Good Morning!!!! Coffee is on! and there is a faint smell and coolness of fall in the air! Can school be far off???

ooooops sorry AdoAnnie!

peachie, wish we had some coolness in the air, I envy you. We are hot and humid. The nerve of that doctor accusing you of sneaking in food to Jiff!! Why do they think she is gaining weight on 800 calories a day?? Tell Miss Jiff hello!!!

dottie, enjoy your "girls time." Sounds like lots of fun!

Janice is the snake still in your home? A snake wouldn't bother me, but a bird, I would pass out! A couple weeks ago we had a hawk, ie a big honking bird, that kept landing on our deck. I'm so afraid of anything with feathers, I wouldn't take the dog out to the bathroom.

Not much going on at my house today, I really, really need to clean house. Ruth is Gail available??

Have a wonderful day all!!

Debbie
(gosh I need a spell check, oh Ruth!!!)

Hey Mum! You and your sis are opening up a new shop!!! big congrats on that!!! Any more scoop on the jungle theme?

Wish I could come and hold all you football moms hands this season. I went thru those fun times with step son and managed to keep my mouth quiet until he was a senior in college. Then during wrestling season his coach made him cut weight to 175 (he was a 225 heavy weight) I saw this skinny kid out on the mat sick as a dog and after the match went up to the coach and well, sort of let lose on him much to dh and ss chagrin...turns out the kid was out there with chicken pox!!!!(I was skinny then...perhaps I was hungry?) Even step mom's know...and besides...when my own flesh and blood are that age maybe you guys will come hold my hand with one hand and clamp the other one firmly over my mouth!!! AdoAnnie, I think it is neat that the coach wants to give your son a little experience and varsity playing time!

Susan, your comment about taking the meds with crackers made me think about how I felt the past couple of days. I did indeed feel like I was pregnant...bone tired and waves of stomache upset. Did much better taking them at night. Levaquin is the name of the antibiotic I am on. And NO...no more babes for me!

Jif must be retaining fluid, I can think of no other explanation. She did mention calling a nurse that she knows at the obesity clinic. We shall see...she looks better and feels better and is looking forward to playing some bingo with her new friends at the nursing home...wherever that may be!

I miss sooner, phylis and jenny, jennifer and ynaught

again I have written too much..you all have a good one OK?!

peach

Morning Debbie! I did not know you were afraid of birds!!!!

peach

Just came to spend a quick 5 minutes before getting in the car for the long weekend.

Glad you are feeling better Peach. It does have a hint of fall in the air this morning! And tell Jiff hi for me, I am glad she is feeling well.

Hi Deb, Hi Ruth, Hi Janice, Hi Pooky,Hi LInda, Hi Sue, Hi Annie, and everyone else, missing or lurking!

Renee- I read your post elsewhere and wanted to say- the Chinese food additive MSG can casue water weight gain and cravings for some. EGG ROLL? I don't think so!!

I am planning a couple of days of Schwartzbein/ Protein Power, to see if a change helps. So that's about 15grams carb per meal, and 7 grams per snack; same for both programs. That way I can have a little oatmeal at my friend's house, some fruit, and a little potato or something with dinner. This never worked for me for weight loss, but I thought it would keep me on an even keel, insulin-wise. We'll see. She is avoiding sugar, so that will help.

Have a nice weekend. Water, water, water!
dottie

Awww, sure wish we were sharing in your cooler weather! That is one thing I do miss living in Houston, the fall colors!

Deb~~Yes, I still have a scaley visitor! Key word here DS's....visitor! I get the shutters just thinking about it. All the what if's going thru my mind such as, what if that top comes off!! Hey, when you're done with Gail can you send her to Houston? Would love to have some help!

Peach~~The nerve of that doctor!! Chicken purse whopping definately in order! You send little guy right on down and I'll take good care of him! He'd have a ball with all the critters that come and go around here! Hope you're feeling a bit better! Thanks for the f-ball support and of course we'll be there to hold your hand too!!

Renee~~Big Congrats on the second opening! How exciting for you!! I hope all goes smoothly!

Dottie~~Hope you have a great weekend getaway! Where are you going? Be safe and hurry back with wonderful girl talk stories !! You're not meeting up with Raul, too, are you?

BES~~HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you have a terrific one!

A big hello to everyone to follow!

Paperwork and bit of house touch up today. I began taking Allegra last night for this head "gunk" but have a feeling I'll have a slow moving day!

Have a wonderful day chickies~~you deserve it!

Janice

Hello, group

How is everyone? Yes, today is my birthday – 38. Woo Hoo! Thank you, Janice, for noticing.

