Good Morning, Everyone,

Pretty much stuck to my tv today. My online course began this morning - so far, so good.

Enjoy today everyone,

Lynn

Below are 2 photos of my Little Sister's baby - Anthony Liam.

The first is with me & the second is with my Little Sister - Luzivon.

Lynn

Hello everyone

Oh Lynn ~ your little sister and her baby are so cute. How old is the baby now?

Welcome to those of you who are new to us. Glad to have you join us.

I didn't do so well over the holidays. Dreaded doing it, but had to know ~ stepped on the scale yesterday ~ just as I had thought ~ not good news. Knew I needed to get down to business. Complications now though ~ something is ailing my knees. They have been more achy lately ~ I think the cold weather has been bothering them. Saturday, they really started acting up. I tried to rest them on the weekend. They started to feel a little better, then worked last night (12 hour shift). Feel like that was a set back.

I need a good kick in the behind ~ I should have been working harder while I was not aching. Now I need to and can't do too much. Grrrrrrr at me.

Hope you all are doing well.

Take care

A good alternative to rice or spuds.
Countryside Couscous


Ingredients

1 can (14- 1/2 ounce) fat-free vegetable broth
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ground red (cayenne) pepper
1/2 cup (2-1/2 ounce package) pine nuts
1/4 cup each dried apricots and cranberries, chopped
1 package (10 ounce) couscous (about 1-2/3 cups)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Nutritional Info





In medium saucepan, bring all ingredients except couscous and parsley to boil over high heat. Stir in couscous; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes; stir in parsley.

Makes 8 (2/3 cup) servings.

Good Morning!
Lynn...Little Anthony is adorable, I love the smell of babies!
Gayle...here's your smack. I had the same feelings when I got on the Scale on January 1st. I didn't weigh myself in December nor did I watch what I ate. It showed too.
Isabella...thanks for the information on guar gum. Very helpful. I made the banana oatmeal cookies yesterday afternoon, cut the butter down to 2 Tablespoons, didn't put any nuts in and used 2/3 cup whole wheat and 1/3 cup white. I added extra cinnamon too, the cookie is 46 calories and it made 26. I wasn't terrible impressed with them yesterday but today they taste much better. All the flavors have blended and it taste more like banana bread, very moist.
Hi meowee, both karens, freda, sissy, etc. I'm trying to listen to Barack, he on now. bye!

Congratulations to all my American Friends on the inauguration of President Obama. DH, mom and I watched the whole program. If I were an American citizen today there would have been and inauguration party at my house. I don't need much of an excuse to have a party, ha, ha.

Gayle, you're in good company with holiday weight gain. Most of us put on some weight over Christmas and are fighting the battle of the bulge.

Lynn, the baby is so sweet. He looks so huggable.

Bobbi, I made the chocolate mousse I PMed you about with the guar gum. It's in the freezer now and won't be cut til the weekend at a wedding reception. And I have all the ingredients for that couscous recipe as well (if you count dried parsley as a good alternative to fresh). I had the package out on the counter since Sunday deciding what to do with it. It's half gone so I'll make half the recipe. Haven't made the cookies yet as I was busy making the mousse and then I watched the inauguration ceremonies.

I'm going to try and get in a little biking now and work off some more of Christmas.

Oh Yeah, I'm partying for sure!!!!!
It's a double celebration Bush is gone Obama is in....it's been a LONG four years.

Hope is back. Our country is in deep deep doo doo. Things will most likely get worse before it gets better, but Mr Obama sure seems to be an intelligent thoughtful person.

I hope that the American people rally behind this president. It's going to take cooperation from both sides to dig ourselves out of the economic and military fiasco we are in now.

I NEVER thought I would live to see the day a person of color (ANY race but a white male) would be elected......perhaps we will see a women president next??
It brought tears to my eyes.....I remember being ostricized (sp) for having a black friend....the neighbor kids were not allowed to touch our fence. I grew up in St. Louis county. It really didn't bother me, but I was white, my poor friend had to deal with it on a daily basis.

I'm sending up a prayer for poor Ted Kennedy who had a seizure at the luncheon. At least he was physically able to attend the swearing in.

I'm watching the parade now.....It's taking me back to when my son-in-law returned from his tours in Iraq.....pomp and circumstance....goodness it looks so cold!
Yes I'm staying OP<---no excuses!

Hi gang . . .

We are back to relatively normal temperatures and a complete lack of sunshine up here today. But, like all of you south of the border (and in many other parts of the world), the inauguration of the new US President was a highlight of the day for us up here too -- great experience to be able to see such historic events as they unfold.

That is an adorable baby, LYNN.

Hello to everyone and welcome to the newcomers.

