HI Guys,
I know I'm a day late, but Happy Mothers Day to you all. Even if you don't have kids, you have furry kids or some one that you have given your time or love to . In our own ways we are all mothers. I'm hoping that you all had good, special days.

Mine was celebrated a day or two early with my girls, so on Mothers Day, I spent it working in the garden and then cleaning the house. That evening, we went out for Mexican and we drank way too many margaritas and then ate gigantic plates of food. It was a good day, but I'm back on track with my dieting today and tomorrow, plan on starting to exercise again. I've gained 6 lbs since DH has been on vacation and I'm not going to fit into my pants anymore if I keep this up.

Ali, how are you doing? I'm wondering if the storms have reappeared down your way. Have your IL's taken off for the north? I hope they have a safe trip. Do they fly or drive?

Anne, did you have to pay that money after all? is a (can't say it, shouldn't think it, but boy if she isn't one, I don't know who is).

Kate, I went to plant my new plants and the ones I thought were all frozen were still alive! I now have double the amount of tomatoes and peppers in my garden than I planned on. When they all grow up, it's going to be a crowded mess out there. I should have plenty to give away though.

Lynn, hope you can find this thread. The support group forum is a busy place. I don't know why we couldn't have stayed where we were really, that place was quiet and easy to find a thread on. It's been a long time since any of us have been on a low carb diet all at the same time.

Well, talk to you all later, Nikki

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Hope you all had a good Mother's Day and a good weekend. I got some very distressing news yesterday. A fairly close cousin of mine called me, he's 2 yrs. younger than I am, telling me he had a major heart attack last week and had gotten out of the hospital a few days ago. He won't know how much damage has been done until his next appt. with the cardiologist. This has kind of put a damper on things.

DH has today off and we've been out and about running errands most of the day. We went to Whole Foods in Sarasota. They have this cornmeal pizza crust that is really good. I made a pizza out of one last week and we liked it so much we went back and got a couple more. We had lunch at Longhorn Cafe, they have this Jalapeno Cole Slaw that was to die for. I was very good, eating only 1/2 of my hamburger and only a few french fries.

Nikki, Glad that you had a good Mother's Day celebration with your DDs. It's very easy to put on 6 lbs. while you're on vacation...I know first hand. Once your DH goes back to work you'll start losing again. Your night out with DH sounds good. I love Mexican Food. We haven't seen the raccoon in a little while, the last time I saw it, it was across the street in our neighbors front yard. My ILs will be heading north on Fri., and they always drive.

Kate, your sidewalk sounds great and glad that it's moving right along. Those are the best kinds of projects. Is the sidewalk a walkway to your door or is it something you could put a white fence in front or along side of so you can plant some nice colorful flowers? How was your weather over the weekend? I hope it continued to be warm and sunny. I had to laugh about you saying you always get some pasta down the front of you. Are we related?? I swear, if someone was eating pasta across the table from me, you can guarantee it would find its way to my front. Usually when we go out to an Italian Rest., if they have it on the menu, I always get whole-wheat pasta. Do you have a Macaroni's near you? That is my favorite Italian Rest. That must've been awful when the lightning struck your chimney. I wouldn't been scared out of my mind.

Anne, how was your son's birthday party? Hope you all had a good time. How did things go with the cash problem you had last week?

Lynn, I'm still thinking about you and hope you're well. Hope to hear from you soon.

Take care and have a great night.
Ali

Hi Guys

Ali, I'm so sorry to hear the bad news about your cousin. It is so scary. Nine
years ago my brother who at the time was only 42 suffered a couple
of heart attacks in a row necessitating a quadruple bypass. We were just terrified. He is much better now but has gained a huge amount of weight (due to quitting smoking) I hope your cousin too will be able to have the bypass. It really made a huge difference for my brother who at the time of admission to hospital was considered pre morbid.

Nikki, I hear you girl about the weight gain. This mamma has put on a few
pounds over this weekend too I gotta get a grip. I hate
this feeling of being bloated

Kate we had a beautiful weekend here, just like summer, how was it across
the lake?

I had a lovely mothers day. My sons pooled together and bought me a
collections edition of tresor perfume. (my favourite) It came with lots of
bonuses too. A real treat.

I am happy to tell you all that I found the darn money. One of the petty
cash vouchers were not posted on the spread sheet. This was causing the
petty cash to be short by 60.00

I sent an email and told her and all she said was thank you. Not thats
great Anne I am glad you found it. She really me off

Hi Lynn, we are hoping to hear from you real soon.

Talk to you all later.
Anne.

Good morning,

Just wanted to pop in for a quick post. We just discovered a leak under our newly installed dishwasher, thankfully I haven't used it yet. DH called the plumber who installed it and hopefully he'll be by today. DH will be heading off to work shortly and I have to sit and wait for the plumber.

