It's a beautiful morning here. There's a delightful breeze, and I've opened all the windows to catch it before it gets too hot and I have to close up the house again. I wish I lived in a place that you could leave the doors and windows open all summer and didn't have to use an air conditioner.

I'm going to take my car in this morning to see if I can get it inspected today, but other than that, we don't have any plans. Jake found out last night that he could have today off, as well, so he was happy about that. Dustin came over last night with a beautiful hardy Hibiscus for us, so we'll have to find a nice home for it in the garden. Andrea is going into the hospital Tuesday night for pre-meds, and will be induced early Wednesday, so it looks like our baby Tyler will be born on the 25th! It will be an exciting week ahead!

Morning cottage, you do have an exciting week ahead. A new baby nothing better than new baby smell. Enjoy your day.

It is raining here again today. Our summer has not been that great though they say it is going to be humid here next week. So I am sure I will complain about that when the time comes. I love the heat not the humity. Nothing going on except getting ready for the yard sale. Well gotta to dash and get somthing accomplished. DH bday is today not sure what I am doing have not even got him a gift yet. He is the hardest guy to buy for. I think maybe I will take him out for supper. Well must dash and get the day started have a good one chicks.

Cottage: Can't wait to see baby pictures!! You must all be so exited!

Chick: Raining here again too..we have had storms every day for weeks now..enough is enough! Getting ready for a yard sale is such a pain, but so nice when all that "stuff" is gone!

Nothing here much going on today...work, gym, grocery store. I need to get out in the yard in just a bit and spray for mosquitos. With all of the rain, the spray doesn't last as long and I felt a bug when I went out to bring the puppy a few minutes ago. I defrosted some salmon yesterday and we couldn't grill it outside because it was storming, so hopefully we can today. We ended up just going "refridgerator diving" and I put together with a big grilled chicken salad.

Cottage I am with you on living somewhere that the windows could be opened all the time- esp at night! Thank you for your kind words about DH and myself- we are going to do everything we can to work through this. Our kids deserve it and we do to.

Femme Grilled salmon- YUM!

LC Definitely take him out to dinner, that way you get a treat too.

Me- We have a pretty busy day here today- both taking and picking up my girlfriend's daughter for summer school. Abigail has her performance with day camp this morning and then a meeting over the math curriculum this afternoon. Another friend is coming over to watch the girls while I attend the meeting and since I won't get back until late afternoon she is bringing dinner too. I thought that was so sweet!

Anyhow, I need to get my butt in gear and get the girls woken up. They aren't going to be too happy about that. Cheers!

cottage, I know you can't wait to hold that baby in your arms! I have a new grand-niece and the pediatrician told the parents (1st baby) that they should not take her out in public and only the grandparents should come to visit for the first 3 mos, and then proceeded to tell them horror stories. This is a perfectly healthy, normal baby. The Dad was already a spazz, so I only just got to see her for the first time at the great unveiling a couple of weeks ago. And the Dad was running around with hand sanitizer the whole time, totally a nervous wreck. Is that normal advice from pediatricians nowadays? It's only been 9 years since my last baby, and I was never given that advice! I told my niece she needed a new pediatrician.
littlechick, more power to you with the yard sale! Every time I think I've got enough good stuff to do a sale, and start trying to get organized, I decide it's too much work and donate everything.
femme, yum, salmon is my favorite, can I come over. I've never grilled it though, I've gotta try that sometime.
Have a great day Kiko, and hang tough. I hope it all works out for the best.

Me - I've got my window open and I'm freezing and my papers are blowing everywhere. It feels great. Today is my last workday then vacation next week, so I've got a lot of loose ends to tie up today. I hope to get the grass cut too. I want to start training DS to do that task for me. Do you think 10 yrs old is old enough? Later, we'll go to my mom's house for pizza then I promised to take the kids to play laser tag. And I will be enjoying this beautiful weather all day! Have a good one chicks!

