I finally woke up at a decent hour although Hershey slept downstairs again last night.

Today I need to finish the digging and potting of plants for the Church Sale tomorrow. (I am not going to bake as I just don't have time.) I hate to be a weather whiner but this is getting ridiculous! Today and the whole weekend is going to be cold and rainy with the temps even dipping to close to freezing Sunday night! The good news is that the lilacs and late tulips are lasting well in the cool weather! Looking back in my journals I note that we had snow on May 19 in 1989 so I'll stop whinging!

It's so nice to see soo many chicks posting on the daily thread. I wish I had time to respond to everyone but do read all the posts. We are building quite a supportive community here, aren't we.

Whoops! Reminder just popped up that Candice comes to clean. Time to do a major tidying.

rofl: Ruth, you are a riot! 5:47 is NOT a decent hour! And yes, you'd better get your house clean before Candice comes to clean!
We've had cool, rainy weather here all week, too, and it's starting to wear on my nerves.
For today, I'm going to Audrey's school play at 10, then bringing both girls to spend the rest of the day at my house. Their grandmother is having double-knee replacement surgery today, so Cindy is going to be at the hospital with her all day. If it dries up enough, they can play in the yard while I get more planting done, but if it's rainy we just might go to a matinee.
Tomorrow my DS's neighborhood is having their annual yardsale, so Jake and I are taking a lot of our "junk" over there to see if we can sell it. It's supposed to be dry, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Morning Chicks! I am soooo glad it's Friday!

I'm in a good mood because I just scored a $50 gift certificate to a spa for $25 through a promotion that a local radio station does. Cool beans
We've got a party to go to tomorrow that I'm planning to go off plan for (does that make sense?) but other than that, it should be a good OP weekend. DH is throwing the party for a friend that's getting married so he won't be available to help with the littles, but hopefully I'll still be able to get some stuff done around the house.

Ruth - tidying up before the cleaner comes to clean? I'm with Cottage on this one When does Lucy come home? and where are the puppy pics? I hope your cold is on the way out.
Cottage - Can you move to NY and watch my kids? J/K It sounds like you do so many fun things with them. I hope you get a chance to get outside and plant - on the other hand, a movie would be a nice way to spend the day too.

Good Morning Girls

Jee whiz,, Slow Thread today...Still Raining and blah her in Central West Virginia. I am sick, sick, sick of it! My knee has hurt constantly.. arthritis and the rain dont help, I have barely been outside and the yard needs mowed....
I am gonna start PMing some of you chicks,, Seems as though when I ask one of you a specific I cant get a response.. I am thinking that is the only way to get an answer.. or something.

Cottage and Kelly, my house is TIDY now and Candice is CLEANING! There is no way she can put my stuff away and doing it certainly allows her to clean faster and better.

Mrs Crockett, I really love your new avatar. Your weightloss really shows! I don't know what specific questions you asked but sometimes PMs are best unless you think the answer would benefit the whole group.

Cottage, sounds like you have a fun day planned with the girls although I'm sure you are concerned about your Mother. Double knee surgery? Oh my! I guess getting around will be pretty darn hard.

Kelly, planning to go off program? I'm sure you'll make the best choices possible. I know I'll be off plan for dinners this weekend too!

It's not raining - yet - so Hersh and I are going outside to dig some more plants.

I hope to have my camera back in working order by this afternoon and get lots more puppy pics as the pups are three weeks old today. In the meantime, here's a preview. Their eyes have been open for well over a week and they are exploring their new world. We just moved them from the whelping room into the puppy room. Next week they graduate to upstairs in the kitchen for lots of socialization. Then they get their shots and chips and we start allowing non-family visitors and prospective buyers. Enjoy!

thats what I was thinking Ruth, about the PMing,, Everybody is different.....Thank you for complimenting me and my New pics.. I know I still have a long ways to go before Maintenance, but I am very happy with the results so far.

Hi early birdies ... I FINALLy managed to drag myself out of bed at 6:50 a.m. (I'm supposed to be up at 6:20, earlier if I want to walk to the train). I successfully ignored five different alarms -- two presets, one cell phone and two snooze alarms. Can you tell I have major morning issues?

It was raining, pouring down buckets, again today! New England really can't take any more of this! Make with the sun, already!

Weight is cooperating very nicely and I'm eating a lot! We'll see how I fare over the weekend, at my parents' house a.k.a. Bad Food City.

Does anyone eat Smarter Carb biscotti? My dad, who's been on a low-sodium diet for over two years, is addicted and I'm starting to like them, too. They are made of soy flour, cashews, sugar-free chocolate chips and maltitol (doesn't bother me, but I know the -ols can often be troublesome). They're yummy and really satisfy that "cookie" craving. I can't really find any downside to them for me, but didn't know if other chicks had run into any.

Have a good day, everyone!

Good morning, ladies! Ruth - The puppies sound so cute. We've got lots of kittens at the shelter right now. come to think of it, we never got over to the dog area on Sunday. There might be puppies now too! I'll have to check on Sunday.

cottage - You might want to bring some tarps to put stuff on to keep it off the damp ground at the garage sale. Then if it rains you can just fold the tarps over to protect things. That's what we did when we got a ten minute shower in the middle of our cub scout garage sale a few weeks ago.