Anne, HURRAY!!!! You found the problem with the money. Good work! That's awful that didn't appreciate what you did. Would it help to let you know that we appreciate it? That was a lot of good detective work. I am so sorry about your brother having a couple of heart attacks at such an early age. I did forget to mention that they put in a stent to open up the artery.

Hi Nikki, Kate, & Lynn, hope everything is going well for you.

Enjoy your day.
Ali

HI everybody
Ali, I am again so sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope you find out good news soon about him. That must be hard for your cousin and your family to have to wait to find out.
I have never heard of jalepeno coleslaw before, that must really jazz it up. I have been making a lot of salads lately, since it's so easy and tastes good this time of year. Lately, I make a spinach salad with feta, walnuts, strawberries, croutons and french dressing or rasberry dressing. I love walnuts in a salad, but can't have them too often. Late at night, I get into the bag and eat them by the handsful, so have to have them only once in awhile. That late night eating frenzy gets me every time

Anne, glad to hear you had a nice mothers day you deserve it
Also, three cheers on finding the missing money
Good for you, girlfriend, we are very happy for you and proud of you

We are expecting some rather nasty storms later tonight and through the week. I was going to plant some flowers today, but they say we will get hail and high winds, so I'm going to store them in the garage until another day. I did get plenty done in the yard today though. It's been a wonderful day, in the low 80's and low humidity. The gardens look good.
I made BBQ turkey in the crockpot. It turned out really good. I put in 2 turkey tenderloins and about a cup of BBQ sauce and turned it on high for 4 hours. Then shredded it and we had it on buns . Very low fat, pretty low cal and sure tasted good. Would have been low carb, but the BBQ sauce has sugar in it. I haven't found one I like that is made with splenda yet or a recipe that I really care for.
I finally did get my exercise room straightened up today, so will be able to exercise in the morning. I hope I haven't gotten too far out of shape yet.
Kate and Lynn, hope things are going well for you guys.

Talk to you all later, Nikki

I'm so excited....my little hummingbirds are back I just love them. I came home and they're zooming around like crazy. Just 1 male and 1 female so far...doing some kind of ritualistic mating dance We usually get 3 or 4 pairs every year. They keep our feeders drained, but they're so much fun to watch.

Ali: I'm so sorry about your cousin. I hope that he does well. I know a couple people who have had stents put in and they're doing good. He'll probably have to go to rehab. The guys I know learned how to eat better and the importance of exercise. Our new sidewalk will be a walkway to a back garage door and then across to our deck. There will be lots of room for flowers so I'm getting excited about picking some more perennials out. We do have a Macaroni Grill near us. I'm not sure if it's a chain, but the food is great. It's my DH's favorite italian place. Jalapena cole slaw sounds good to me. I like spicy. I'm so glad that you didn't have a flood with your new dishwasher. That would have been a mess. Is it all fixed and ready to go? Are you reading anything good?

Nikki: Your spinach salad sounds scrumptious I love anything with nuts in it. One of my favorite snacks is a handful of almonds. It's hard to stop though. I'm so glad that your plants are okay. It's expensive when you have to replace them. You'll have a bumper crop! That turkey sounds yummy too. I'm always looking for new things to try. Nothing easier than throwing something into the crockpot. Happy exercising

Anne: I'm so glad that you found the money I bet you are too. doesn't sound like the kind of person to appreciate anything that anyone
does. She must be such a lonely, unhappy person who wants to make everyone else miserable too. We had a wonderful weekend....the weather was just great Today is a warm one too. I hope this keeps up.

I went to Curves today after work. I hope I can make it twice more this week. I think I'm going to work a little late tomorrow night. There's still a mountain of stuff for me to get through and people are continuing to ask for things. I hate not feeling organized but it's hard with so many projects going at once.

Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow. I'm off to check on my little hummers before they go to bed!

Take care,
Kate

Good morning,

The guy came to fix the leak in the dishwasher yesterday morning. He changed the water line from copper to stainless, thinking that was the problem. But, he eventually found we have a defective valve. He didn't have one with him, so he called the store where we bought the dishwasher from to ask them if they wanted to send somebody out to install a new valve, or did they want him to do it. The store will be sending someone out sometime this morning to early afternoon. LOVELY!!

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my cousin.

Kate, glad you made it to Curves. Hummingbirds!! I used to love seeing them come. Do the hummingbirds share their food? Every year we had one bully. Whenever he would see any other hummingbird at the feeder, he'd fly from a tree to chase them away. I don't know if was the same one every year or a direct decendant from the original one. I have heard there are hummingbirds down here, but so far haven't seen any. Enjoy them! I love spicy foods too. Macaroni Grill is a chain. I'm just glad that the nearest one to us is in Ft Myers, which is about an hour's drive away, otherwise we'd be there all the time.
Once the walkway is finished and you've gotten your flowers planted, it will look so nice. I'm reading an author I've never read before, Kathy Reichs. The book is called, Deadly Decisions. Like Patricia Cornwell, she's an ME. But, her discriptions seem to be more graphic. So far the book is good. How about you, are you reading anything good? Hope you don't have to stay too late at work tonight. Will things slow down a bit when the kids get out of school?

