Sandra I don't know if we can be podnas any more....you have taken off and left me way behind!! (Good for you!) I'll try to catch up...:running:

Good Morning Chicks! I slept until 10:00 and only then because I got a telephone call from my favorite cousin in NJ. She wanted to let me know how the first night of the wake went last night. Evidently, it was a HUGE celebration of his life. I'm SO happy to hear that. She and I will be talking more.

I haven't had breakfast yet and I'm starved. Nothing some shredded wheat and bran can't handle. I'm going to attempt the treadmill today. Keep your fingers crossed for my ankle to hold up. I don't know how long I can go or how fast...but I'll be on it.

I'm having a real hard time drinking my water. Any suggestions?

I don't know about you, but whenever I have a bottle of water I drink it. Sometimes I buy the 1 liter bottles and just keep filing it up. I guess it's a weird habit, but if the bottle is there and has water in it then I'll keep drinking. If the glass is empty I probably won't go refill it.
I'm glad to hear that the wake was a celebration of your uncle's life. It helps you to know that he is being celebrated as well. :hug:

Hello All!

OK, receipe review for Wednesday - the butternut sqaush/barley side dish is very, very yummy. Went well with the balsamic chicken. I have posted both receipes along with the italian turkey and spagetti squash pie reciepe. The only thing I would do different with the chicken is grill it rather than bake it - I used boneless, skinless thighs. DH liked them as well.

Next to try is a new salmon noodle casserole ( I want to get more fish into my diet) and a crockpot goolash. Those are slated for next weekend.

I am very happy to report that the scale moved !!! :) Naked this morning it was back down to 179.5! Very happy. I think I'll wait until Friday am to update my ticker. Hopefully it will stay down. Over the holidays it crept up a bit too far - at one point closer to 184 :( Not a good thing. I'm happy today.

I'm off to post my menu and read up. Be back later.

Welcome back Melissa! Missed see you :) Hope all is well.

Vickie - I agree with Melissa with the water. As long as I have a bottle or large glass filled and near me I drink it. On my desk I have a 1 liter cup that I have already filled twice and I'm off to fill it again to have with my lunch.

One interesting thing I need to research that I read about is the "Water Diet". Basically its drinking 8oz of water before, during and after meals. By doing this it slows down the absorption of food and fills you. Not sure if its working, but I have started to drink a large glass of water before meals. I do think I eat less, maybe the hunger is curbed a bit by the time my food is ready.

I'll let you know what I find out.

So I guess I should go off and refill my PINK water bottle - just finishing lunch and the first one is almost empty (and 2 decaf coffees as well in my tummy).

Melissa - gosh darn you 'look' awfully familiar? Do I know you from somewhere?:D

Vickie - good luck with the treadmiling - let us know how you make out!

Kathy - I can't even imagine getting up at 7 am let alone 5:30 am - and getting to bed by 9 would be a huge stretch for me. Hope Shaun is feeling well enuf to enjoy his birthday!

Sandra - let me know when you are going to visit Rhonda in Toronto and hopefully I can 'pop' by for lunch or something?

Paula - thanks for the recipes - shall be going to check them out soon.

So ended up going to a movie w/dh last night (discount movie night complete w/popcorn and drink) - did pretty well - except no time to treadmill so I must try harder tonight.

I did not sleep well at all - tossing and turning. Poor dd is so cranky - seems her father and I are NOT allowing her to get this face piercing thing (called a 'monroe' after Marilyn I guess?)....claims her father promised she could have a 'real' one after that self-attempt she made a few weeks ago? We are in agreement that we don't want her to have it done (keep telling her to wait til she's 18 but I guess that seems like a century away when you're 15?). So lots of crying, whining on the phone to her dad last night - and of course she is never speaking to him again.

Then she has an 'altercation' w/dh over the den - he gets booted out (by her bullying) and now her computer privileges have been 'suspended' for a while. She was supposed to go to her dad's for a few days as she is still off of school but I somehow doubt that's going to happen given her current mood. Never a dull moment - but this is sure wearing me down - esp since I am tired and cranky myself.

At work today trying to fight more fires as they erupt...have a meeting w/financial planner after work (5:30 pm) so not sure about dinner? Was very hungry yesterday so I am eating a bit more substantially today - hopefully this will help.

And my friend Ray has finally booked his cruise and we are now trying to convince Susan (and her new hubby Allan) to come cruise with us. She was at our table on the last cruise (she's from Toronto) and we had lots of fun together. She and her dh were heading out to St. Martin for 3 weeks so are trying to change some flights so they can join us - keeping my fingers crossed!

At least it's mild out today and the sun is trying to peek out!

Froufie

Paula, I have the BDA book if I can find it. Actually, I think I might have it on ebook. It's a simple concept and a good habit to get into. I've talked with lots of people on the site, including Blake, and they've had good success with it.

It's been a crazy day here, and I didn't even get here until 8 so now I have to stay until 6. I'm SO mad at myself for leaving home late, and then there was an accident that knocked some traffic lights out so there was more trouble there. Tomorrow will definitely be better.

We're expecting rain so I'm at least happy about that!

shame on you, melissa. don't you ever think we're not podnas any more. we will always be podnas. well, that is unless you don't like me any more. i am so glad you're back. i have missed you. seriously, i've missed you a bunch. you always add a spark to the posts. congratulations on getting back on core. i'm trying to stay core but keep using wpa's (or is it wap's?) to the point that it's really flex. i am trying to keep up with my total pts for the day and to keep them in line with where they should be.

that's wonderful that aaron's doing the exercise with you. that will help you both. it's always easier than doing them alone.

vickie, i hope your feet hold up well to the exercise. i :tread: the past few days and got my tootsies sore. i'm going to have to do w a instead.

frouf, i'd love to see you and rhonda. i don't see toronto in our plans right now. we're doing a lot of traveling to tournaments in 07. that's going to tax our old budget bunches.

kathy, what happened? i thought you were getting to work earlier? i guess the traffic was horrific when you left home. curtis and i are relieved to be away from i-35. we're not used to a lot of vehicles on the road.

rhonda, i can't imagine their not hiring you in ft worth. wish i could go beat them up for you.