Kelly - When I throw a party, I like to separate the stuff that I can eat as much as I want (like fruit and veggies and other OP things) from the tempting off plan stuff. Then I start the party by picking out the one off plan thing I really want and slowly enjoying it. Then I stay as far away from that area as I can so I'm not tempted again. Just a suggestion. And eat a good meal beforehand so you aren't hungry.

MsCrockett - I hope I didn't miss your question. I try really hard to at least read every post but there are some days that work keeps me from posting as much as I'd like. And I agree with Ruth, your new avatar is great!

Me - The PTA meeting didn't take very long last night so Brian and I got out to ride bikes for 45 minutes. We're trying to find a one mile stretch that he can ride without having to stop. We found .8 of a mile but there were just too many streets crossing the bike path. We have more time today so we are heading to the nature trail. I'll pretty sure we can easily get a mile there but the visibility isn't as good and he'll have to make sure he doesn't run anyone over. He needs to ride one mile as fast as he can and then show improvement over a 30 day period for a Webelos activity pin. And I get to ride and time him so I get exercise too!

Last night's dinner was gumbo out of the SB cookbook. Yummy! I used up the last of last summer's frozen okra. Our okra plants are just starting to produce pods so I can get the freezer restocked. I like to slice it and freeze it in Ziplock bags so it is ready for gumbo.

Good Morning All -

Ruth - The puppies are too cute! Thanks for posting the pic

Things are going well. I don't have much planned for this weekend (it's DBF that's busy all weekend!) I have to work tomorrow, but I'm planning some me time too...I'm getting my haircut, my eyebrows waxed (maybe TMI for some...sorry), and going shopping for some new clothes for my vacation next week (6 days and counting ), and I need to get to the library to find a book for the plane ride.

I must confess I was a little O(ff)P last night. I made Hoppin' John (black eyed peas and rice) and couldn't resist making with with real bacon and cornbread on the side (I did use brown rice, though). I need to figure out how to make it totally OP (maybe turkey bacon or liquid smoke for flavor), because it was very filling and yummy!

Well, I've got to run...there's work that needs to be done. I'll check back in later.

Have a good day everyone

Barb~ No you did not miss any questions.. I mostly PM you with a question,, I know everyone is Busy on this bored and it is hard to read everything,,,, After re-reading my earlierpost,, I think I may have come accross,, upset,, I am not.. I am just going to start PMing certain questions to some.. Sorry if I come accross wrong,, You and Ruth have been so awesome to me and so helpfull.. And I appreciate it.. Thank you for the compliment on the Avatar... I dont tuck my shirts in,, but I wanted to show the belly difference,, I dont have 2 sets of boobs any more..LOL

Morning everyone! Today is my day off!!!! But of course I have lots to do (grr!) My baby boy - (furbaby) Thunder is getting sick & throwing up & not being himself, so it's a trip to the vet for us. I have AVON to deliver & I must clean. We are going to Key West, and a friend is staying with the fur-kids & I don't want him in my dirty house!!
Ruth - the puppies are too cute!!

Hi Everyone.

I'm not new to reading all your posts, as I've been doing so (as well as on the SBD) for 6 weeks now, but in the past couple days I've decided to stop being shy and post, so HELLO!

I feel like I know some of you already and enjoy reading about your daily antics. I just read the post from Soon2b about going on vacation, and it makes me want to go somewhere warm too. I am going to sunny Florida over the 4th of July, and that is really keeping me OP, but I am ready for it to be here and to be thinner!! Any way to fast forward time? LOL

Anyhoo, just wanted to say hey to all your chickies out there.

Holly

'Morning all. Sure would love to trade places with all you "cold & rainy" folks. It's already in the 80's here at 8am & going up to 104 for the umpteenth day in a row already. And rain?? - I'm not sure I remember what that is.

Mscrockett - wow what a diff in your pictures. I sure hope I do as well as you have done. I sure know what you mean about 2 sets of boobs. Got that problem myself.

Ruth - cleaning before the cleaning lady comes.....it's something I remember my mom doing 50 or so years ago. I would do it too, if I had one.

Good luck to all of you eating away from home this weekend. I haven't had to do that yet, and frankly it scares me. Did any of you have to eat in a restaurant or at someone else's house while on P1? I think it would be a lot easier to do once you get to P2. I need to get over being scared because I'm going on a cruise to alaska (leave june 16) with my 10 yo granddaughter. Altho, I usually do better eating-wise when I travel. Don't know why.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

morning ladies!!

just wanted to pop in so that I'm not forgotten, I usually don't get on til the evening when there's 3 pages of posts...

looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the family and hopefully a trip to the strawberry farm-yum!!

I love the puppy pic Ruth!!
And agree that you are looking good Ms Crockett!!

oh came across a yummy recipe the other night-taco meatballs, basically just make meatballs with taco seasoing mixed in(no bread crumbs either), wrap the meat mix around a piece of cheddar and bake. Very tasty!! Don't eat too many though...