Nikki, your salad sounds delicious, and walnuts are supposed to be very good for you. DH & I used to frequent this restaurant and get their salad, which they only served in the summer. It had romaine lettuce, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, walnuts, and a f/f Poppyseed Salad Dressing. Surprisingly the jalapeno coleslaw wasn't all that spicy, (to DH & I anyway) it had just enough kick to it. I may try to make it myself using canned jalapeno peppers. I only wish I could come up with a good home made coleslaw dressing. I like the bottled kind, but there is just too much sugar in it. Did you get those storms? Hope they bypass you. How did the exercising go?

Hi Anne, Lynn hope things are going well for the both of you.

I'm off to shower, have breakfast, then wait for the repairman. That seems to be my normal routine lately. SIGH!

Enjoy your day.
Ali

Morning Ladies ,

Kate, I love hummingbirds too. I've seen them in my yard during the summer. I hung a feeder up, but havent had any visitors yet. I wonder if they are very territorial and from what you described Ali, it sounds like they must be. I hung my feeder under the gazebo (the roof is off, it's very visible at this point), so if we ever do get any, they will be where we can see them when we are sitting out there. I still have all my regular customers to my other feeders.
Last week, Tony the cat ran up with a 1/2 grown baby rabbit in his mouth. He was holding it by it's ears only and I knew it was ok, so I grabbed Tony and shook him till he dropped the rabbit. The rabbit ran off and Tony was completely disgusted with me, the look in his eyes was as plain as if he could speak. I was kind of disgusted with myself, since I know that rabbit will grow up to eat my garden. But, I can't stand it. They are so cute when they are little.
I still haven't exercised yet. I'm tired this morning. It was a long night with the weather and Stripe (Kate that is one of my inside cats who is a little monster). They had golf ball sized hail just north of us and when the storm got here, in the middle of the night, it was just rain, which I as glad about. Stripe reminded me of Lacee, Ali. He came up and cuddled next to my side in bed, kept pushing his head under my hand to get me to pet him. I would pet him awhile and when I'd stop, he'd push his head under my hand again. Then, he'd get up, run a few laps around the house and come back and start it all over again. Making that noise of his, which is like a meow with his mouth closed, so it comes out like constant humming. I finally realized there was no more sleeping to be had, so I got up and feed the cats and had myself a snack too. Watched some tv in the livingroom and he finally went to sleep. By then, I couldn't sleep. He's still all nervous about the weather this morning and they say tonight will be another bad storm, with rain most of the day.
I'm going out for lunch with the DD's today, it's a belated Mothers Day thing. I guess I will start my diet and exercise tomorrow.
You all have a good one, Nikki

Hello Everybody,

I think the leak in the dishwasher is all fixed. The repairman from the store seemed to think the leak originated underneath our sink, and mentioned something about it could possibly be in our wall. Anyhoo, DH put a bucket under the pipes underneath the sink and by the time we went to bed, there was perhaps 2 drops of water in the bucket. This morning neither one of us has found any water on the floor coming from the dishwasher, so hopefully everything has been fixed. He never even took the dishwasher apart to see what was going on behind it. This repairman loved to talk to himself, we'd hear him out in the kitchen muttering to himself, then grunting and groaning. Whenever he'd have to go to his truck for something, I swore there was someone else outside he was talking to.

Nikki, how was your lunch with your DDs? Hope you all had a wonderful time. Glad you saved the rabbit. The poor little thing must've been scared to death. We have them around here, they come and munch on stuff in the lawn. We used to see them often when we first moved here, but haven't seen any in a while. Word must've spread that there is an attack dog living here now. Have you gotten anymore storms?

Kate, did you stay very late at work last night? I hope things are starting to let up a little. Does this always happen this time of year, just before school lets out? Speaking of which, the kids down here get out in a few more weeks, then go back in Aug. instead of Sept.

Anne, how are things going for you at work? Hope that hasn't bothered you too much since you found the money.

Lynn, miss you and hope to hear from you soon.

Since I don't have to wait for anyone today, I think I'll walk with Leslie this morning and WATP!

Have a good day everyone.
Ali

Hi Everyone:
As you must have guessed I have been swamped I had a patient
come to the wickett yesterday who was a drug addict. He was asking me
how to take his meds. I explained to him that I worked for accounts
receivable and he would need to consult a doctor. Well, he lost it, threw a fit
dropped to the floor and used every bad word I have ever heard and then some. Security had to come and remove him.