Good Morning!
I have no food in my house (well no Ph1 Friendly Food) so tomorrow DH and I hit the grocery (much to his chagrin). I'm working from home waiting for the scooter (wheelchair) repair guy to come and I can't sit still because Harry Potter get's released at Midnight! Foodwise I'm just going to focus on making the smartest choices I can and not going off of the Carb high dive.

Cottage I'm so excited for you to meet Tyler! Babies are miracles!
LC definitely take DH out you both deserve a date night
Femme "refridgerator diving" I love it! Do you marinate the Salmon in anything?
Kiko What a great friend. . .The best dinner is always one you don't have to make!
Schmoodle You're day sounds great and vacation sounds even better!

(That was from yesterday, but for Kara and Indigal, I took the picture in Khao Lak, Thailand last year when I was there to help with tsunami relief. The beach on the Andaman Sea was SO gorgeous, even with the tsunami damage to the trees and everything. They were building back resorts that cost something like $500-$700 a night. We stayed in a "guest house" across the street that cost $10 a night!!!

I just got back to my desk this morning after a concert at work by Mandisa! Oh the strangeness of working here. No, really, Mandisa (from American Idol) worked at my company and then with a conference attached to it for five or six years so she is our little star! It was an awesome and inspiring way to start a Friday--I'm in favor of having one every day! And then if we could just fit in naptime, work would be great.

Kiko and Lisa, I will keep your marriages in my prayers. My best advice is get the book Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. I know it sounds cliche but I really believe praying over your husband can change his heart tremendously--and change yours too.

Schmoodle, I think parents can be a little psycho with protecting infants now, but they do get sick less! I am of the opinion that people passed around their babies to everyone and their brother for years and most of them are still alive, but I respect that some people aren't like that! It scares me to have kids with all the rules nowadays!

Morning, littlechick, femme, and cottage!

And to KO--I can't WAIT to get my copy of HP in the morning from the library and start reading! I am so afraid I will hear spoilers before then, so no TV, papers, anything until I get that book in my hands!!!!

Morning Chickies! TGIF for me!

Cottage: Congrats on the baby on the way! My nephew's name is Tyler - what a great name! Enjoy your breeze!

LC: I hate setting up yard sales, but I love it when they're all set up and people start coming. Kind of exciting to see who's going to end up with your stuff. Good luck with DH's birthday!

femme: That's one thing I don't miss about the humid climate we used to live in - all those mosquitoes! Hope your day's a great one and that the salmon makes it to the grill.

Kiko: That is very nice of your friend. Hope you enjoy your night of not cooking dinner!!

Schmoodle: My dad taught my sisters and I to mow the lawn at around 9 years of age. The only rule was that we could only do it when either him or my mom was home and one of our sisters had to be outside with us. That's still my favorite chore! I think the pediatrician sounds like a nut - and a terrible doctor!

KO: I'm so jealous! The only bookstore in town decided not to have a midnight opening for HP, so I have to wait until 10 am tomorrow to get my book. What a bummer!

JessieW: What a cool way to start a Friday! I agree, that and naptime on a daily basis would be great!

ME: I'm feeling a lot better today, but I'm still tired. I went to bed early last night, but didn't get to sleep a wink. I don't know what's wrong with me. I even took two painkillers last night (my back was acting up again), and they usually knock me out, but not last night. There's a roast in the crock pot and I'll just heat up some canned or frozen veggies, so dinner will be easy. I'll be able to eat and snooze on the couch until bedtime.

I got the house straightened yesterday and rearranged some furniture. All I have to do is get my office cleaned up, do some laundry, and iron some shirts for DH. That gives me plenty of time to finish HP by Sunday night! I can't wait to see what happens!

Sometimes I do, but usually I just use "Chef Paul Prudhomme Salmon Magic" seasoning on it and grill it on a cedar plank outside.

Morning girls. It seems no matter how much sleep I get, it's never enough!

Cottage: I'm the exact opposite. I wish I lived in a place where you always needed to use the air conditioner! Florida is where I should be!

LC: sorry about the rain again. Geez. One of these days you'll have a nice day!