As usual, I set my goals way too high for what I could accomplish before my kids get back. Unfortunately, I will not have the weekend to work on my projects, because I have a longstanding commitment to see family in NJ. (about 4 hours drive) My father retired last year, and a nearly new computer from his just-closed office is waiting for my son at my step-sister’s house. I really want it to be set up for my son for when he gets back, so off I go. Oh, well. It’ll be a mini-road trip for me and the sweetie. (What do I say? ‘dsw’ for Dear Sweetie?)

The jungle theme in my daughter’s room is taking shape. Here’s a tip for you all: I found the border I like the best on line, and checked it out at the store before ordering it. I ended up paying about a third of what I would have from the store! I went to a crafts store and bought fern stencils for the area under the border, but I don’t plan on stenciling. Too time consuming – I’ll probably sponge or spray. Has anyone ever done this? I’m afraid to use spray paint on the wall – don’t know how it will respond when it’s time to repaint the room. Got leopard sheet set, and also saw some paw print decals I may use somewhere …

Ruth, what do your hear about the doggy liaison? Any news? Have a fun time away. I’ve never been to a casino – geez, I’ve never even bought a lottery ticket!

Pooky, if you have time, check out the about.com site for good links to decorating sites. Lot’s of good ideas.

Janice, let me get this straight. One of your boys hid a snake tank in the garage? What was he thinking? You’d never go in there and find it? Funny!

Linda, as I’ve said, I’m with you on the hair issue (and maybe the sister issue, too, but that’s another story!) I have very thick, corse hair and I’ve only worn it long and up, or very short. The latter can, IMO, make a woman look very confident, and yes – younger. I had never understood wearing hair any length for a man until about a year ago when I had the opposite problem. My hair and was below my shoulders when I met the Sweetie, and three months into dating him, I cut it off in one fell swoop (think: old Katie Couric look.) Everyone raved – everyone except Sweetie! He said nothing. Nothing! I ended up in tears (and believe me, I’m not a woman who cries over these things.) It turned out he liked it fine, but didn’t much care either way – I was the same person, after all. I guess he would have rather said noting than to say the wrong thing. (He has still not lived it down, by the way!)

Dottie, enjoy your girl time. I had a lot of that this summer with my little one while her brother was away.

Peach, about that tactless doctor, you go girl! There ought to be more sensitivity training and interpersonal skills development in medical school. I’m glad you stuck up for yourself and your sister, and that you seem more confident in her regular doc.

Renee, congrats on the second location. I have to admit that I had not heard of Curves 'til I dropped into this group and saw your posts. It seems like a great program. I looked it up on line, and there’s one less than ½ mile from my house! But … can’t join. I only have time to exercise in the a.m., and I can’t leave the house with the kids asleep. It’ll have to wait ‘til they get older and a little more independent. Until then, it’s me and the barking video babes at sunrise!

Gotta run,
Barb

Lot's to catch up on after only 24+ hours away! However, I am glad to see that everyone played nicely. LOL!

Peachie, you just yell and I'll be down there to help you take out Jiff's dumb-*** doctor. Has she been on IV lately? It's loaded with salt as you probably know.

DH loved the Casino! Gorgeous setting, elegant buildingand a super restaurant. I had antipasto and prime rib - I was good! We ended up actually being about $40 bucks ahead on our gambling money! Of course the hotel and dinner kind of gobbled that up. (Mum2five - Ottawa is not near Windsor - WIndsor is 8 hours away. Ottawa is on the Ont/Quebec border. The Casino is across the river in Hull.)

Slight drizzle in the city this a.m. so we skipped Chinatown (and the temptation of dim-sum) and just picked up a few goodies in a big grocery store. Salmon and scallops - I always travel with a cooler.

Hershey is still playing coy down in Philly! Sure hope those two get it together soon because I sure want her home early next week. If she is not back by the weekend, DH will probably come along on my girls' weekend which might be a "good thing". There will be a couple of guys along - it's a garden nutcase net group - LindaBC, back me up on this!

Hey Pooky! Do you paint decks and porches? My builder guy came by this a.m. and gave me minor heck about not painting my deck yet. He also shingled a roof from 7 to 1 - told him he could have worked in the painting for me!

Gotta go and have an afternoon nap. 20 mins usually perks me right up and I have a meeting tonight.

doing the jungle print!

I just started stenciling so take my advice with a grain of salt! I think that if you want to repaint that area that you will have to sand it just a bit and then put on a bit of primer..not that big of a deal.