I'm back working full time for a while so not much free time as I leave for work at 6:45 a.m. and get home at 6:00 p.m. One good thing is that I walk more now. Long walks from the parking lot and I take walks during my lunch breaks through the skyways. Here in MN we have enclosed walkways above the streets that connect the buildings in both downtowns of the Twin Cities. You can walk for hours and never go outside in the winter. http://www.minneapolis.org/page/1/sk...inneapolis.jsp The downside is the wide variety of goodies they sell in those skyway halls.

Anyway, it's almost 11:00 p.m. and I have to be up at 5:30 a.m. so night all.

Woodlily

A quick good morning everyone!
I need to run into town to pick up groceries and Rx. I had to comment on the 'warm walkways' in the twin cities. Lily, I didn't realize they were so long. I've lived in Minnesota my whole life and never had the privilege of walking in them. How far have you walked?
Catch ya all tomorrow, P.S. I made the cous cous yesterday but left out the 1/2 cup pine nuts, they have 385 calories in them and it's delicious without them.

Good Morning all,

It's still in the - degrees here. COLD! We're building fires in the fireplace for warmth now,not just becasue we like to look at them! I haven't got much planned today, except a hair cut. My short bob has turned into a long bob. Just haven't found the time to go, something always happens. I need to get it colored too, just no time.

Lynn, the baby is adorable. And Please don't blame yourself for things that aren't your fault. You can be a positive influence, doesn't mean that they are always going to listen. Hopefully they will get from you the idea that education is manditory and help is there and people actually care.

Karen3, My heart goes out to you. I can't imagine anything worse. Prayers for you and the rest of the family.

Lily, what a wonderful way to get your exercise! Wish they had something like that near here! Take advantage!

Gayle, good to see you again. And join the rest of the gang, I think we all gained weight during Christmas! We just ahve to work together now to get it off. And maybe next Christmas someone will remind us that it really isn't worth it!!! Hope your knees feel better! Working 12 hours shifts will do that to you.

fluffy, I wish I could have been at the iniguration too. Just to feel the excitement. My next door neighbors went so maybe I can hear how it went first hand. And the important things now: what did everyone think about the way Mitchelle was dressed? My husband says how petty. I say: Hey, we're women!

Bobbi, I'm making the coucouse soon. I love pine nuts and I think I will add them and just count the extra calories. And I think they are healthy too. I rarely cut nuts from my recipes since they have so many health benefits.

Hi Linda, I think the world was watching the inaguration. Glad your temperatures are more liveable!

Everyone, make it a good day,

Freda

Good Morning Everyone,

Only bad thing about yesterday was that I missed Biggest Loser. Anyone know who got bumped? Tonight is this season's kick off of Lost. Anyone else watch this crazy show? My DD & SIL and I always watch it together.

Check back later,

Lynn


Hi Gayle, Baby about 3 months old. Join the club about gaining weight over the holidays. We'll all lose it again. No kicks - just hugs around here.



Hi Fluffy,

I also spent the day glued to my tv. It was a wonderful day for me.



Hi Linda,

Yes, I think he's pretty adorable. My cousin (from Atlanta, GA) called me yesterday at 11:45 to talk about our upcoming get-together. I told her I love her, but I had to get off to see President Obama get sworn in. She then called another of my cousins who told her the same thing.


Hi Lily,
Good to hear from you. Happy New Year!


Hi Freda,

You know, it's funny - when I got pregnant as a teen, I remember my mother saying "How could you do this to me?" I also remember thinking (as smug as only a teenager can be) - "I never even thought of you." Teens will be teens. However, I guess we adults can't help feeling responsible when our teens mess up.

Quote:
Only bad thing about yesterday was that I missed Biggest Loser. Anyone know who got bumped? Tonight is this season's kick off of Lost. Anyone else watch this crazy show? My DD & SIL and I always watch it together.

Lynn...Biggest Losers; Red team was bumped, Damien only lost 4 pounds. Jolene lost 6 pounds but only because her friend back home got really, really mad at her for not trying harder and having a bad attitude. It looked like a tie for awhile but in the end he was dumped. They showed what they look like now (Damien and his girlfriend) and they both dropped 80+ pounds.

Thanks for the update, Bobbi. The one I REALLY want to stay is the young boy - David. Although, I'm not sure the style of weight-loss they engage in is geared toward lifelong losses. I just feel so sorry for that boy.

Lynn

Hi all,
Just a quick post to keep in touch. More walking again today. It feels good to do my walks on something other than a treadmill. One thing about working again is that I can't eat whenever I feel like it. Not a good thing to answer a phone while you're chewing on something.
Bobbi, almost every office building and store is connected to the skyway system in both of the downtown areas. Some buildings have tunnels if they weren't able to link to the system with dedicated halls on their 2nd floor levels. I average about 2 miles a day but don't want to walk fast enough to work up a sweat as I need to finish my workday among people.

Take care everyone, stay warm and good luck on shedding those December pounds.

Woodlily