Good Morning
Debbie - the moon was lovely last night. Will have to look out and see it tonight. Someone I know is due to have a baby any day now, I wonder if the full moon will help. Have fun with your serger.

Ruth - a 1000 piece quilt, can't wait to see the pattern.

Cottage - have fun working on your puzzle and a cappucino is in order too.

Cyndi - not only does the cooking keep the house warm but the odor of cooking adds comfort.

Heidi - baby that sore arm.

Waisting - have fun on your new computer.

Litar - you sure are busy with the boys.

MMC - you are doing great on the food budget.

Femme - I am so jealous, wish my daughter was closer.

Tinker - movies for today are a great idea

Pearlrose - hope your daughter finds her dream prom dress.

Kara - congratulations on hubby's promotion and you are all beautiful

me - only two crazy canucks would go to Buffalo in the middle of winter. Lots of snow there. We haven't been there for about two years and lots of changes. The mall, Galleria, has expanded and I was tempted to go to Cheesecake Factory, the name alone sounds so tempting but DH wanted ribs and since its his birthday on Monday he is allowed to have a 1/2 rack once a year so we went to Famous Dave. I had a salad with dressing on the side but did sneak in a few fries.
Tomorrow is birthday supper so I will be doing alot of ahead cooking today.
take care
Sophie

Morning all.

Just checking in before I bog myself down with homework. Ugh. Snowing here, up to 5 inches. I've lived here for 11 years and never has there been this much snow in a season!

I will check back later. Happy Saturday. Stay warm!

Happy Weekend, Friends!

We've been clouded in, so we can't see the Wolf moon. Hopefully, it will clear up tonight. I'd be glad to howl at the moon.

Cat, I'm jealous! Mothers! SO not SB friendly, but delicious! (At least what I want.)

We went to Morgan's pageant last night. She didn't win, but was beautiful. There was so much sequin, my retinas are burned.

Jeff and I have been out splitting wood this morning. That has to qualify as a workout! Hard work!

I've lost 1 pound since Thursday. Yay me! Yay for motivation!

Joining in late, I slept like a babe. My 10yr old sister is outside in the snow with friends. I'm just taking it easy today.

Hey chicks, I got my grocery shopping done first thing this morning before the snow. It has been coming down pretty good since about 11AM, and since it's so cold on the ground it started piling up right away. I think we've got about 4 - 5 inches now, already more than predicted, but not as much as Jenn I bet, and farther South they are really getting it! I decided against trying to get the kids out to the farm. I only have the Prius to drive now and haven't had it long enough to know how it handles in bad weather. I'm used to having a manual transmission to drive in the snow. So I've just been doing some laundry and straightening up and put something in the crock pot for dinner. I'm snuggled up on the couch now with the kitties watching The Haunting and sipping tea. I think I'll do some work on the office the rest of the day, maybe a hot bath and a movie with the kids before bed tonight. Nice, snuggly day!

To Mmc, I spend about $100/week for a family of 4 and that includes some cleaning supplies and toiletries, but not milk. We get milk from the dairy and it's another $10/wk. We eat out about twice/month, lunches are at home/packed, and I cook most nights. In the summer I also spend about $10/wk at the farmer's market.

The first half of this movie was okay, but the end of it is wacky! It's based on one of my favorite books but they added all kinds of dumb stuff at the end, boo.

Schmoodle -- I think we have 5. I am right outside of DC (like 20 minutes) but I have been upstairs in my computer room locked in doing homework so I have no clue! Last I knew we were only getting 5 inches!

Jenn and Schmoodle, we weren't supposed to get anything at all, but we have about 2" on the ground and it's still coming down.

WE have snow -- a light dusting. We aren't supposed to have any! Brrrr!

Back again,

Debbie I had to look out the window to see if I could see the moon, it is bright and beautiful and hanging low in the sky.

DD1 didn't find any dress that caught her eye, so we went to Walmart to get storage containers and a bookcase and I have spent the rest of my day in their room organizing it. I was so tired of looking in there and stuff was all over the floor. Hopefully I made it easier for DD2 to be able to pick up her toys after she is done playing with them. I took 2 bags of garabage out of there and 1 bag for the garage sale. Still have a couple more things to finish up in their room but for the most part its done.

Cottage, Jenn and Schmoodle stay safe in the snow.

Hope everyone else is finishing their day nicely.

Tomorrow I am taking DS to his scholarship interview in the next town over.

Just a quick good night to everyone and especially those who came after me today

Tinkin and Jenn - I feel your pain. I was in DC for a long weekend during the blizzard before Christmas. But it was fun to be a tourist in the snow, even if most things closed. We have had a record-breaking year here too. Hope you are feeling better today Jenn.

Pearl - I just saw the most amazing dresses and shoes on the girls going to Sweetheart Dance tonight. Low and short dresses, high and open shoes. Brrr.