Aleka, glad to hear your dishwasher is fixed. Your repairman sounds like me
when I get off the phone from talking to I sit hear talking to myself
and shaking my head

Hi Nikki, hope you enjoyed that lunch with your DD's
Do you know in broad daylight yesterday a racoon ran into my mothers
garage. My husband was able to scare it away but I can't beleive how
this critters are up and about in the day time at our place. They seem to
have no fear of humans.

Katey: my mom has a hummingbird feeder in the backyard. Those little guys
remind me of bees when they go whizzing by
Our weather was so hot and humid yesterday I thought I walked out into
July. Today its freezing. Its nuts.

Hi Lynn, I think of you everyday. Hoping to hear from you real soon

Talk to later.
Anne.

Good Afternoon Ladies

Well, I still haven't gotten into the mood to exercise. One of the reasons was my DVD player wasn't hooked up. I had to buy an adapter to hook it up to my old tv and then have a place to add in the vcr. I thought this was going to be hard, but it was just a matter of plugging in wires. I guess I have no more excuses now. I'm just going to do it tomorrow, no matter what.

Ali, that repairman sounds like my DH. When we were working on the house, I'd come around the corner and hear him saying, Now that looks good or something and I'd say, who are you talking to? and he'd say, I guess myself. At least he hadn't progressed to having full conversations with himself .

Anne, do you have a partition between yourself and the clients, like bullet proof glass? I use to deal with guys like that all the time and they can be unpredictable. I'm glad your ok.

Yes, we had a nice lunch. We went to the Chinese restaurant up town, they make pretty good food. The guy that is the manager has a crush on DD #2 and as we were leaving, he asked her if I was her friend. When I said that I was her mother, he was so funny, saying that I looked so young and wishing me a long life and prosperity. After, I stopped by DD #2's to look at her plants and tell her what was the matter with them. They are pansy's and they just don't look good for a long time.
Now, we are getting rain and it's cold. In the 40's, windy and wet. I am so glad we had the nice weather we did when we were putting the siding up.
Kate, you don't have to say, but just wondering what is your job? Do you have the summer off?
Lynn, me too, what Anne said. Can't wait to hear from you again. I miss you very much.
Take care all, Nikki

Hi Everyone,

Oh, Lynn, I am so glad you posted. It's wonderful hearing from you we really missed you. A belated HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you and your DH Hope that your day was a good one. Also, a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your DS Glad that you're starting to be a little more comfortable and able to type with both hands now and that the pic line is making it easier to get the antibiotics into your system. That's good your DH is getting the trailer ready for summer and it would be very relaxing for you if you can get there a couple of days next week. Ok, hurry up and figure out your camera, I'm anxious to see some of your pictures. I find it easier to get into our thread through the e mail that 3fc sends when someone posts. When I click onto the link it brings me right here.

Nikki, a couple of times I thought the repairman was actually talking to us, but then he kept right on talking. What startled me was the grunting and breathing hard, then I'd hear nothing. A few times I almost went out to see if he still had a pulse. Then I'd hear more muttering and knew he was ok. Glad that you had a nice lunch with your DDs.

Anne, that guy must've scared you when he flipped out like that. I bet you were happy to see the security guard. The raccoon must've startled your mother. Glad that your DH got it out of the garage. I saw our little varmit yesterday crossing the street and going into the scrub next door to us. You have two relaxing days ahead of you and I hope you enjoy them to the fullest.

Kate, were you able to get to Curves again this week? You must be very busy at work. The weekend is almost here. Are you supposed to get anymore rain? I got an e mail this morning from my girlfriend in NH. She said it got down into the 20's last night. BRRRRRR!!!

Enjoy the rest of your day.
Ali

HI everybody

Yeah, I agree Lynn, I don't understand why we couldn't have stayed where we were. It was just our thread and her thread and so much easier to find things. Well, she runs that show, so here we are. I decided to follow the link like Ali says, so it works out ok.
I'm so glad your feeling good enough to get back on the computer and have a bit more time to do it. All that running around must wear you out in the first place. Mothers Day must have been an extra special day for you this year, with all the things to celebrate. Congratulations on your Anniversary and Happy Birthday to your son. I'm hoping you can email us some pictures real soon, I can't wait.

Ali, I bet you were glad when you saw that repairman pulling out of your driveway. Sounds like a really weird guy.

It hasn't stopped raining here, but it's not rained all day. I was able to plant flowers in my flower boxes and do a few other outdoor chores. I think it will be nicer tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting a few more things done. I need to go pick up some more supplies for the yard tonight.
I did exercise this morning, first time since the end of April. I was afraid I'd let it go and then get out of the habit of it completely. I can do that so easily.
I made a great Asian Chicken Salad for supper, if you want the recipe, I can post it. Even DH liked it, and said it should be a regular on the menu. He never says that.

Hope your doing ok, Kate and Anne. Enjoy your weekends everyone, Nikki