We were supposed to have a wash-out again this weekend, but most of it is going to miss us. Snow showers tomorrow, though!

Monica and Carley came out last night and stayed over. We're going out to the Pa. Dutch Smorgasbord () for breakfast, then heading to the Reading Outlet Mall for some shopping for the day. Jake is coming along to help keep Carley entertained, so we'll see how long he lasts.

What's everyone doing today?

Is there anything in Dutch cooking thats diet friendly? I've caught up on my sleep finally. Have a turkey in the oven. The turkey meat was great to have last week. It gives me something to nibble on too if I am too tired to cook. We decided to try whole wheat wraps for my work and to have now and then as a treat. I may react to them hopefully I won't. Im also going to bump up the meat a tad to see if that helps keep things in balance better.

We're supposed to have snow today in fair amounts. Its an indoor snuggly day. I miss my hubby when I'm at work. I'll do some reading maybe a little yoga. I'm still sore from all the walking and lifting this week. I'll pick up extra walking once my body is adjusted to the jump in activity.
Floor nursing is about like carpentry in activity level.

Cottage I used to live about an hour south of Lancaster county across the line in Maryland.

mornin' cottage! well, it's already lunchtime over here. so far i've relished being able to sleep in after my crazy-intense week
smorgasbord and outlet shopping sounds like my kinda day!
it's starting to warm up but weather-wise it's more like april than march: stormy, rainy icky and gray*sigh* but it's supposed to clear up today so i think i will take a leisurely stroll along the rhine and maybe a shopping-trip into frankfurt. above all i plan to take it nice and easy
have fun with your company!

cheers

jan

mornin spirit, i guess we simul-posted sounds like a hot cocoa and feel-good book day to me.

Morning everyone!
Leaving on our little day trip to Alabama in just a few minutes and I'm well prepared in case there is nothing for me to eat (and plenty to share!) I made deviled eggs, cracked wheat salad (with everything but the kitchen sink in it...olives, zuchinni, squash, peppers, red onions, feta, herbs etc) and some flat out bread turkey, spinich and mozzarella cheese roll ups. I bought a cantalope to cut up and bring, but it was tasteless and ended up in the compost. yuck.

The weather looks great so far and it may get up into the 80's, so I've got my "vacation hat" on hand to prevent the dreaded wrinkles and sun spots!

I got up at 3:30 so I could do my "Callenetics" and took a long hot bath, so I'm ready for whatever comes my way.

Hope everyone has a fun day!

My day won't be as much fun - more like yours, Spirit. We had a smattering of freezing rain last night but today it'll be up to 41ºF and snow is predicted. I think they are wrong on that and am hoping for rain. That'll knock the snowbanks down a bit. Right now there is so much snow in front of my house, I can't see cars going by on the road!

No walks along the Rhine, trips to Alabama or Dutch breakfasts around here! Just strawberries, Fiber One and dog snuggling with a magazine! May your weekend be whatever you want it to be!

((morning)) I've missed you all... life here has been busy! Yesterday we had 48 deg weather, why is it going to have to rain today when I could really enjoy it?????

Me, I have that dreaded trip to Lollypop farm with the cats today. My son doesn't want me to do it, nor do I want too... but Noah had another seizure, and gideon continues to throw up. It would be crueler for me to not do it, at this point. Noah is also backed up again... he's had problems with passing his stool since a kitten and it costs 125 a pop to have the vet help him. at 17 and 19 I think it's time... though I'm tearing up already. I know this is going to be a VERY sad day for me. Alas, it must be done.

On an up note. I brought home some flooring & paint samples. Now that I work at a flooring company I should be able to get the floors I'm so desperately in need of. I asked my son to look at the vinyl I brought home and he chose the one I've been eyeing up for the kitchen, bathroom and utility areas. The rug I know what I want, now we just have to pick the color. And at that point I have to make a final decision if I'm going to paint this panelling thats all throughout the living room, hall and into the kitchen!

