WooHooooo The weekend is here!!!! Get up Gals! Let's make the most of it!

Be right back ....cawfee is ready, lemme pour a cup and we can

Pass the pot, mein Schatzi, 'cuz I sure need it. We have a really miserable weekend underway. I am so glad I cancelled out that weekend campground thing. The buildings were heated but there would have been lots of going outside to meeting cabins, bathroom cabins and the dining building. Quite frankly I don't think I could have managed the rough terrain with this darned knee!

Today I plan to just relax and do a few niggles around the house. Later on I may brave the elements and go to see Harry but that will be "it" unless a miracle happens and they cancel the snow, cold and freezing rain!

Hey ladies. I'm back. School has been keeping me so busy!

I finally broke through the plateau - to many sorta south beach lunches from the cafeteria. Started bringing from home again, and wonder of wonders, there goes the 4 lbs I gained back, plus a new one tagged along for the ride!

My schedule is making it hard to get to the gym on a regular basis, but I had the trainer give me an upper body with abs routine, and a lower body with abs routine. So I alternate whenever I get there, which right now is between once and twice a week. I would like to increase that, but with the kids and the rainy weather, it is very tough.

sip.... Ahhhhhh! Nuthin like the first sip of the first cuppa cawfeee in the Morn! ah, yes, now where was I....
Ruth--I'm glad you decided to bail on the weekend retreat... the weather sounds downright nasty! You stay in yer nest , have a beauty bath, light some scented candles , soft music and do what you makes you smile ... !!!!

Ok I decided to wait on the pumpkin..it was a craptacular day yesterday with torrential so I stayed in and needlepointed.

Today it's gonna be 70 degrees n.i.c.e.!!!! I would do some yard work but it will prolly still be all soppy and muddy...soooooo more crafting on the docket

Kim: to do pumpkin seeds is easy.. you can clean them up by boiling them for 10 seconds to remove all the pumpkin... I don't I leave the fiberous stuff on them... Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a cookie sheet with butter flavored PAM... lay out the seeds in a single layer.. give them a spritz of the PAM on top. Bake for about 5 minutes, stir them around and sprinkle .5 ground cinnamon, and 1 tsp of salt. Bake for another 15-20 mins till toasty.(Watch them so that don't burn).What's nice is you can flavor them anyway you want... Garlic and worcechester sauce is another tasty treat.. Cinnamon/splenda mix is also Yummola..

Cottage: WAWA cawfee..The B.e.s.t.!!! I miss it ...sniff....

Chellez: If you are losing 1-2 pounds a week regardless of the phase..Pat yerself on the back! You are doing fine! I know we all wish it would come off faster..but we didnt get fat overnite! eh? We went to see The Prestige.. Ah what better Snack can you get than a dose of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman I thought it was really well done and enjoyed all the little twists and hints ..

Barb: on becoming Camp Director!!! You certainly have worked hard for that..I know you were doing it for DS but still, what fun and memories you will create for these boys!

Obviouschild: even though class was cancelled look at all the exercise you got in! You are doing great with that walking!!!

JessieW: Come on girl Dont beat yer self up! We're here anytime to help you along!!!

back Louren!!!


I'm watching beautiful cardinals in the yard... Time to take my cawfee out to the deck and take in some fresh air!!

Mornin' all. Looks like we're going to have a great day here today, so my exercise for the day will be working out in the yard - trimming trees, raking leaves, cleaning up the yard. This will probably be our last good weekend before winter, so I'm going to make it count!

Schatzi - The pumpkin carving sounds fun. Have you ever tried one of those fake pumpkins that you can carve? I like doing the real ones, but hate throwing them out after they've shrivelled up to nuthin'.

Louren - Congrats on breaking through the plateau!!

Ruth - Sounds like a good idea to stay in today. I hate driving in the freezing rain/sleet.

Off to make breakfast. Everyone have a great weekend!

70F! Outside! Fresh air! Cardinals! )&%*()^%$!!! SCHATZI!

I am about to take your advice and soak in a lavender scented tub with my second coffee and Macleans. I do have to go out in this crud to get some test strips but will leave that as late in the day as I can. Sheesh! How am I going to survive REAL winter if I can't handle this psuedo stuff???

For starters, you could stop whing about it, Ruthie!