Hello Sophie. I avoid the Cheesecake Factory when OP - I love their dark bread too much! Happy birthday to DH

Chelby - Double yay!

FoodO - glad you had a good sleep. Hope your day was relaxing.

Schmoodle - Sounds like a great way to spend a snowy day.

Cottage - I bet that means my DS in PA got snow too! We had about an inch here since yesterday.

Catch you all tomorrow!

Our church and Sunday School are cancelled this morning because of road conditions being bad and I need to send out an e-mail so everyone knows, but because of chapel policy I can't send it out until it's official at 8:00, so I have 16 minutes to kill this morning. Time for personals!

Debbie, thanks for the explanation about the wolf moon. That is so interesting! It was a beautiful wolf moon here last night - clear skies (amazing for winter in Germany!) and bright, bright moon!

Linda, your puzzle sounds fun! It looks like we'll be stuck inside today so maybe we'll start one, too. The kids are amazing at puzzles and it would be a fun family activity!

Karen, it sounds like a busy day for you! I hope your son's game went well and that you got some good pictures before the dance!

Lisa, I hope you enjoyed your day of no obligations. It's so freeing!

Heidi, I'm so glad to hear that your arm is feeling better! That is fantastic!

Ruth, I hope you had a productive quilting day!

Meghan, welcome to the board!

Cyndi, I like your idea of a slow start to the day. I hope you had a nice, relaxing day at home to recharge!

Mmckellen, I spend about $250 a month on food for our family of five. That includes Tom's lunches (he buys food at the commissary and cooks it at work with friends most days and goes out to lunch two to three times a month). I don't do much couponing because I am terribly brand-loyal, mostly because of ingredients. I will not buy something that is on sale if it has ingredients that I refuse to eat.

Cat, it sounds like you are having a wonderful time with your daughter! What a blessing!

Tammie, that is crazy about your hospital story! Why are you taking an economics class? Can't be for the fun of it!

Tinkin, what movies did you watch?

Rose, hope you had fun prom dress shopping! Just read your second post. Sorry it was a bust! I got my favorite prom dress at David's Bridal. It was on the sale rack!

Three minutes until I have to send my e-mail and I can go back to bed!

Sophie, thanks for the compliments! It sounds like you had a nice birthday trip for your husband. I have never been to the Cheesecake Factory, but you're right that it sounds tempting! Cheesecake is my kryptonite!

Jenn, hope the homework went quickly!

Michelle, yay for a lost pound!

Okie, glad you could sleep in!

Schmoodle, I'm glad you had a nice snuggly day! I hate when movies change books' stories around. That annoys me.

Time to send my e-mails. ... Done.

We had a really fun day yesterday! Connor had a basketball game in the morning and it was just a blast to be there cheering him on. I must confess that I thought all the chauffeuring and cheering of little ones was going to be my least favorite part of parenting, but I so love it! This is his first year playing and the kids are doing such a great job coming together as a team and getting an idea of the rules of the game. What fun! After that, we came home to get the house tidied because we had friends over in the afternoon for a game day. It was such a blast! We played DVD Scene It and had so much fun! Tom made some hummus and I cut up a bunch of veggies, so it was easy to stay on plan. I made pizza for dinner - two with wholewheat crust and two with regular white flour crust (because I didn't know how the whole wheat crust would come out as it was my first time modifying the recipe). I had grand plans to stay safe with my whole wheat crust pizza slices, but I indulged in the regular crust varieties as well. And then I had chocolate after everyone left and then a half cup of ice cream. Arg. I've been frustrated because my weight is stuck and I feel like all this exercise and eating on plan isn't doing anything. But this morning I woke up and feel bloated and my scale is still stuck AND now I have a belly ache and a headache. I'd rather have the scale stuck without being bloated and having my belly and head hurt, thank you. Back to on-plan eating today!!!

Guess I get to rest a bit before getting up now. That's new! We don't have a lot of snow on the ground, but it's all ice under the inch or so that's there, so I don't think we'll be venturing out today.

The moon is associated with madness and all that because it appears at night and u don't have to be versed in theology to know what that's all about.

It's Sunday, the last day in Jan. I only cheated once on this diet and why, because I didn't PLAN! U must have a plan to succeed in life. Things don't always go according to plan, so ADJUST. I need to attend Church today. I haven't been in a while and I miss it. Although I watch EWTN regularly, it's not the same as being in God's domain. I'm excited about my life in general. I'm pissed off about things that happened in my past but who isn't, ya know.

Okie, I think you hit the nail on the head with your reasoning about planning! What kind of church do you attend? And why are you up at 4:00 a.m.???

lol T/K, I attend St. Mark's Catholic Church. I sleep during the day, party with God at night. I'll have to change all this when I start working again. Anyone wanna join me for a three day fast for financial security. The more people praying, the better. On my facebook, I listed it as a cause.

Okiemute "Okie" Esiekpe