Morning ladies! Hope everyone's doing well today. Granted, y'all are probably still asleep, but the sentiment fits there too.


Natasha- You naughty girl you! Sand therapy, and naked-in-the-ocean therapy, is the best. I hear you on the fried calamari. I've never liked the "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" idea. Um... clearly they're eating crap food if that's true. Because the Thunder Down Under from Outback Steakhouse? Tastes WAY better than thin feels.

Linda- safe travels back home!

I mentioned on yesterday's thread about going out to dinner- we did end up going, to Longhorn Steakhouse. Surprisingly for a steakhouse, it really wasn't all that difficult to find vegetarian and SB-friendly options for me. I did have to put the bread on "studious ignore" though. I love their bread, especially dipped in ranch dressing (whatever is leftover from my salad)- MMM! So I looked down a lot until the bread basket was empty

Plans today... possibly a movie. My dad and brother want to see the Wolverine movie, in 3D. I want to see it too, but 3D triggers migraines for me. So I might end up seeing it in regular 2D by myself.

I started reading a book this morning, called Annexed. It's fiction, from the point of view of Peter, the teenage boy who lived in the attic with Anne Frank. I want to give the poor guy a hug already, and I'm only 30 or so pages in!

Well, I'm off to procure some coffee. Have a great day all!

Quick check-in, Chickies. I hear water running upstairs so Linda is probably showering to get ready for that long drive home. It has been so delightful having her here - she is the perfect house guest. She cooks and made an incredible pasta dish last night - ww pasta, of course. I will really miss her and so will the dogs.

I'll do some accounting this morning to try to clear some of the backlog. This afternoon I'll wander over to the Fair and do some socializing with the rest of the Directors. I'll also watch the parade and then come home as I'm expecting the Hyper Pypers to arrive and gift me with their two dogs for the week. They rent a gorgeous and $$$ cottage on the Lake that does not allow doggage or kids for that matter. Pine floors and leather furniture are not pup-friendly whether two-legged or four!

Here's Linda so I need to go and not waste the last precious time I have left with her.

Awww, Ruth....enjoy your final morning with Linda. Let me know when you come down here!

Penmage - good job on the bread! Amazing how addicting the white stuff can be. Sigh.

I was glad how my meeting yesterday went (I can not wait!!!), and then it went downhill from there. I had some not-so-nice animals (um, but I'm not sure any cat getting an enema is nice...especially a 20 pounder!), and crabby kids too. But the evening was nice...took the pup on a walk, and spoke to a neighbor for quite a while.

Today is work (oh, yay.), then I'm-not-sure-what. My kids do leave for camp tomorrow, and DH and I haven't had a night without kids in 7 years! WOO HOO!!

Good morning.

I am going to a baby shower this afternoon for my niece (in-law). It is supposed to be unseasonably cool here this weekend and, much as I'd love to hike, I'm going to skip today and see what tomorrow brings. My calf was very sore yesterday and I suspect it was because my foot was hurting and I was probably walking/standing funny at work without realizing it. My plan is to work more on my Alaska travel journal and maybe actually start a book.

Have a great weekend.

Good afternoon, ladies! Back to work again...still not complaining, though. Was really sick last night, to the point that I thought I was going to have to go home, so I didn't eat anything after my dinner at 9 PM. The bloat from my bad (but oh so good) food choices is almost completely gone...4.5 pounds down from yesterday's weigh-in.

penmage - You are SO right. I eat some delicious healthier food as well, but you can't tell me being thin feels better than a big plate of fried green tomatoes dipped in ranch dressing tastes! On that note, I ordered the fried green tomatoes while I was on my mini-vacation and didn't realize that it was an order of 8 (they're not listed on the menu, only on the daily special sign). I took 6 home to my mom, LOL Good job avoiding the bread!

I'm ho-ooooooome! It was sad to say goodbye to Ruth, Disney & Jazz, but all good things must come to an end and I actually think Jake was starting to miss me. It was a long drive home, but the scenery along the way is breathtaking and there was very little traffic, so it wasn't so bad except for a detour I had to take around Syracruse that seemed to take me way out of my way. It's nice to be home again, and I will be seeing Ruth again in October, so that's not too far away.

Linda, glad you made it home safely. I read that there was roadwork in downtown Syracuse. (I go that way to visit my parents)

Natasha and penmage, I'm with you. Being thin is great, but so many off-plan foods are delicious too. I guess the secret is figuring out which indulgences you can eat in moderation. (Is this the time to confess I had Chinese last night? I did manage to avoid the rice as well as anything fried and concentrated on chicken and veggies)

Tammy, enjoy your moments of empty-nest! Consider it practice for the future.

Karen, hope the shower was fun.

