[Tejas]

Morning All:

Angela, that's great news about your husband's job possibility. We'll all hope it comes through for him and your family.

What a cute story about your DS, Niki. My sister and BIL used to take me to fancy places when I was young, and my BIL later said, teasingly, that he had created a monster because I always wanted only the best restaurants.

Melissa, I like Sandra's math. I don't think that was her subject when she taught, but, it should have been!

I've another long day ahead of me. So, see you later!

Rhonda
I checked out Dr. Oz on Google. I had heard about him and the book but had forgotten. I'd be interested in what people think about it.

Today I am starting more walking since we have some nice weather. I took each dog for a longer walk, and told DH that I want to walk to the subway so he's not to drive me when the weather is good. The sun is trying to shine, there is no ice on the sidewalks, and the birds are singing. I know how they feel!

[ontarget]

angela, that is wonderful news about dh's job prospect. i hope everything works out for all of you.

niki, that's so cute of ds being excited about being at the upscale restaurant. he's quite a young man, isn't he?

rhonda, i like your idea of walking to the subway. atta girl!! (i like my math, too.)

all scores are posted now but nothing is official yet. looks like i won in compound and am 2nd in longbow. curtis and i are ready to celebrate but are waiting on the official stamp.

[TechAlum]

Hello All,

Just finishing up lunch and trying to decide if I want to go to WW tonight. I know I'm up and I really don't feel like going, but on the other hand it might be just what I need to stop this free fall I seem to be in.....hmmm.

Sandra - Pretty amazing. Hope you got all the paperwork done.

Angela - Yea on dh's interview. Sometimes contract jobs are a good way into a place, or to find out you don't want in. Hope it all works out.

Rhonda - good luck on the walking to the subway. Last summer I biked to work (it's only 1.5 miles), and even though it was hard starting, I really found I enjoyed it and felt better.

Nicki - glad you had a great birthday celebration.

Coco - yea on losing! Sounds like you're getting back on track.

To everyone else hope you're having a great day .

-Tech

[Vickie]

Hey Chicks! No time for me to catch up right now. Just wanted you all to know that Jim and I went to the boat this morning. Jim won and I lost. We needed to get out and have a little fun. I felt guilty since we have such a big expense with the fence but we just REALLY needed to have some fun. It's been a hard 6 months. We just got home and showered....to get all the cigarette smoke off...and I'm now doing laundry. It seems I have a lot to do around here. It's just me and Jim and I have a hard time keeping up. I sure do admire all of you Mom's. I don't know how you do it.

I hope you're all having great on program days. Our windows are all open since we are expecting a high of 74 today. Yesterday was in the mid 60's. Snow is predicted for Friday. Welcome to Spring in Chicagoland!

I'll probably not be able to get back until morning.

[ontarget]

donna, i strongly suggest you go to ww today. do you have one of those passes that lets you not wi? okay, now that i've preached about your going, i need to make myself go this fri.

vickie, you and jim are just like us. we rush home to shower/laundry after being in smoke, too. sounds like you two had some fun on the boat. we need to do something for fun, too. we're meeting friends for lunch tomorrow. that'll be fun but we need to "do" something more.

[aghiowa]

Well, the position that the recruiter was thinking of for dh was filled by the time he got to his interview (!), but he had a nice chat with her, and she's circulating his resume to a lot of places, so maybe something will come of it. I think it was nice for dh to at least get an interview, and get some practice with that.

Vickie, it's 74 degrees here currently, and earlier my car thermometer said 76. It's absolutely beautiful out...just goregeous. And by Friday, it will be in the low 40's. Ha ha.

Well, time to make dinner.

Angela

[septembersgoal]

Angela it's the same way here. I think it was 78 today, but 40's anticipated for Friday. I'm sorry to hear about DH's interview but maybe something even better will come out of it.

Vickie, glad to hear that you and Jim got out and had fun on the boat.

Sandra, I know, I know! Bad friend! Glad to hear about your results, I hope that you have them for sure by now!

Niki, it sounds like you had a really nice birthday. How fun!