Femme: Sounds like an activity-filled day. Enjoy it!

Kiko: What a good friend to do all that for you! Hope you enjoy your day!

Schmoodle! Happy Vacation!!!!

KO: Have fun at the store tomorrow!

Jessie: Thanks for the book advice. I'll definitely have to look into that.

Kim: Sorry you're still not feeling right. Hope you get some rest and feel better soon!

As for me, I'm not looking forward to the next two days. Back to work I go! Noon-8:30 today, then a meeting at 8am tomorrow, then noon-8:30 tomorrow night. Hoping Sunday is a nice, HOT, sunny day so I can hit the pool and freckle some more. I have that new suit that I'm just dying to wear in the pool! Plus, I could use the exercise. It's about the only exercise I can do that doesn't hurt my shoulder. I think we're staying in tonight and going out tomorrow evening with Mom and Dad.

Well, I'm wiped so I'm going to lie down on the couch for the next hour and 40 minutes until I have to start getting ready for work. Have a great day everyone!

Lisa

Morning chicks!

Super busy at work so not a lot of time to post today. Sticking to plan and the scale is being VERY good and responding nicely. I know it's mostly from P1 and it will slow down immensley next week, but it's good to see! A little worried about tomorrow as we're going to a graduation party and will be camping there over night. We've had a party pretty much every weekend this summer and I've survived by picking at the food there, then eating OP foods at home. This time I'm not sure what I'll do. I can bring a few things in a little cooler to munch on, but I don't want to make a big scene about not eating the party food. Hopefully there will be grilled chicken and a big veggie platter to nosh on and hopefully they have snacks out all night. Ah well, I'll do as well as I can and can always go back to P1 (which is supposed to be done on Sunday) for a few additional days to get back into the groove.

Have a great day chicks!

Ick, work is boring, I couldn't resist sneaking back here for a minute.
Myra, I just checked my thermometer and it read 72 degrees. This morning it must have been lower 60s. Funny because right after I checked it so I could tell you, the wind blew it down and it broke.
Kelly, I find it hard to stay OP when I'm not home. Taking a cooler is a great idea. I need to get organized to do that whenever I'm not sure what there will be to eat. Good luck!
Enjoy the pool Weezle!
Kim, No more moving furniture until your back is better!
Jessie, I think some doctors just like to freak new parents out. Babies are way tougher than you would imagine. Thank goodness my pediatrician is laid back, like me, and an old family friend. He was my pediatrician when I was a kid too! Yep, he's pretty old.
KO and Kim, we will all be reading HP together! There is so much on the internet right now about spoilers it's making me crazy. I was reading the thread in 3FC general chat and somebody had gotten hold of the book early at a public library and read part of the last chapter and was TELLING PLOT DETAILS! Arghhh! I didn't realize until I'd already read some. I thought I would be safe here. It's going to be very hard to avoid. On the news last night they did a report on helping your child cope "in case" a favorite character dies in the book. I wish everybody would just zip it!

Some doctor do seem to be more cautious about babies. I'm sure Brian got sick more as a baby because he was in day care from 8 weeks on but he seems to be sick less than most kids now that he is in school and I think part of that is that he built up an immunity when he was littler. He also seems to get sick less often now that we eat healthier. I'm hoping he stays healthy. I heard from my friend that there is a virus going around Dallas with a high fever, headache and cough. Her son has had a 103 fever most of the week but should be long enough without fever to make it to Brian's birthday party tomorrow.

I need to try to find some cupcakes for his party at the store after work. There is no way I will try to make them. I'd be too tempted to eat them.

Hi everybody! JUst a quicky saying hello! Way too late for me to be on my computer...on my way to bed.

Jessie, Wow! My folks love thailand. They go there on holiday every 6 months when they need to leave India for a visa turn around. THey were in THailand for a month before the tsunami , in Phuket. They returned to India 23rd December, the tsunami hit on the 26th. I've never been, but hope to one of these days.

Have a great day everybody!