No coffee on the deck this morning unless you have rubber boots and rainwear as it's cool and rainy. Everything is brilliant green though.

I'm up earlier than usual because Hershey wanted out RIGHT NOW! She can be a very demanding dog but I guess it was necessary.

I am off to town for a haircut this morning and will NOT go to the Chinese Buffet even if they try to drag me out of my car. Actually my appointment is for nine so I should be home for lunch as I just have a tiny bit of in town shopping. With the price of gas so high, I am trying to consolidate my trips to town. Claire and I exchange lists to save time and now money. It's too bad that both decent sized towns are a half hour drive.

Late this afternoon, Hershey and I do pet therapy at the nursing home. I have to do a "cottage" and pre-prep dinner so I don't end up eating something stupid instead of a proper meal. I'll reward myself with AI and diet gingerale.

What's happening with you this drizzly Tuesday?

Morning Ruth...hope you can get home from the beauty parlor without getting wet!!

It's cold here (at least for southern LA in April!) It's in the 40's this morning and usually in the 70's this time of year. weird weather. It is supposed to start raining on Thursday and continue through Sunday. So much for jazz fest on Sat. Hate it when you can't really look forward to a weekend!

Other than MIL taking us out to eat when we get home from work, nothing much at all happening here. Yesterday, I put on a big pot of white beans before I went to school and then made turkey scallopini and salad and brown rice to go with it. I found some very thinly sliced turkey the other day. yum. The same store (which of course is in another town) also had some great artichoke/kalamata olive hommus. I'm not usually crazy about the stuff, but this was REALLY good.

Coffee's at my kitchen table, it's cold and wet on my deck, too.

At least she warned you in time, Ruth, or you could have had a replay of yesterday morning. I'm off for a color and trim this morning, too. That is, unless Maggie is home from school. Cindy called me from the hospital at 1:35 am to ask me some questions about Maggie bumping her head last night. It didn't seem like a big deal when it happened, she cried a little but acted normally so I wasn't too concerned. But she woke around 10, nauseated and agitated, so they called the doctor and he suggested they bring her in. So I'll call them around 7:30 to see what happened. I'm thinking maybe she had a slight concussion, if anything at all.

Good morning to you, Cat. Your turkey scallopini sounds good, I haven't made that in a long while. Thanks for the idea!

And I like the beans idea, Cat! I've got some soaking now and will do them in the crockpot overnight.

Cottage, I do hope Maggie is OK. Kids are such a worry.

Hershey seems to have settled in for the morning under my desk with her head on my feet. The house is pretty cool so I gave in and turned up the heat - it IS still April!

Morning Cottage...hope little Maggie is doing ok today. Head stuff is scarey!
Have fun bean cooking and getting your hair done. I'm jealous...I haven't had my hair cut at a salon in a couple of years at least and I color it myself. My hair is so crazy that no one can ever cut it so it is not wild. So I just put it in a pony tail on top of my head and whack off about an inch every now and then. Might treat myself to a beauty parlor day this summer. The only time I wear it down is if it's very cold and not humid...not many of those days here.

Good morning Chicks! Cold and dreary here too but very green. I swear I can actually see the grass growing! I know it's really spring because I have lots of bug bites from the weekend. Snow to itching in one week!

Ruth - Have fun in town Hope Hershey's belly is all better today. We have the same grocery situation here but I work in town so plan all my shopping when I'm at the office.

Cat - How do you prepare your beans? I am an absolute bean fiend (I joke that I lost weight on the bean diet) and am always looking for new ideas.

Cottage - Hope Maggie is alright this morning. My hair is graying slower now that my daughter is older - bumps, bangs, breaks she did it all!

A busy day here again. I'm actually glad it's raining because I don't feel bad about being at my desk. Seems like being on the road two days, even for meetings, makes the other days twice as crazy. I was up at 5 this morning to get some work done for a meeting. It will be worth it to have a three day weekend though! I'm trying to figure out how many vacation days I would have to use to work 4 day weeks all summer! I do love shorter weeks.

Have a good greening day all!

Good morning. No jog today, as my knee is showing signs of aggravation. I'm giving it a day of rest and just stretching. My neck hurts, too - never felt like I was falling apart before in my life, but that's where I'm at now!

Dinner last night was chicken cacciatori and some broccoli. Didn't realize til I was done that I automatically didn't make the pasta. I usually do, and I am sure I would have overeaten. I guess it's a good sign when you cook healthy and don't remember making the decision to do it.

Good Morning ladies!!

Just got finished with 15 minutes on the elliptical then 120 crunches. Man...it feels good!! haha

Cat---isn't this weather a wonderful treat!? As we both know what's in store for us in a few weeks!

Cottage -- hope the baby is okay....head bumps can be a smidge scarey and still turn out to be nothing at all!!

Ruth -- what type of dog is Hershey?? I work in a nursing home and am able to take my greyhound mix with me to work some days....the lab mix is still too much of a puppy and likes to jump!

Ya'll are reminding me that I need to get my hair tamed as well! The last cut I got was a learning experience....I told the girl to do "whatever she wanted within reason"....haha...I'll likely never do that again!!

Have a good one girls!!!

Mandy, Hershey is a ten-year-old Portuguese Water Dog and a wonderful creature! She has been working as a therapy dog for seven years now and is my pride and joy.

Cyndi, I hope you can swing a 4-day week. I did back when I was working and really enjoyed weekends.

Gotta go - my lavender bath is waiting!

Mandy, I like it a little warmer than this...I'm a sundress and flip flops kinda girl. My legs are freezing right now, but looks like this afternoon will be perfect. I teach in Ponchy in the mornings and am praying the air conditon is not on this morning. The computers heat the room up pretty fast though.

Cyndi, re the beans. Yesterday I did them in a crock pot. Soaked them over night. Put onions, bellpepper, celery, garlic and some turkey tasso in the pot, then added the drained beans and covered them with just enough water to cover what was in the pot...then I add creole seasoning, a few shakes of hot sauce and a can of jalepeno peppers and a couple of bay leaves and some salt and fresh ground pepper. Then cook on high for about 6 or 7 hours. When they are done, I smash a few fork fulls against the side of the pot and stir them back in to make them creamy. I sprikle a little fresh parsley and green onions on the top when serving. I know most areas of the country don't have tasso, so you can use maybe turkey bacon, or turkey sausage, or chicken sausage etc. The tasso has kind of a smokey flavor, so maybe even a little bit of liquid smoke instead?

When I cook them on the stove, I saute the seasoning vegs and tasso first in olive oil, then add all the other stuff and cook for about 3 hours or so.

Good morning ladies...I am getting a bit of a slow start this morning. I had a really long night with the baby. She just wouldn't sleep...so I am kinda discouraged this morning as I was hoping we were getting closer to better sleep. And I hear older daughter upstairs fussing with DH over getting dressed. It's one of THOSE days so far around here.

Be back with more in a bit.

busy day... the auditors are here checking to make sure we are secure. ugh.

coolish today but semi sunny... had my hair done thursday did my color on saturday.. insanely cute now..

food is spot on
scale evil....

today i have a funeral. a friend's grandfather. i never knew him, but i'm going for her.... she's dear to me... younger (obviously) than I am...

I'm a bit down in the dumps this morning - TOM came and it has had me in this funk since yesturday. I just don't feel like doing anything and I feel real uh! I'm hoping this feeling won't last long cause this just isn't me.

Gonna, sounds like pure evil, but I'll bet if you get some exercise today it will help with the funk. I know it's just the motivation to do it that's the killer.

Nessa, love the new pic and hair...you are right...you are damn cute!!!