Thanks Rhonda. I like Sandra's math too!

I still haven't made it to w/i this week, but I think I'll stop by there tomorrow on my lunch break. I won't be able to stay for the meeting but at least I'll have done the "deed."
Well I'm off to get somet things done. Have a good night all!

[Tejas]

Hi All:

I walked to and from the subway. This is something I used to do all the time, then I let DH spoil me by taking me there. I will have to get him out of that habit! I'm also going back to Pilates tomorrow after a week off for my back and hip to feel better.

Not much going on here. We really had Spring here today but winter is due back on the weekend.

Eating has been OK. I've been eating very lightly at dinner since I've been out for lunch everyday this week. I woke up hungry at 3AM this morning, but had some lf milk to keep me until breakfast. It won't hurt me to skip a few meals, I guarantee you!

Rhonda

[coco99]

Hi Everyone
What a beautiful day we had. Sun shining and a light wind. A spring day.
Washed a load of clothes and hung them out. Weed a little flower bed. Still needs a little bit more done to it. And still have 3 more to go. But at least none of them are very big. So maybe if it isnt raining will work on those.

ONTARGET GOOD JOB with the scores. I knew you would do good.

VICKIE Glad you had a fun day. We need those sometimes.

TEJAS Good job on the walking. I bet it made you feel good. Hows the hip doing.

AGHIOWA Sorry about the job for hubby. But that is good they interviewed him anyway. And are going to pass his resume around. Will keep you in my prayers that he soon finds work.

SEPTEMBERSGOAL Hope you made it to weigh in. And that you had a loss.

TECHALUM Hope you made it to weigh in. I know sometimes I dont want to go. But I know that if I dont. That the next time I go. It could be worse. So figure may as well face the scales. And get past it. And LET IT GO!! Start anew.

P.A. I havent got to read much in my Dr Oz book yet. But I did take the test. I was in the average range.

FROUFY Are you home yet. Miss you.

Well I better get off here. See if I can post this thing or not. Seems awful slow or something tonight.
So hope everyone had a great day. Thinking of all of you
coco

[Tejas]

Good Morning All:

I woke up just a bit before 5AM and decided to stay up. I've cleaned out some file drawers and have lots of paper to go into the recycling bin.

I read in the December-January edition of Scientific American Mind that it may be a human trait to sleep at night in two stages, and we should quit fighting it if possible. The article says that left to our own, without the creation of artificial light extending day into night, that humans sleep in two stages. One stage begins after dark, then we wake up for a few hours, to go back to sleep for another four hours or so.

Of course, we don't organize our modern economies this way, and lots of people have trouble sleeping. But, the argument was that, if you can, stop fighting early morning wakings and just get up and go something.

I'm going to try that and quit calling waking up "insomnia." It's just waking up. I'll see how that works. I've also read that humans get their best sleep from the time they are 6 until they are 12. I guess it's downhill after that

DH took over 50 boxes to storage yesterday. (A lot of this is his stuff, by the way! It includes a great train set that I think we should save for the grandbabies.) Now, just not to go buy other stuff. I don't think we will. I've turned a corner in my 60's. I'm aiming to be debt free (except small mortgage) and decreasing my possessions. And, it feels like a good stage of life.

Well, there's my early morning ramblings. Back to the filing cabinets for a while, then off to Pilates.

BBL

Rhonda

[ontarget]

rhonda, i'm in this wake up stage with you. i've been awake since about 2:30. i finally gave in and got up. i know what caused mine. i made killer brownies last night. just as they were finishing baking the schwann's man came. i lost control and bought some ice cream. i had too much ice cream and too many brownies. that fiber's killing me. darn that schwann's man. it's all his fault. i know i would not have overeaten if he'd not rung the doorbell. (just kidding. it's all my doing.)

melissa, i still haven't gotten final results. this suspense is getting to me. hmmmmmm.....maybe i can blame my overeating on that?

coco, i thought of working in flowerbeds yesterday but talked myself out of it. i did go do some weight training, though.

angela, i'm sorry the job was filled. hopefully something even better will come up soon. i hope dh had an all right day yesterday. that party at work sounded stressful.