I'm stealing a little bit of computer time while Jake is keeping Carley occupied playing with his train. What a miserable morning outside! We're having torrential rains (did you sent them up here, Schatzi? ), and it's cold and windy! I had to run out earlier to get Carley some whole milk, we only had skim in the house. So we're staying home this morning where it's warm and dry. Monica and Caitlyn are coming this afternoon, and we're going to a Pampered Chef party at my DIL's. That's one home-party that I DO enjoy, I just love their products. I'm going to make a SB meatloaf for supper, with broccoli and cauliflower in Alfredo sauce, and mashed potatoes (for the non SBers). No sense in trying to get some reading in today, with Carley around you can forget that!

Ruth, that was a wise decision not to go on that retreat this weekend. Is your knee giving you a lot of problems again? I was sooo hoping that operation would fix it up for you. Stay safe at home and do something special for yourself today.

Gotta go, sorry I can't personally address you all. Enjoy your Saturday!

Good Morning, Beautiful Beachy Ladies!!

Just finished brewing the coffee! DH and I snuggled in be a long time this morning as it's 55 in the house and 32 outside! Brrrr! How long is it going to take to get used to this??

Schatzi-Watzi:Thanks for starting us up!! You're very chipper today!! Thanks for the toasted pumpkin seed recipe. I think we're still doing up our's Monday night. If my seeds turn out right, we're going to use them as a party-muncher on Tuesday!!

Ruthie:I'm also glad you didn't go this weekend! That's just too much cold and wet for anyone to take! I hope your niggles get taken care of. Stay safe and warm!!

Louren: back! Congrats on getting over your plateau -- 5 lbs is awesome! Keep up the good work!!

Jana:Sounds like you've got a hard day planned. Glad it's still warm enough for ya to do that stuff. Me and DH should have done that last weekend, but we were too lazy.

Cottage: I LOVE me a Pampered Chef party!! Too bad I can't find anyone here in town who sells it!! Oh well, have fun for me and stay warm and beachy!!

ME! Just cleaning the ole house for the party, grocery lists and shopping, planning meals besides the party, planning workouts, gotta go to the office and do a little catch-up end of the month stuff, and that's it!! Oh, and Avon director will be here at 3 to sign me up as a rep and I'm planning on jogging to the post office around 10 to get the mail from the PO Box! Busy, busy!!

Have a warm, Beachy day!! I'm going to sit and sip for a minute before getting moving!!

Hey gals..

Just catching up on what everyone has been up to. Life here has been busy, and the focus has not been on healthy eating for me. I keep repeating the same thing, but I have got to get it together before heading into the holidays.

DH is heading into the holiday season at work, and it is always such a tough time for us. While we so need the good paychecks from so much overtime, the girls and I suffer from never see him. Definitely a double edged sword....

The girls are fantastic, and that is certainly the most important thing for me right now. I need to pull my eating together, but know that I will get that in line.

Okay, fall back tonight- I always enjoy gaining the hour, but don't enjoy the darkness at 8:00 at night!!

(No real reason, just not too many more days to use these similes that I love so!!)

It's going to be 72 deeegreeees here in loverly Nerth caroliner!!!!

Jana: :Welcome: back doll! oh dear, I tried to carve one of those fake ones last year... Ya need a buzz saw to get through the plastic and the dust is unbelievable... and it's super hard to cut through .. My witch flying past the moon motiff came out soooooo bad that I just turn the pumpkin around and use that and 2 others I bought for my fall display...maybe I'll take a pic of it ...

Cottage: hmmm meatloaf, I think I'll make that next week... I tried a new recipe last night... we had WW penne pasta in a bolognese sauce with sweet turkey sausage... really good, but really high in cals...

Kim: ooooooh Pampered love it! I have a potato peeler that I thought was ridiculously priced but worth every penny! I also have the pitcher with the plunger on top that you pump to stir up the beverage ... There's a host of pumpkin seed recipes on www.allrecipes.com (a great site!)

Kiko: I know you will get your eating back on plan I hear ya about O/T ..Dh has worked the last 4 weekends..really the man hasn't had one complete day off in a month ..Thankfully he works at home so I do see him...but mostly he is in the office with the door shut

Ruth: oooh that bath sounds marvelous! hows yer knee today?

Yesterday was such a gawjus day --the sky was that deep blue, wispy clouds and the trees in all their orange yellow and red glory looked breathtaking against the sky! I took the fur babies on an extra long walk to enjoy the day!
I started on a little "Memory box" for our Landlords little girl.. maybe I'll take a pic of my Xmas crafty gifts when I get them done for you!

OK Beachers Have a Greeeeaaaat Daaaaaay!

Kiko, dark eight at night? Us Northerners are dark at 5! Of course the extra hour in the morning is great. I wonder how my Girls will adjust to the time change. Maybe that's why they have been sleeping later.

