Congrats on making your loan goal Pacer. Both of my parents were mortgage brokers my entire life so I totally understand. Mom just retired when Dad passed away which was right before the business fell apart.

Dawn, both Tom and I are about your driving skills in relation to the rest of the population! Be safe among all the crazies!!!

Stephanie, congrats on your successes this month!

Gonna, have fun with the bebe! So cute!!! What's his name? I love baby names!

LC, your class sounds like a lot of fun! Mind teaching us a few moves?

Jess, think of it as that many less calories you'll eat! Silly boy.

Schmoo, get better girlie! Hope the boy feels better soon, too!

We *are* getting excited about the move! It'll be the first time that I'll be happy to be going back because I know exactly when I'll see Tom again and we'll have so much to do to keep us busy that I won't be pining over him being half a world away.

Kara

Good morning everyone. Nothing much going on. I was down a pound yesterday which totally surprised me. I will be surprised if I even stayed the same today, after the way I've been eating. I did half of my workout video yesterday and just gave up. I didn't want to do anymore. I'm getting lazy again and not so much discouraged but UN-motivated. Maybe I need to keep a picture of me when I was skinny to keep me determined. Will try that and see how that goes. Alittle encouragement though, someone at my church last night asked me if I lost weight. She's the only one who noticed. Woohoo.
Well, off to the shower before DD wakes up. Will be back later.

My plans for the lentil & spinach stew are on hold for now, I couldn't find red lentils at the store and I don't feel like running around town searching for them right now. I'll make the recipe soon, though, and let you know how it turns out. I did see Z-Sweet on the store shelf, though, Kara, so it must be getting popular. They had it in both the bulk and packets.
I just popped a Taco Bake in the oven, I know that doesn't really appeal to you right now though, Schmoodle. I hope you and your DS feel better soon! I really loaded it down with veggies. I always add spinach to the meat mix, and layer shredded carrots over the beans before layering the meat on top of it, and this time I added extra mushrooms and peppers and some leftover cooked broccoli, too. It will be extra healthy!

Dawn, I'm sorry to hear about your wedding plans being called off, but it's probably for the best. You have to live with this person for the rest of your life, and you can't change them, so keep that in mind. How are you feeling, are you OK? We're here for you when you need us, don't forget!

LC, Hurray for another 2 lbs!!!! I'm waiting til Friday to weigh in, but my clothes are looser so I know things are happening.

Jess, those peanutbutter cookies must have been good, I haven't made them. Sounds like it's time for you to make some more and hide them this time!

GONNA, I'm glad you're starting to feel better. Have fun visiting your new little cousin!

Dawn your too funny

Stephanie congrats on making your goal. I'm keeping my that you exceed your February goal.

Kara my baby cousins name is Peyton William

tk don''t get down & discouraged. You know what I did was put a pic of me when I was at 126 and 215 on the fridge so I always see it - thats a big motivator for me - give it a try

Morning, Stephanie and tkGlenn! Enjoy your day!

Yeah, I was thinking of putting it on my fridge and maybe the snack cabinet door to remind me of what I want to look like. I am actually down a pound. I am so happy. Woohooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning, Tawnya! I think the fridge and snack cabinet are excellent places to display photos of yourself! I actually had a friend a couple years ago who was trying to lose "baby weight" and she put her scale in her kitchen. She said just having it there helped her to make conscientious choices. Hope you got your shower in before the kids woke up!

Linda, thanks for suggesting the peppers in the taco bake! I LOVE spinach in with the beans, and tons of mushrooms with the (soy)meat, but peppers would be spectacular! I think I may be on a bit of a pepper kick (remember my stint with zucchini every day this summer?!)...just had some roasted last night...mmmmmmm!

Kara

Kara-that's a good idea. Never thought of that. And I could weigh myself before reaching for something sweet and sugary. Will have to try that too. well, i'm off for the day. got lots to do, got cakes to bake and chores to do.

Mornin', Chickies!