[thingirlinside]

Good morning ladies, I am having a bowl of cream of wheat while I post, I have added the most delicious topping to it, it is cinnamon sugar 1 tsp is 15 cal & 0 fat. Really yummy!

That is a real interesting article Rhonda, I wake up every day at the wee hours of the morning usually between 3am and 5am and have a awful time falling back to sleep.

Sandra that Schwann's man is nothing but trouble my mother warned me about men like that . Is your tummy feeling better? Are the final results in?

I will BBL, have to make beds and drop of a couple of packages to the post office, today Ebay is having a 20 cent insertion fee, so I am hoping to go through my kids clothes from last spring and summer and start listing clothes they outgrew.

[Vickie]

Good Morning Chicks! I was up until 1:00 a.m. I got a letter from my friend Doug about something a couple in his church is doing to honor my friend Cindy. I cried while looking at the website and then couldn't go to sleep. I miss her so much. She was an amazing and giving woman who touched a lot of lives. http://hike.housingcoach.com/

I've got a ton to do today and I ended up sleeping late. So, I'll have to try to come back later to catch up. Jim is needing my attention.

Light and love and a great on program day is what I wish for all of you.

[Froufy]

Well back at work - what a bummer! No one making my bed, giving me clean towels, putting fresh ice in the ice bucket, leaving me cute towel animals and a piece of chocolate on my pillow! this stinks! And let's not even talk about meals!

I am so very tired and don't know why! I need another vacation - ha ha ha. My bedroom looks like a tornado hit it - have not yet unpacked altho there are piles of stuff here and there - seems like a very daunting and overwhelming task right now - but I shall try and get a handle on it tonight. Have tons of laundry to do and summer clothes to put away.

House is a mini-disaster but I am also working on that and getting everyone back into the routine! Dh very stressed as he is finishing up one of his gov contracts by month end and is very busy doing final reports and such. He seemed to manage okay while I was gone - but kids are still not that cooperative with him!

I am awaiting CD w/pics from Ray as he was the designated photographer - I did have to REMIND him many times to get the camera out and ready.

Already got some pics from tablemates - we at first sat w/2 other couples - very young couple (24-26) Ross and Krista - very down to earth sweet kids, then Julie and Rich - in their late 40's - both divorced w/kids - but not married to each other from upstate New York - they were lots of fun - Julie was stick thin and ate like a truck driver usually have a couple of appetizers or entrees and 2 desserts!- gosh I loved that! Then Ray and I - poor Ray was quite flabbergasted when everyone assumed I was his wife! or girlfriend - too funny to watch him try to explain! On monday night after San Juan another young couple showed up Kathy and Dan (early 30/s)- we thought they had just changed tables but it turns out there were from Michigan - flew out on day of cruise in the bad weather and MISSED THE SHIP!!! They had to spend another day in Florida - then fly out to San Juan - spend a night there before boarding the ship - when I asked if they had travel insurance they said no - bet they won't do that again - I can only imagine how much more expensive their holiday turned out to be as they had to pay for all of the extras!!!!

Also met our cruise critic group - that was so much fun - we even did a gift swap - everyone brought something from their state/province and we picked numbers/gifts - would you believe I ended up with the gift from family from Canada/B.C. - and it was some SMOKED SALMON - a 1 lb box - I was so thrilled with my present of course.

It was fun seeing all of my cruise critic friends all over the ship - I spent some time w/one couple in some of the lounges (when old man Ray had to go to bed cuz he couldn't keep up with a frouf!) - such a sweet lady and her husband. When we toured in Antigua we ended up w/another roll call friend (Ann from Burlington, Ontario) and had lots of fun w/her. Met a couple of almost newlyweds in line as we boarded the ship - they were getting married on the 6th in St. Thomas - how cool is that? Turns out they were down the hall from me so I saw them a lot - even having dinner in the supper club on the night of their wedding (when we coincidentally had a reservation).