Things I have learned so far that may help:
*Make sure you use a stenciling adhesive spray...that way the stencil sticks right to the surface and you don't have to hold it.
*ferns are consider using a light green and dark green for shading...then when it is done and dry you could add some detail with a paint pen.
*whether using a spay or a sponge, use the paint sparingly and hit the stencil dead on so that the paint does not seep underneath the stencil.

bet that was more than you wanted to know!!!!

peach

Good afternoon chickies, just returned from the major shop in Orillia. My cart was absolutely bogged down with food. When I came back my dh had a hairy coniption fit when he saw I spent $200 in groceries! Men! I know where it's all going too--he's now wearing size 40 inch waist pant with a 30 inch leg--he's rounder than tall!!!

It's raining here today and I spotted a little green pumpkin on my vine this morning. I'm so happy, I've waited so long to have a pumpkin come out! I think I'll give it a shot of Miracle grow to jump start the growth process. if we have a warm fall, it could make the growing season a little longer and that would be really nice since we had such hot weather in early August.

Ruth, glad to see that you had a great time, it's always nice to have some new surroundings once in a while!

Peach, hugs to you and Jiff, hope she takes some water pills to lose that extra water.

Happy Birthday bes, hope you have a good one!

MamaJ, you suffer from lots of allergies? My mother does too but she can't take Allegra or she falls asleep!

Dottie, have a fabulous time away!!

Hi Debbie!

Have a great day everyone!

Good afternoon, cluckers. Big doings at my place. The driveway pavers are finally here. WOuldn't ya know they'd come in the pouring rain. Better they than I. Lots of scraping noises going on because, of course, DH put way too much gravel on thinking he was helping but he's just made more work (more money) for them.
Peach, I'm so ticked off at that dumb doctor accusing you of sneaking food to our Jiff. But, let's face it, most of the medical profession is totally clueless about overweight and its causes. They seem to all think "Well, if you just had a little self control.....yadda yadda yadda". They can't conceive of any other reason for weight gain than gluttony. The swine!!!

Ruth, I'm wishing I could be at the weekend gardeners' get-together out at your end of the country. Wonder why it's cheaper for me to fly to Scotland than to Toronto. Does that make sense? Please give a hug to Rosemarie NJ from me and hi to all the rest of the garden nuts.

Just noticed in the past few days that my pants are feeling a bit looser in the legs and seat and I definitely can feel more bones in my neck/shoulder area. Whoopee! Nothing off my waist though. Wonder why I can't seem to lose inches from my waist. Of course, I always lose weight from the last place I gained it first so I guess that makes my waist the last place to lose inches. Darn.

Evening Everyone!!! It is hot here today still---Lots of thunder storms last night and heat again today. Back to school full force today--kids were there for half a day. Did you know that 30 kids take up a LOT of room in a classroom!!!!! We will adjust, but I hope that I do right by these kids--ordinarily with this many kids our district splits them up or gives you an aide. Since we are in financial trouble I am their only hope!!! No pressure there!Tomorrow night is the the first Varsity football game and then Monday is the first fresh/soph. I don't think that I have slept a total of 2 hours in the last 3 nights!!! Yes, Renee, definitely we football moms need to hold hands--maybe sing "Kumbaya"!

Renee, you asked about first year teachers with your kids. I was wondering do the kids get extra help from other teachers or just the classroom teachers. If they have IEP's those usually spell out modifications that the teacher is supposed to use to help her help your kids. Us veterans (19 years here) have experience, but you can't fault those 1st year teachers for enthusiasm and energy. Keep me posted.

Linda, hope the driveway turns out great and CONGRATS on the looser clothing!!!

Pooky, Miree's room sounds absolutely great!! That was the first movie my DS saw in a theatre when he was little---he cried at the end and said, "she would miss her daddy". LOVE that kid! PS Men do think that they can eat like kings on $20.00 a week--go figure!!

Peach, when the doctor said that, was there an echo from him talking with his head up his butt???What a moron!! How is your sinus infection?Can you come take on our football coach too?? I think it was Renee who said it about being proud, scared, proud!! We moms and stepmoms feel it all don't we. Hugs to you and Jif!

Ruth, sounds like you and DH had a great time. Hope that Hershey comes home soon, safe and "glowing".

Barb, Happy Birthday!!! Sounds like your DH and my DH are the same--cut off 7 inches of hair a year ago (think old Meg Ryan) NEVER noticed til someone called his attention to it!!!!

MamaJ, snakes!!!!!!! That goes along with "Lions, and tigers and bears OH MY"

Dottie, have fun!!!

Mum, am thinking about joining a Curves near here---can you give me any info on it? Congrats on your new one!!!

Okay, hope I am not so late that I missed everyone!! Have a good evening!!