It's a bit cool for coffee on the deck so gather around the kitchen table this morning. It had "that feel" last night so I brought in my big pot of basil. I'll do eggs and Canadian bacon and we can have tomatoes with it and some fresh basil.

I really did take a day "off" yesterday with just the usual daily errands - bank, store, post office. I managed to get the 103 prize envelopes labelled, filled with $560 worth of change and small bills, sealed and sorted. Licking the flaps is the hard part but I managed to do it without getting a paper cut on my lips or tongue.

This morning Hershey aka Big Furry Momma goes to Holly for her pre-natal hair cut. She'll probably go to Morna's in two weeks. I had planned to take her to the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair this morning but the haircut is more important. If she's done by noon, we may still make it. The Turkey Fair is just an excuse for a fall festival - bands, games, craft and food booths. It's called that because farmers used to bring their turkeys there for sale every fall. There are contests for the best turkey made out of one of those round bales of hay. Too funny!

Since it will be a lovely cool day for working, I'm going to do some more garden clean-up today. Tomorrow will be busy with Church followed by the Terry Fox Run registration and then a 3:30 rehearsal. I intend to sneak a nap in there somehow.

What's happening in your area this weekend? I know that Ivan is still hanging around and dumping rain on folks. I hope the jerk does no more damage than that.

Morning chicks I am just heading out the door to teach my dance classes then I have to run to get grocries then get back home to tidy a bit before we host the end of the year ball party for my dh team. I should have done the cleaning last night but I went to bed instead. Oh. I hope everyone has a great day I will try to hop back in later.
Ruth- It is raining here, and has been chilly in the mornings as well you can feel fall in the air. Hope you get to the fair it sounds like a blast. I should pick your brain on some fundraising ideas??? we are trying to raise money for my dd dance troupe got any good ideas?? Well must go or I am going to be late for my babies. Chow chicks.

Crap! It's frickin' freezing in my house, Ruth! I had to turn the furnace on.
You need to use a little sponge in a bowl of water next time you're doing envelopes.
If you get a chance, could you take some pictures of those hay turkeys, please? What a hoot!
I hope the rehearsals are going well!

Today... DH and I are going to see how far we can stretch our credit, and pick out a new stove, dishwasher, microwave, and range hood. All stainless steel to match our "cadillac refridgerator". And then I suppose we'll start renovations. Can't wait.
I must admit, seeing my girlfriend's new house yesterday sort of sent me back into "reno mode". They bought a big, new house in the country, and the rooms are quite large compared to ours. Our house is much bigger, but the house is long and narrow, and the rooms are smallish. Not much we can do about that...
No matter. I love my old city house with it's little, galley kitchen. The only problem is, if we're going to have a new kitchen, DH may demand that I use it on occasion...

Heck... I missed you, Little Chick!
A bake sale. Mom's church always makes over a thousand bucks during their spring bake sale.

Little Chick, our Church is selling spring bulbs this Thanksgiving weekend. We got a real deal. PM me if you want the website.
Bake sales are good too. I always make six or more pineapple cakes and they sell really fast at $5-$6 bucks apiece. Yes, I'll share the recipe although it is definitely not OP!

little chick - how old are the dance troup girls? could they do a leaf-raking blitz?
when do they need the money? what about a gift-wrapping stand in December...just a thought.

Good morning, Chickies~~

Feeling a whole lot better today. I was the official "horror story" patient of the day at the doctor's office. No one had ever seen 16+ spider bites on one person before. Even a visiting med student wanted to come have a gander. Didn't get a jab of decadron in the rear, but I'm on an antibiotic (seems I've got quite the infection from all those bites) and a stepdown pack of prednisone. I'm still itchy, but the fever's down and I don't feel as sick as I did yesterday.

Ruth, have a great time at the turkey fair...sounds like fun. Like Ellis said...we need pictures of those giant hay bale turkeys.

Ellis, I envy you being able to go out and buy appliances....I hate malls but I just love appliance shopping! I watched Kitchen Accomplished on Food Network last night and got the "wants" for a new kitchen. Mine's horrible.

Today I'm just going to hang out and try to recoup from these bites...may go wander around the farmer's market and try to get inspired to make something yummy for dinner since the whole crowd is here.

You all have a great day on the Beach~~

Mamacita

good morninig chickies!
mama oh my goodness i hope you have the spider population under control!! and get well soon!!

ruth a turkey festival? that sounds like such fun!! hope you get a chance to stop in. have a good day.

little chick have a good time dancing your butt off this morning.

ellis- yes i actually exercised last week (believe it or not) i broke a sweat on monday, tuesday, and wednesday. and i LIKED IT!! jealous of your appliance shopping!! my kitchen is next on my list of rooms to redo hopefully we will start sometime this winter. we are still recovering from the last reno we did!! have fun!!!

a broad- hi there nice to see you this morning.

me?? well movie night at home last night was good!! we watched jersey girl - ben afflec, jen lopez not bad a little sappier than i like tho. and 13 going on 30. i did not gorge myself on snacks during the movies so i felt good!! today was my official weigh in day after a week of being totally faithful to myself and i lost 7.5 lbs!!! i updated my phiting phatty thread and i am ready for week 2!!! today i am hoping to get some shopping done and then off to my sisters birthday party this evening. hope you all have a great day!!!

