Aw nuts....broken furnaces, bad coughs, unfinished closets....will the mayhem never stop? Geesh, you guys are just courting disaster this week.

If I had my way we would ALL be tucked away in front of a roaring fire someplace cozy, hot drinks of choice (except none of that garlic/ginger brew for me, thanks!) in hand, doggage quietly settled at our feet....now wouldn't that be something? We could all swap stories and jokes...in PERSON! And just hibernate until Spring.

Well, I can dream, can't I?

I am slowly trying to get back to the Beach. All the Christmas goodies are finally gone, thank goodness! DH has been cooking Beach friendly meals for me, bless him. I still need to get back to exercising, and have had good intentions for over a week. But you know what they say about good intentions! Maybe tonight I will actually get on the treadmill at work on my lunch break and not just talk about it. Hmmmmm....could it be?

Has anyone heard from Marcie? I've IM'd her but no response. Hope all is well.

Okay Chickies, stay warm and work on getting healthy, ok?

Hey Chickies......it is 10:37 and I am just getting in here now. What a day. First I over slept and was running around like and idot to get to my dance class on time. 2 minutes before I was to start teaching we lost power.... makes for an intersesting dance class when you have no music.... finally it came back on. Got home had lunch and then found out our community center ran out of oil... had a booking for tonight for a little girls b'day party that had to be cancled. Then the pipes froze.... finally got oil and then we had to figure out how to bleed the stupid thing. Well we know have heat but the pipes or some are still frozen so the heat is on low we have to heat the building up slowing so the pipes don't split and then try to figure out what to do. Of course the President who knows everything is out of town till tomorrow night or monday morning.... Tell me I don't want a big ole chocolate anything. But I have made it through another OP day considering all the stress. The topper of course was when DH who started the beach with me on Monday has dropped about 6 to 8 pounds and I have only lost 2. So the day just keeps getting better and better. I think I really should go to bed and maybe it will be a better day tomorrow.

clove- not sure if I gave you a warm welcome to the beach. If not glad to meet you I am 36 so we are the same age. I am sure that you will love it here.

Ruthie- I hope you sleep longer tonight.

Ellis- I hope you don't freeze sweetie, and I hope you get your furnace fixed quickly.

1busymomma- hope you got all those bugs.

Deets- you go girl off to the gym I need to get my butt back on the treadmill. And a sauna sounds heavenly. I wish I had one right here right now. I am so tired of the cold.

Franny- can I please have a space by the fire with a glass of wine and a pair of fuzzy slippers my feet are freezing and I need a stress break.

Well girls have a great sleep. Sweet dreams and I will see you on the beach tomorrow if I have a moment to myself.

A big hello to anyone I might have missed.

Franny....

That space by the roaring fire sounds so nice. How about a cup of that Celestial Seasonings Madagascar Vanilla Red tea that Jennifer has. I must have some of that stuff! I haven't heard anything from Marcie since she wrote her beautiful anniversary poem. I do miss her, but realize that some of us need to move on.(I suppose )
Franny, you were my exercise hero for such a long time, so now it's my turn to encourage you.......Get to movin' girl!!!!

Ellis.....come to Franny's and I'll save you a space by the fire. I'll even throw in a warm fleece blanket!

Littlechick.....pay no attention to your DH's quick weight loss. Men are just like that! You are doing great with the 2# loss yourself!
Night Chicksters...going to bed!
Sharon

Our furnace is fixed!
It's still really cold in here, but PHEW! What a relief! I thought we were going to have to wait until Monday afternoon for a repair person! We DID have to shell out 300 bucks, but we can send the bill to our energy provider... they said they'd reimburse us if someone else fixed it because of the long wait for an appointment.

Little Chick, what a time you had... I'm so sorry! Yes, you'd best go to bed. Sleep it off. Things will be better in the morning.

Chaz, your 7 year old is training for his BROWN BELT!? Holy, petolies! That's amazing!