Hi All:

Pilates was great but a little shorter than usual because we had a flat tire on the way! We could have cancelled going to class, but not us diehards...we got the tire changed and went to class.

I've been good with food today but the evening will be a challenge since a friend is taking us to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Oh well.

I like Frouf's pink bottle. Having a special container might assist in the water drinking. My biggest problem is being able to stay near enough to a "washroom" as it is called here in Canada!

Vickie, I'm glad to hear that the wake was restorative for people. I hope at mine people don't eat CORE!

Frouf, and others with teenagers, my hat is off to you. I thought that I would never live through my godson's teenage years....and he got his tongue pierced!! Don't worry, he has a responsible bank job now! :lol:

Rhonda

I don't mind telling you that the interview in Ft. Worth was bizarre. I won't identify the school or the people but I was essentially led to believe that the job was mine, others told me they were told that I was coming, and then nothing! No answers even to my inquiry if I was still a candidate for the position. Hmmmm...they must have learned the TRUTH :joker:

Oh, Rhonda, not the TRUTH! :lol: I can't believe that school would do that to you! Shame on them! OR ... maybe they assumed you KNEW you had the job and they're wondering where on earth you are? You're TARDY! LOL!

Sandra, I still got up early but ended up doing a lot of unnecessary stuff, then hit a bad spot in the commute. It was a side street and I don't know what happened, but the signal lights were flashing and cars were backed up. GRRR... Also school started back today so that added to some of the traffic.

I love it when you girls say "washroom". It sounds so much more polite than bathroom (I'm not taking a bath) or restroom (nor am I resting!) ... and so I think I'll start a trend down here and say washroom.

Well, I only made it 10 minutes on the treadmill at 1.8 mph. I'm sad. But, I got off and got on the exercise bike. It make no sense to me but I actually sweated on the bike. I did 10 more minutes on there and will try to do more tomorrow. I guess the treadmill is out.

Hope you're having a great evening. I'm off to hang out with Honey Lamb.

Dinner is over (such as it is). Judd ate LO turkey chili, I ate some cheese ... then made some English toffee to take to work, and am now making brown rice for his lunch tomorrow. It's all good.

Vickie, the 10 plus 10 equals what they say we should have, so I think you're fine with that. Maybe the bike will be an easier thing for now. I'm not so sure I could do the treadmill. We're ankle buddies, so I know how you feel.

I'm off to the kitchen again. I'm not going in to work early tomorrow because Shaun wants to go to the place where he used to work, and they open at 9. He's wearing his dress blues but will take a change of clothes, and then one of them will bring him back home later.

See you later!

Great exercise effort Vickie - remember baby steps - and any movement is better than none right?

Washroom? Is that like Canadian eh? I have seen 'restroom' signs - so genteel - we are not @#$@#$ but simply resting! ya right! tee hee

And I managed to get a walk in at lunchtime - 30 mins in the neighborhood- fairly mild out (altho the frouf ears did get cold w/no hat!)....okay I wasn't motoring but better than just sitting at my desk right?

And wrote a huge check to the financial planner as we begin the 'smith manoevre' - that was SUPREMELY exciting (don't get too excited it's from a line of credit :D), then to the grocery store to pick up rotisserie chicken and fixins for dinner - yes I ate some potatoe wedges (gosh darn they were good), but did not overdo it. Already boiled up some eggs, and packed up fruit and veggies for work tomorrow.

And work this afternoon was a NIGHTMARE - such 'abusive' clients I have - one of which was semi-nasty in some of his emails (about stuck contracts - yes the same guy for which I turned around the last 3 contracts in under 24 HOURS - HOW SOON THEY FORGET!).....and sends these to me without ccing the others on the list - ya so I forwarded it for him (this is an associate director by the way) forwarded his 'comments' to his boss, my boss and my director - that'll teach him.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT TO RESPOND - my manager away, my director away (acting director not really too with it) so no one to 'consult' with - yes I did draft a response but decided to sleep on it and wait til tomorrow to send it if required.

I am emotionally and physically exhausted and need to get to bed early tonight!

Frouf

P.S..OHMYGOD I ALMOST FORGOT THE OTHER 'ISSUE" - get a refund check from dental benefits co. regarding orthodontic work for big ds - yes he did visit the dentist and we got 'estimate' and impressions made for fancy invisiline braces thingies (as worn by Tom Cruise no less), but no decision made that we were going ahead ($5500 of which most paid by dental benefits). So call the dentist to find out about this 'claim' made and these cheques I received (like for $1900!)....after asking a few pertinent questions turned out they CHARGED MY MASTERCARD FOR $2500 WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME!!! Seems that they felt we were going ahead with this???..on the word of a child?.....and worse was last time I paid by MC they asked if they should keep this # on file for future payments and I said NO ABSOLUTELY NOT - so this EXPLAINS the super huge balance on the MC (I checked the other day).....I am FURIOUS AND CAN'T BELIEVE THIS KIND OF BUSINESS PRACTICE - tomorrow I am calling back to a) getting refund on MC and b) no work to be done until further notice and c) will return cheques back to dentail co indicating that we had never AUTHORIZED or paid for any work to be done - that should cause some excitement!