Ruth, I'm so glad you have all those wonderful friends taking care of you!!! Wish I could be there to help, dear heart! I know you'll breeze through the surgery with flying colors. Everyone I know who's had knee surgery says the lack of pain afterwards (even with the pain from surgery) is astonishing! I hope you feel that way too!!! I bet within a short time you'll be up for Latin Line Dancing with LC! (BTW, LC, that sounds like SOOO much fun!!! ) Take care of yourself and know that you'll be missed!!! (that doesn't mean I won't be enjoying standing in for you as the cabana boy polisher... )

Cottage, I love anything with lentils. Mmm! :P

Schmoodle, I'm so sorry about DS and hope you aren't ill as well.

Dawn, DF (and I'm NOT thinking "Dear...") is a nutcase if he's thinking about letting you go! You let us know if we need to get in touch with some friends in New Joisey... Oh, hon, you are SOOOOO right about SoCal drivers in the rain! I'm a CA girl, born and bred, and you described my experiences perfectly!!!

Kara, I'm thrilled about your move!

Congrats on reaching your loan closings goal, Stephanie! :congrats:

Me:
Well, my nutrition counselor doesn't want me to weigh in on my scale...and we both agreed that it was better for me not to know the number difference when I weighed in with him. He told me that I'd lost fat and gained muscle, though, so that's good. I'm not sure what I think about all that! He wants me to stick to no more than 4 servings of starches a day (I used to do only 1, but apparently it crept back up on me while I was focusing on protein! ). It's harder than I thought, especially since he counts beans as a starch!

Off to the gym today after work and then I have the night off (YAY!!!), which is even better than normal because I thought I had to do out and it turned out that the event I was thinking of is next week. Yay!

I'm making cakes for our new neighbors--we had two houses next to us sell in the last month. I wanted to make something somewhat SBD-friendly so I wouldn't be tempted, but decided to go with "easy" and make my mom's amazing bundt cake, which starts with a cake mix. I was drooling last night! I'm going to do the second one tonight and then get them out of the house ASAP!

Hope everyone has a great day!

I'm a dizzy mess so I can't reply to everyone!! (Purple HAze much?)
Ruth i'll be thinking of you and praying for you and we'll keep your cabana boys polished and supplied with fronds for fanning you!!
Dawn: sometimes its REALLy good to walk away from a potentially toxic sitch. . . and I'm from NJ and have No problems bringing the whoopass!!
Schmoo Feel better hon nothings worse than nausea
Cottage/Linda what's that zsweet stuff? Red Lentils might be at Trader Joes?
Laurie: can you pm me the bundt cake recipe? I'm always looking for easy food gifts.
OH! the peanut butter cookies Made a great crust EXCEPT! I had never had it before and wasn't too fond of the splenda taste and you have to make a double batch. But If you dig the cookies. . . the texture was perfect for a cheesecake or crumb like pie option I had it in the oven at 350 for 5 min then turned off the oven and let it sit for a bit.
OK off to try to be productive. . .Now where did I put my flaming guitar?
Kierie

Kara, I would love to teach you chicks some moves but I don't really remember many of them. The girls were saying that it takes about 3 classes to finally start putting the steps together. I really don't have to much trouble as alot of the steps I do in my tap/jazz class. It just throws me off when we start with the left foot instead of the right.... But it was lots of fun.

Just popping in to say hello to everyone, and send good thoughts Ruth's way!

Yesterday was so frustrating. It started out okay. Brian got picked up by his friend's dad who took the two boys to breakfast and school while I took the train downtown. I had no problem getting to the courthouse or finding the cafeteria where I was to wait for my lawyer. When we got to the courtroom though we talked to Robert's lawyer just to be told that Robert had fired his lawyer and hired a new law firm so after taking off work, the whole thing is rescheduled for the same time on Feb 1st. I HOPE the weather will be good so I can just drop Brian at school early because I hate asking people to go out of there way to take Brian. Robert didn't even show up at the courthouse although the lawyer expected him.

I stopped on the way back at the post office and got them to cancel the mail forwarding of Brian's mail. Robert can SAY that if he forwarded Brian's mail that it was a mistake but the post office confirmed he filled out one form for himself and one for Brian. It is just so petty and stupid.

Barb Keep your chin up hon!! My Mom Always says Karma's a B!tch. and Every Dog has his day! You are taking control of your life and when all this is over and done with both you and Brian will have a more peaceful existence!