Anyone ever paint panelling? How did it come out? do you recommend painting it or living with it? THE WORLDS LOUSIEST INTERIOR DECORATER NEEDS HELP!!!!!

early birds.. good morning.... Cottage we are so close... I can be there in a hour!

yesterday i was insanely BAD but it was my birthday.... and a GREAT one at that... until this morning when i realized my own kids and my dad did not call me to wish me happy birthday... oh well... my in-laws dropped off a card. my friends made me a cake, my hubby took me out to dinner, and the guys at trader joes gave me some of my groceries for free. (i shop there so much I can tell you how old they are, when they are getting married etc)...

today i plan to clean the house, eat cleanly, do some of my Beck Work, and then tonite we are having friends over to play apples to apples...

everyone have a great day/weekend.

Today will be cooler than yesterday but still very nice. I've got a load of laundry and the washer and my oatmeal in the microwave. Brian is still sleeping and I'll let him sleep for another half hour if he doesn't wake on his own. Robert and Ron are supposed to be here at 8 to move more stuff. And then back again around 6PM. I'm not sure during the day as it depended if Robert could find anyone to be here with him.

Late yesterday I was faxed a different inventory format that Robert's lawyer preferred so I ended up staying late so I could convert the fax to a spreadsheet and copy/paste over the information from one spreadsheet to another and then fax it back to my lawyer. I hope I did it right. Apparently I need to stop in sometime next week to pick up the transcript from the three hour deposition.

I picked up 6 cu ft of red lava rock on the way home yesterday to put around the decking where there is erosion. Brian and I started to inflate the solar sun rings we got for the pool. 4 down 6 to go. And I still need to get the chicken and eggplant parmesan into the crockpot. Should be a productive day.

What a weird sloppy morning. At least it's warm enough that most of what's falling is slop and will turn into water quickly. Yuck!

I tried the pumpkin pie oatmeal custard for breakfast. Yummy! One of those things that tastes and feels really rich and almost like something you shouldn't eat

Cottage - I'm glad someone is getting nice weather. Enjoy the sunshine for me

Spirit - Same sort of day here. I'm making seitan (a vegetarian thing) and some kind of bean soup for the week. Sounds like you are getting a heck of a workout at work!

Jan & Nessa -

Cat - Is there a recipe for the cracked wheat salad or just whatever sounds good? I'm looking for salady things for summer (I know it will get here!)

Ruth - Here's hoping your snowbanks get smaller. I'm looking forward to seeing down the road when I pull out of my driveway but I bet yours are even higher! I just keep reminding myself that too fast melting leads to horrible mud and ruts. I still want warm weather though!

Loriann- Good luck. I'll be thinking of you.

Barb - I never thought of making eggplant parmesan in the crock pot. Does it work well?

Nothing exciting planned here. It's another weekend of cleaning the storage room (this will continue until it's too warm to get back there. Haven't cleaned it since we moved in!), cooking, and relaxing. I'd love to be out birding but the weather just isn't being cooperative. Soon enough my weekends will be spent chasing birds so I'll stock my freezer and clean my house now

Good morning ladies. Cottage, I think we are getting all of your rain. It's been super warm here but I guess the rain will cool it off some probably. It's a shame, because I love the warm. I am ready for Spring.

I have to go to supper club today--we are having brunch. I am still worrying about whether there will be anything I can eat! Not because I am watching what I eat--except for those not-allowed things like feta and lunchmeat--but because my food aversions are so strong and most everything has egg in it. Blecccch. There is a fruit salad but it has liquer...but if it is the only thing I can stomach, I might go for it. I am sure it's not a huge amount.

I was hoping we might get to take Chester to the dog park later but not in this weather. Guess it will be a staying-in kind of night. I will probably be exhausted after being out all afternoon anyway. This pregnancy stuff is just a whole new world for me!