Welcome back, Lauren. With your dedication to exercise, you'll be back on track in no time.

Jana, nice to see you and your crocuses although they remind me of the bulbs I've not yet planted. Your day sounds busy but fun. I'd love to join you in the leaf raking but ours are a wet soggy mess.

Cottage, yes, it's miserable. I hope you had a cozy and warm Saturday. I love pampered chef too - especially my olive pitter and pizza stone.

Ki,. you sound your usual perky and busy self. I gather you've decided to go ahead with the H. partry - see! I do read journals! I've started blogging myself just lately.

I am so glad I took this weekend "off". I've been puttering around doing exactly what I want to do with no dog duties, just "me" duties. I did go to see Harry yesterday and took him an amaryllis and a new comforter for his bed. Then I came home and cooked a great dinner - lamb skewers, tzatziki all on baby spinach. I didn't even clean up the kitchen last night! I'm on holiday!

Today I am skipping Church and doing some niggles around the house. This afternoon, I may drive to town and check out Staples for a new computer desk. I want it out of the bedroom and downstairs. I do a lot of writing and spend too many afternoons up here with interruptions which mean my knee and I need to struggle downstairs to the door. The livingroom will be better but I need to chose something carefully to fit in with my furniture.

Have a super Sunday, Chickies. I just can't wait any longer for coffee!

Schatzi, pass me a mug. I just spotted your post. I guess we all need to go into our profiles and change the time - it's after six, not after eight!
I am ignoring your comments about the weather. We are at 31F right now and it's raining, borderline snow! I'll have brandy in my coffee, please!

Starting to get light outside already. Yep, must be the time change.

Thanks for the "welcome back" girls. I'm in the same boat as Kiko. Just have not been focusing well lately on being healthy. Did well yesterday though, and have a good plan for today. Now if I can avoid the Halloween candy....

Ruth, guess I need to change my avatar, huh?

Sounds like everyone's having a groovy weekend so far. Hope today is just as good!

The sun is finally making an appearance in my neck of the woods today, although the wind is gusting up to 50 mph and it's cold. I had planned to move some rose bushes that were looking pathetic into a sunnier spot today, but that job is going to have to wait. I'm staying inside. We did go out to breakfast earlier, then went over to Wegman's for some groceries. I'm going to make a recipe posted by Batmomm for Spicy Chicken in Lettuce Wraps, and I'm making the Spicy Shrimp appetizer, too. There'll just be Jake and I for supper, so we'll feast like kings today.

Schatzi ~ Lucky you, enjoying 70* weather! I doubt we'll see temps like that again until Spring. That was me that went to a Pampered Chef party yesterday. I bought a mini measuring cup that measures tsp. and Tbsp. That will be really handy for measuring out olive oil, I always manage to spill it on a spoon. And I got a new 4 cup stoneware baking dish, and the Casual Meals cookbook. There are a lot of recipes in there that will be easy to convert to SB friendly.

Ruth ~ Enjoy the rest of your "holiday" weekend. Isn't it fun to indulge ourselves every once in a while? We really need to take time to tend to ourselves every now and then in this busy world.

Jana ~ It's nice to have you back here joining us every day! Have fun dressing up for Halloween, I love the idea of a Tavern Wench! Can you post us some pictures?

Kiko ~ Not getting dark til 8? It would still seem like summer here. Now it will be dark around 5 for us northern chicks and I don't like it at all. I do like the fact that it's lighter when I wake up, though.

Well, I'm going to go read the papers and maybe pay a visit to Mom & Dad today. After chasing Carley around the last 2 days, it's nice to have some time to myself.

*Yawn* Morning chicks! I've been up since 6am (someone didn't tell the babies about the time change) but I'm still in my pj's and am just finishing my coffee. It's been a productive morning, though. Got a few meals cooked yesterday & today and have the breakfast cheesecake in the oven right now. It smells soooo good.
Schatzi - That's enough about the weather, 'kay? It's freezing here and I'm afraid the winds going to knock the power out. Our trees can't take much more.
Cottage - I'm coveting the mixing bowls they have in pampered chef right now. They have rubber on the bottom so they're not slip-sliding all over the counter when you're trying to mix.....maybe someday!
Ruth - Enjoy your weekend in
Louren - congrats on the 4 lbs +1! :congrats:
Kiko - I so know what you mean about the extra hours for DH. It's great being able to not have to worry (as much) about money for once, but the littles sure do miss having him around.

I know I missed a bunch of people but DS is actually napping so I'm going to take advantage of the time!

Have a great weekend all