Come on, Emily! Let's get those 2 pounds back off, girl!


Franny, I don't know where Marcie is. We've been waiting for her to come back... I hope everything is okay.

Sharon, I wish we had a woodstove like Ruth. This crazy country! Congratulations on exercising! (yeah, it makes me pretty darned tired, too. )

I just ate a huge chunk of low-fat feta cheese. I just KNOW the scale will be up about 4 pounds tomorrow.

Hi Everyone!
Please forgive me, it is tax time here in the states and it is my most busiest time. I have been checking in and keeping up to date, but very little time to post...

Ruth, wish that I was closer, I would love to see VM !!!

Clovey, I am also in the travel biz and live in California, I can really help you plan a trip, have some good ideas, PM me and let me know how long you will be here, your very close to Vegas, and the drive from Grand Canyon on Highway 40 is one of the most beautiful drives in America. It takes you right up to Boulder Highway, where you will pass Boulder Dam and then right into Vegas.......anyhow, if your interested just let me know.

Franny --glad to see you along with all the newbies.....

Hugs to all,

rb

I posted some recipes in the recipe section!

Ellis, glad you got your heat back on. Ours gave us the same scare a week ago. I thought we'd be sleeping at the Holiday Inn that night. We've got a gas fireplace, but it STINKS. I don't know what the smell is. Something in the liner, I guess.

Ellis...glad to hear you are warming up

Yes, my son will get his brown belt soon. I really need to talk to the instructor on how long it takes to go from brown to black. I really don't want him to have that until he is at least 10? He is a good kid though, and would never dream of hitting anyone...with his little brother being an exception! He did come home today to tell me that he has to practice some "moves" on me to prepare...Yes, I am scared.

Took him to see LOTR tonight, had my Didn't eat that much considering I was in there for 4 hours!!! The movie was really good, except for the kid behind me who kept kicking my seat! I turned around and gave him the evil eye , then him and his little buddy snickered for a good half an hour....

Going to finish the last 10 pages of SBD so I can get my list together and get my behind to the store in the morning.

Goodnight!

Oh my! Was I glad to read that Ellis has heat again! It really was one of the very coldest nights of the year. When it gets to a windchill of -41, it doesn't matter whether it's F or C! I even plugged in my darling car last night. (Did I mention it has heated seats?)

I'm hoping to get to Church this morning but it depends on when H. arises from his bed. He claims he isn't sleeping well these nights. However, he is zzzzzing away when time I check on him. I think he dreams he can't sleep!

Kevin didn't show yesterday but he did call. I sort of frittered away the day with a trip to the Library, some reading, studying lines and still have pieces of Christmas lying around the house. I have to finish that for sure this morning or Gail will give me gentle heck when she comes to clean tomorrow.

I did have a lovely long nap in the afternoon AFTER getting dinner ready to cook. I am usually very tired/stressed by evening and am trying hard to make the 6 to 9 part of the day more relaxed. This is the time of day when H's confusion is worse and I need all my patience.

The Doggage are woofing a wee bit - no terrorists this morning. I think they are saying they want to go out. I'll do my dog and stove duty, put on the coffee and the SAD light and start my day with a half hour of reading in the fake sunshine.

I hope we all have a super Sunday. As another wise chickie says, "It's a gift"!

Hi Ladies!

I have been lurking long enough! Time to reply and introduce myself to the group! I am Jeni from Indiana, mom to three pretty good kids (boy-15, girl-14, girl-6) and as any mom would be, very proud of them. I am married to my best friend, Kevin, my personal cheerleader! I work full time not only as a mother but as an addiction counselor as well. AND I just went back to school, so life is busy busy busy!

