I think I'm heading to bed for the evening. Hope you all had a nice Monday and I'll talk to you later.

Hi everyone,

Yawning here. Miss Roya decided to start yacking up something last night. I got to her before it became too much to handle, but I'll spare you the details.

Melissa -- glad to hear that DH's surgery went well. Its good to combine shopping with drs. appointments. I think your mom will agree. As for the Core plan, isn't chocolate a core food? I can only wish, right? What are you eating? Is the rest of the family also participating?

Lisa -- yeah on the repairs. I look forward for to your pool party. How is your foot feeling today?

Pam -- Charlotte would be fun. I'm glad that you and Lauren had some nice bonding time. Welcome back!

Our easter egg hunt is usually attended by our core group of friends -- this year the ages ranged from 3 months to 77 years. Its mostly adults, but my god daughter and son did a good job of finding nearly 100 eggs between them. One of our friends is the best domestic diva in the world and came by on Saturday with 60 very bling eggs filled with candy. They were a bit harder to find. Suffice it to say, we're still finding a few and when DP was hiding the eggs on Sunday she found one from last year.

We had a basic brunch of ham (glazed and non), four quiches (spinach feta, lorraine, veggie, greenchile/roasted corn, coffee cake, homemade bread, roasted potatoes and strawberries. It was pretty fun. We had a few no-shows (forgot to say, rsvp on invites), so we could all sit around the table (put one small table next to big table), so it was pretty fun. The garden looked pretty darn good considering it had rained cats and dogs. The dog did not participate this year (sort of sad), but hung out and behaved himself.

Anyhoo, I have very little in the way of leftovers, just enough to make a few ham, swiss and plum chutney sammiches.

I should post a picture of the hunt. It was pretty fun.

Hi to Susan! I hope you are doing okay.

Okay, back to work!

lala

lala, that Easter egg hunt sounds like so much fun and good food to boot. I love quiche. Sorry about Miss Roya; hope she's feeling better. How's your cough?

My foot is much better today. I'm wearing sneaks instead of the funny shoe. I even took a slow walk today.

I have rehearsal again tonight; show opens on Thursday. I'm a bit ticked at the director. Here we are about to open and she wants to change several of my costumes. She keeps asking me questions such as: "do you have a tight t-shirt at home? Do you have black capris?" (don't wear them). It's not like I can go shopping or anything and besides I don't want to spend money on something I'll never wear again. What's odd is that at the beginning of rehearsals 6 weeks ago, this director said that this show concentrates more on the acting, the relationships, not the costumes. The rest of the cast and I keep saying that to each other: "the costumes are not important." Well, all of a sudden they are. I'm not the only one she's picking on, but because I have 7 roles, I have seven costumes. Argh!

Melissa, let us know what the doctor says about Mom. How is DH?

Pam, it sounds like you're starting to get some nice weather (about time).

Hi, Susan.

Good morning everyone! There are still a few remnants of the snow that piled up on Sunday and hopefully between today and tomorrow it will all disappear! We had a beautiful day yesterday (68) and today is supposed to be similiar so that's a good thing. Tomorrow the rain/t'storms are supposed to move in and with that some cooler temps. Can't complain unless there's snow!

Lala: Spinach & feta quiche...sounds yummy! Do you have a recipe? Unfortunately, chocolate is not on the core plan, but I use my WPA's for it. I pretty much ate core foods before it's just that I'm eating less bread/tortilla chips and foods that really don't have any nutritional value. We'll see how the WI goes today. I feel good but I can never tell.

Lisa: I just bought a pair of black and navy capris for summer. We're able to wear them to work in the summer so I splurged.

DH is doing well--he's got quite the bruises on the upper area of his legs--they are dark blue/black. They said the bruising will go away with time. He has to wear support hose for 2 weeks and he's complaining about how they're bugging him My mom is coming along and is walking better each day--we head tomorrow for her check up. Things are really crazy--in the midst of everything my mom decided to have the bathroom downstairs fixed so that she can shower downstairs. The shower stall has been used for a storage area so everything that was in there is now in the back room area and last night I went home to dust/grime/crud tracked through the kitchen and living room....aaaaahhhhh! Hopefully they'll have the tile work done and the messiest part is done. Tonight I'll be washing the kitchen floor.

On a up note, because the weather has been halfway decent I've been getting out for walks over my lunch hour. I'm hoping to get out again today at some point to get some movement. 34 days until my trip to FL!!!

Hi to [/b]Pam, Susan[/b]!!

running around like a chicken with head cut off today!

Melissa -- our basement shower still has boxes from our boiler project. Good thing that we have a bathroom with a tub for the guests. At least they can still use the rest of the facilities while they stay in the roya suite.

Nothing like houseguests to get your house in order I say.

Glad to hear DH is on the mend and the weather is nice.

Running off to Denver tomorrow. Have many miles to go before I get to the airport tomorrow at the COD. My brother called me from Atlanta where he had just boarded his flight to Paris. I am soo jealous.

DP checked out the gym for me at the hotel, she said it was definitely good enough to bring work out stuff, so at least I can't slack in that department. Don't ask about my eating habits. They are atricious during the day and good at night. Go figure.

Have a great rest of hump day and I'll talk to guys tomorrow from the airport lounge or something...

lala

Hi there--Happy Thursday.

lala, have a good trip. I always check out the hotels to see if they have work out rooms. Most are pretty good. I've been to a few that have a couple free weights and a treadmill and they call that an exercise room!!

You're right about house guests making us get our homes cleaned up. My parents and sister are coming in tomorrow to see my play. DH has been scrubbing the back porch and the floors (he's such a good guy).

As far as eating, I am so hungry this morning. I don't know what is wrong with me. I just realized that this is blood donation day, so I can eat more calories. : )

Melissa, glad about DH. Those support hose can be a little uncomfortable.