Ruth, it must be quiet around your house now but at least there will be extra doggage. Glad you had a nice visit with Linda and it seems your had a lovely day for the fair today!

I need to go food shopping so bad - I am craving veggies. Bubba Gump style - grilled, raw, in everything!!!

Have a good weekend y'all!

I just went to Seattle's international district and walked all over the place and I am exhausted!
But it was sooo worth it.
Got some sugarfree syrup that was chocolate, gonna use that for sure!
I hope everyone's weekend is going well .

Good morning!

We are sitting on the plane headed home. One stop in Minneapolis . I'm glad to resume my normal life. The wedding was beautiful but kirks 2 daughters didn't speak to each other the entire time we were there. I got bug bitten like crazy...the most notable a spider bite, possibly brown recluse, which fortunately didn't require ER.
Ok, flight is leaving. Time to head home and start recovery . Lol

Good morning, Lexxiss. Sorry about the family angst but glad the wedding was beautiful. I know the feeling about being glad to be home - and it gets bigger as I get older.

Hated saying good-bye to Linda but the day went pretty well. I spent some time at the Mill Cafe chatting up the customers who were mostly from "away". I went to the Fair and watched the Parade before going home to wait for my doggie visitors. All went well with them. (I sometimes think dogs get along better than people.) Right now I have Bailey sleeping on my feet (she's 85 pounds!), Disney beside me, Casey on the couch and Jazz on his chair. They are all snoring!

Going to the cottage for dinner with the Pypers tonight and am taking a large green salad and some of my Butterscotch Squares which are food porn. It should be wild as the Hyper Pypers have some other family coming too. I hope I survive all the fun.

Will someone please program my body GPS to get back to South Beach!

LOL Ruth, I think my GPS is broken as well, so I can't help you on that one right now! Sounds like you have a fun and busy weekend, hope you get to rest up sometime this next week.

Debbie - Glad the wedding was fun, sorry the girls couldn't put their mature panties on for a day to get along. I hope I get to see a pic! (you could even send me a link to FB...)

I just went over and took care of the neighbor's dogs (one is diabetic, so they love having me next door!), and am settling in with my coffee. My sweet, fabulous, wonderful kids are gone starting tonight, and I cant wait! I'm sure I'll miss them, but....

Until then, church, and finalize their suitcases. And coffee.

Good morning!

That's too bad that your DILs had to put a damper on the wedding, Debbie, but I'm glad the ceremony was lovely despite the family drama.

Ruth, I'm already missing Jazz curling up beside me while I have my coffee. I know you're in your glory with 4 dogs romping around the house!

It's great to get away, but there's nothing like your own home, even if it IS overflowing with family and loud and noisy. They all must have missed me, though, since they seem happy I'm back.
So today I have a small mountain of laundry to wade through, get some groceries, and pay a visit to Dad. There's also a big tub of cucumbers and a basket of tomatoes and peppers from the garden to deal with, so it looks like there will be lots of fresh salads and grilled veggies on the BBQ to help me stay OP this week.
Time to scrounge up something for breakfast. Hmmmm, I wonder if Dad would miss one of those butter tarts I brought home for him? NOT!

ETA-
Good morning, Tammy! How exciting to have a few days to enjoy with the kiddos away! Enjoy!

Hi everybody. I hit rock bottom about a week ago. Have been eating clean for the last week. It's really cool for IL in July, so I've started my fall nesting early. Yesterday I made a gluten-free bread for myself, beer bread for Chris, dip for veggies (and someone's beer bread,) and homemade apple cider. A girlfriend at work has several apple trees so I'm working on using up the last third of 10 lbs of apples she gave me. Free, untreated produce is wonderful!

Soaked some black beans overnight and plan to use the crockpot today for Mexican casserole, and Tues will be homemade black bean and quinoa burgers. It's the start of birthday season again, so D'Arcy's tomorrow and Friday for Dad and Mom's birthdays, then baby-mama and niece on Saturday (Italian feast time.) That's just this week.

My new resolution is to not let the knowledge of one cheat be an excuse to be off plan. I have 3 cheats this week, which normally would mean I'd take the whole week off and gain 10 lbs. My goal is to eat clean the remainder of the week, including all day tomorrow up until D'Arcy's. Food is hard.

Also, I have my 15 yr reunion in October, and they gave us 3 mos notice (I thought I had 5 more years!!!) So I bought some goal jeans, and I WILL hit goal by Oct 12, no matter how many birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays are in between.

Have missed you girls and thought of you all often. I hope you're all well!

Lisa

welcome back Weezle!

I got on the scale this morning to a nice 6 pound loss. Been exercising every day too so hopefully I make my goal by the end of the month. This go around has been super hard!!!

Food shopping tonight and prep for the week. Send some good vibes that I get some interviews this week...I need a job!