My weight history, up/down/up/up/up! I have battled with my weight all my life. November 2002, I weighed in at 317 lbs and I don't know if the light finally kicked on or what, but it was time to do something about it. I started going to a nutritionist December 2002 and from that time to July 2003, I took off 76 lbs, taking me to 240-241. From July to October, I played with 10-15 lbs, up and down, so I quit going to the nutritionist, it was wasting my time, her time and my money! In November I began SBD, starting weight was 250 and lost 17 lbs in 3 weeks, which was amazing to me! Then my gall bladder went nuts and the day after Thanksgiving I had it removed. Consequently from that point on through the holidays I was an eating machine, because nothing bothered me, pain wise. I knew I was picking up weight like a rock rolling down a mountain......faster and faster. So, on January 4, 2004, I stepped on the scales (242) and recommitted to SBD. Today is weigh in and in 7 days I have taken off 7 lbs. Down to 235. I am very pleased with SBD!

SBD has been simply amazing to me, very rarely am I hungry, seem pretty satisfied most times. When I am hungry between meals I make sure it's not out of boredom first!

I just wanted to say hello and finally come out of my shell! Support is such a gift.

To everyone on here, thanks for being here and hope you don't mind another beacher to your group!

Have a great day!

Jen

Morning, chicks!

Just a wee quick post before I dash out the door for home. You would think the cold would keep all the criminals and idiots home, but that is just not the case. Busy Saturday night.

Welcome, Jen! I am from Ohio, so you are my neighbor, so to speak! You've done great so far, and I am sure you'll continue to succeed on the Beach! And who knows, an addiction counselor may just come in handy! LOL!

Cheers!

Welcome, Jenshere! We are glad you came out of lurkdom!

Morning chickies... woke up this morning at 6 went and checked the community center no busted pipes Thank Godness...needless to say my stress level has dropped alot. Welcome Jen... there is always lots of room on the beach.... and support you will get lots...these ladies are great. My life is better for them because they truley understand what I am going through in my battle of weight loss. You have done great so far glad you have joined up pull up a piece of the sand lay out you towel and enjoy. Have a great day chickies.

Thanks for the welcome! Will look forward to meeting all of you amongst the threads!

Have a great day!

Good Morning!!! I'm really excited about being a part of all this, everyone is so friendly!!!

Just to introduce myself a bit: 32 yrs old, live in NC, 2 children ages 10 and 5, one husband, a sun conure, one american eskimo, a turtle and 2 fish. TMI? I have Type1 diabetes and have been on SBD since the beginning of December.

Last night we went to a football party at a friends house. Got to watch the Carolina Panthers win (wooohooo) AND I didnt eat any of the goodies they had prepared, just kept sipping my water w/ lemon. After Church today, I'm going to practice "ramping" which I have to say I love it!!!! (New aerobic class here, just learning the moves.) Have a great day everyone!!!!!

Gavinsmom, we're glad you're here! Congratulations on sticking to your water at the party!

Welcome, Jen! Wow, you are doing GREAT, girl! I'm glad you've got a supportive husband.

Little Chick... phew! No busted pipes! Thank goodness for that!

Rowan, taxes! Oh, lordy...

Ummm, Jennifer... I hope that's not GAS you smell! Maybe it was that dead body you tried to burn. Hey, thanks for the recipes... I'm going to check them out. They'd better be good.

Chaz, don't you just wanted to "reach out and touch" some of those little nasties at the theatres? We took the kids to a magic show before Christmas, and the kid AND the mother in front of me were bobbing around all OVER the place. I finally gave each of their seats a damned good kick, and they settled down.
Geez, I can just imagine you being flipped by a seven-year old.

Franny, are you addicted to something? Food, perhaps?

Ruthie, did you get to church? You haven't been able to get there for ages. (yes, as a matter of fact, I went to church just before Christmas. )
I'm sorry the evenings are rough for you. I'll say a wee prayer, shall I?

Hey, it's REALLY warm out there! Only -15C! And it's snowing. Supposed to go up to -5 today.
But damnit, I'm right out of coffee.
Back later... hugs to all...