Cat - Like you, I have to figure out what to do about dinner tonight. We are going to my niece's BD party, and I know they'll have pizza. While I could just have one piece and move back onto SB tomorrow, I know the pizza will make me sick, so not worth it. My SIL would be a little upset if I brought something just for me to eat... so I have to figure out how to work it. I'll probably have to eat before I leave and then just eat veggies after.

I hate when melons are tasteless. What a waste.

Loriann - I hope your redecorating helps take your mind off the tough times. If you do paint your paneling, you're going to need to cover it with a really good primer first to texture it up so your paint sticks.

Nessa - sounds like a good day. Just try to think about the good stuff, not the down side. Back on track today?

Cyndi - what's in seitan?

Jessie - I am the same way. I can't have any preservatives/chemicals in my food or I feel blech. I'm usually limited to the veggie platter.

Remember I said I didn't eat that great yesterday? Well, my body is weird. I lost another pound doing that. It seems every time I lose a pound, it's when I go a little off the plan. At least now I'm not paranoid about it, it's probably because I'm not getting enough calories on a daily basis. It's just that my choices are so limited by my health, I can't go off-plan too much. This started as a weight-loss effort, but it's turned into a way of life because I'm finally ready to deal with my food sensitivies and feel better. I never thought to look for the agave nectar when I was in Wegmans yesterday! Ack!

Well, gotta get my kitchen cleaned...

It's a dense protein made from wheat gluten. I make my own because I can spice it anyway I want. I'm thinking spicy sausage this time. It goes in anything you might put meat in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_(food)

I've managed to put off starting anything useful other than laundry. I really need to get to it! Our forecast has improved so I might actually be able to get outside for a walk today!

Morning chicks!
DH and I were childless last night, since the kids stayed over at Grandma's after pizza, so we got ourselves up and to the Y and worked out in the gym together for a while. Then we hit the Pa Dutch market and had breakfast and did a little shopping before getting the kids. I've got yummy sirloin steaks, rutabagas and spinach for dinner. DH just took DS to horseback riding and DD and I are going to hang out for a while before going to work the Girl Scout cookie booth this afternoon. Then we'll hit the grocery store and hopefully we can have a nice, peaceful family movie night tonight.
No loss on the scale today, but whatever, I'm over it. I was pretty good last week and did great with exercise, so I'm happy. I'm pre-TOM (sorry Tom), so maybe next week will be better.

cottage, I had an omelet, and so did DH, but he also went for the fried potatoes and toast, bad boy. Good luck with the smorgasboard and finding some great bargains today! Shopping with men and kids is not good though. You and Nessa and I need to get together one of these days! I think my house may just about be in the middle. Or we could do outlets. There's Arundel Mills near Nessa, Reading near you, and Hagerstown outlets near me. Then there's always Gettysburg too! wouldn't that be in the middle? Maybe Kara wouldn't mind making the drive, and let's see, who else is around here - jillybean, I know. We could make a big party!
Spirit, sounds like you used to live right where I am now!
jan, have a great shopping day!
Cat, enjoy Alabama!
Ruth, wish I could send you some of our sunshine! It's a little cool, but definitely feels like spring is on the way today. Dog snuggling and reading sound nice!
Loriann, so sad about your kitties. but sadder to see them suffer, I'm sure. My parents had a paneled family room in their 1970's era house, and they painted it white. It turned out allright. Not sure I would do it if it was very nice old real wood paneling though, but theirs was cheap faux-wood and veneer stuff.
Cyndi, yum! Is that a recipe from here? I haven't seen that one. I've got a big can of pumpkin I want to use up...
Have a fun brunch Jessie! Hee, I think you will be singing a different song when you are big as a house and wilting in the heat! Then you will wish for the cool weather again.
Hi Fluff, would your SIL be insulted if you brought a dish to share? If so, better to eat first probably.

Okay, going to go get some laundry going and plan some menus before we go out again, so I know what to shop for! Have a good one chicks!

Oops, I have a whole file of recipes to try and just assumed this one came from here. I just added it. If you're a pumpkin pie fan I recommend it!

Can you tell I'm still avoiding housework??!!