Cold and dreary here too. Brrrr, I'm not ready for winter.

Ruth, you'll have to post the before and after picture of the extreme pre-natal haircut! How much longer before the "expected date of confinement"?

Little chick, how fun to teach a dance class! You must get lots of exercise.

Ellis, good luck with the appliance shopping. I love new appliances! Hope you and your family are doing well.

A broad-abroad, Christmas wrapping does sound like a good idea for fundraising.

Mamacita, well I hope you've enjoyed being the "learning patient" I've gotta admit I've done it before. There's nothing like new and weird to pique the nurses interest. Hope you get feeling better.

Justjodi, the movies sound good.

Hoping for a quiet day in the ER. My hubby leaves for a week tomorrow so I hope to get a lot done. Have a great weekend!

Can you gals send a little of that cool air this way, please? I just got back from a 2 hour walk. It is 10 in the morning and 90 degrees. The heat index is 99! The low was only 67. Oh, well, it was still a good walk even if it was hot.

We're heading out to the opening of the White Rock Lake Museum this afternoon. For any of the locals, they will have sailboat making for the kids at 3. I have no idea how fun it will be but it earns my son at least one elective and possibly two. The Plano Balloon Festival is this weekend. We MIGHT go to the evening launch tonight but I think it will be too hot. They have a launch at 6:30 tomorrow morning and I think we'll go to that instead. I'll be up anyway since I have to work at 4 tomorrow morning checking out the servers after their monthly reboots.

I'd better go get laundry started. I imagine DH will wake up soon. He is just not a morning person.

Well, Hersh got home too late to take in the Turkey Fair BUT I did get some garden work done. Way out back, I discovered that my raspberries weren't bashed down by the huge rain of a week ago but were loaded with berries. I love fall raspberries and wish i could share them with the rest of the chicks - on Phase II only, of course!

Now Hersh and I are going to have a cozy nap. I love crisp days! By the way, Barb, our HIGH will be 60 today!

Just a quick dash in to say hi to everyone.

I survived the first week of Phase 1 (the boss was on Phase 1 this week ) and I think it is worse than doing it myself. Trust me. When I got home, made OP chili (yummy) and started my ironing (which is about 2 years overdue ). Then DS's girlfriend came home and started to quiz me about SBD...she has gained a lot of weight the last little while and has outgrown most of her clothes. This is a big step for her because she keeps telling me that she eats so much more healthy than anyone she knows. However, I also see the empty chip bags that come out of her room and the amount of junk food that she takes to work with her. When she realized that I was losing a lot and she was gaining, she is now interested in the program that I am following. She will be starting Phase one next week. That means no getting away from the phase 1 crabbies next week. Will have them at work and at home.

DH went to the faculty club at the university for a brunch today. I was going to go, too, but decided that I was not in any temperment right now to resist temptations if they happened to be there, so told him that I really wanted to get the ironing done. The minute the car drove out of the driveway, I sat down to read posts here. I feel just like a kid being bad.

Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend. I must get back to the ironing (and watching movies). Take care all.

Hi all --

I am thinking about going off the beach for a bit -- but combining what I have learned here with something that works better for me. I feel like a big disappointment in that I preached how easy this was -- but can't follow through myself.

I just can't afford it right now. And on top of that, I feel like I am depriving myself so much because I am always gaining and going back to Phase 1! I MISS FRUIT!

So, I am going back to trying what I did when I first started the weight loss: watching what I eat and excersise. I may have to eat FRAKENFOOD {{{ruth}}} for a while, but this time I am armed with my SB--low sugar, good carb knowledge and I am setting fouth.

I am going to be around here though, if I am still welcome...

Jenn

Hey chickies!!

I am alive, I really am! It has been CRAZY BUSY in my world these last two weeks. I am exhausted, and this seasonal allergy stuff is hitting me hard!

Eating has not been great, although I don't think my weight is super far up.

We take our fifth graders to camp this week in Oklahoma, so I won't be around much. I look forward to getting caught back up with everyone!

Miss you all......

Hello everyone!!! The remnants of Ivan produced 40 tornados in my state yesterday. One was just miles from my house and another went right by my husband's work. We survived thank god!!! I had the mattress off my bed ready for me and the kids to seek refuge under. It was scary. They kept the kids in school an extra hour. My poor little Ethan was scared to death when he came home because they had all the kids in the hallways with their heads covered. We are getting rocked with bad weather this year. The leaves aren't going to be as pretty this fall due to all the rain.

On the brighter side, I started adding a mile and a half walk to my day,and I started drinking more water. I'm hoping this helps me get off this plateau I've been on.

Tomorrow is Sunday and that means my husband is going to be watching football all day. I hope the Redskins win so he'll be in a good mood. If not maybe I'll go for 2 walks. hahaha. I hope you all have an awesome weekend. Take care ladies!!!