Okay the food was FANTASTIC esp since I didn't have to cook or clean up - our wait staff were amazing - after the first night request I always had lemon slices on the table for my water - and a decaf cappuccino magically appeared after dinner every night. We ate at the supper club ($30 surcharge) and it was worth every penny - like a big city 6 star steakhouse - the food was almost too pretty too eat! Great entrees, four kinds of bread in bread basket, 3 kinds of mixed butters, then they bring the raw steaks to your table and you get to pick what you want - and the sides - then dessert - and now you realize you cannot walk when you leave the place - very intimate small dining area w/2 piece band and dance floor - takes about 2 hours for the meal - and let's just say you need an elastic waistband when you go there.

The poor newlywed bride - who was a tiny thing to begin with - said she had to unzip her gown in the back so she could breathe - and wore her hubby's sport jacket out of there so it wouldn't show!

San Juan was spectacular - altho we were there late (5 pm-12 midnight) - went up to this amazing old fort - thru the dark tunnels - got some fabulous shots up top (yes I even snuck the guard girl's hat on my head when she wasn't looking - she left it on a ledge - bad froufie). They had a folkloric dance troupe there and some local drummers - very amazing show. Back to the ship later to eat and watch the shows.

The entertainment by the way was EXCELLENT - great dancing and singing and real production shows - broadway medleys, and then guest entertainers would appear (one night motown, another time a comedian, then a frank sinatra/sammy davis jr singer). During the day they would have really fun stuff like the not so newlywed game which is always a hoot! (they replay all the shows and activities on the cabin tv's so you can watch them later if you like).

In St. Thomas we went to Secret Harbor resort - fabulous find - small secluded beach with a resort, complete with beachfront restaurant - we found a few other Carnival cruisers there (you can tell by the carnival beach towels) - even my cruise critic friend Jane from Wisconsin (the one I got the hotel room from) was there w/friends - so we chatted a while. This is the only spot where I managed to get some underwater fishie pics (at least I hope so - have to wait til film is developed).

In Antigua we toured w/Lawrence of angtigua - just the 3 of us (ray, me and Ann) in a small mini van - got some breathtaking shots from the top of the island - saw Nelson's dockyard and the marina filled w/fabulous yachts (and took a pic w/ the one that was flying the canadian flag!).

Tortola I think was my favorite island - aside from the dangerous winding roads thru the mountains. So beautiful - the yachting capital of the world - imagine a turquoise bay filled with sailboats, white billowing sails in the wind - just like a postcard. Ended up on an open air tour bus w/a group of 10 (5 older couples travelling together also from our ship) - lucked out getting tour guide Romeo - gave us a very personalized tour (complete w/stops near his home at the local fruit/veggie stand so he could make an order for pickup later ). He used to be part of a band - so before disembarking the bus he would whip out a ukelele and start serenading us - too funny - and yes we had to sing along - all the other tourists on their buses just stared - and wondered if we were a travelling choir or something! What a hoot!

Then 2 lovely days at sea where my favorite activity was putting on my runners, gathering my ipod and heading out to the track on deck 11 (9 times around = 1 mile) - I can't imagine anything better than walking the track in the fresh ocean air, listening to your favorite music with ocean views all around you - I thought seriously that life could not be any better than this! and I could do this forever (okay until I got hungry and thirsty!).

My cabin was lovely altho there was a nasty tap tapping/rattling whenever we went over 20 knots - loved the 2 windows and the view - had a bit of a hot water problem in the shower - but the cute italian plumber made several visits to my cabin to make sure the problem was properly fixed!

Can't way too much bad about the trip - weather great - seas mostly calm - food and company excellent - I am ready to go again!

Frouf

[Tejas]

Hi All:

Just stopping by after Pilates and before going to the office.

Vickie, I read about Momma! What a wonderful piece about her and a great way to honor her memory.

Frouf, I'm too tired to go to work after reading your post!
I have some friends who just returned from San Juan and they sent me pics of the Fort. They sent about 100 other pics too, and the place looks beautiful. So, glad you had a good time, and a good score on that salmon. I've eaten salmon twice this week already!

Gotta run....

Rhonda