Wakey! Wakey! I woke at 3 but did go back to sleep to dream about not knowing my lines. I guess it's time to quit procrastinating and learn the darn things properly!

The little puppy died on Saturday. Morna feels very, very badly as she realizes we should have had him put to sleep rather than let him suffer. He cried all the time and even Hershey was very stressed and upset. Some things are just not meant to be. I will go over there this afternoon and play with the other eleven pups and chat with Morna. That should make us all feel better! I will try to get some shots of Lucy's pups who are now just "fabulous" according to Morna. They change so very fast at that age and I've not seen them since Thursday.

The plays at the Mill are over. We nearly froze to death in there yesterday afternoon - never do a play in an unheated stone building that has water running through it in October in Canada! We could see our breath! Hot cider helped but was definitely not OP. It was a big success once again and we will definitely do another series in the late spring and summer - never in October again!

Speaking of OP, I have to change my signature as I am now back up but still in ONEderland, just barely. October was a busy month and too many extras snuck in. I was not expecting to gain but there it is.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. I may even start us a fire in the woodstove if it's cold down there. We can hang out until Gail arrives.

Have a good Monday.

Good morning Chicks~~

Ruth, I'm so sorry about the puppy. But at the same time, glad it's just one and there weren't any more casualties.

I held true to my word yesterday and did as little as possible, with the exception of some laundry and cooking dinner. Tried to do some writing, but seem to be suffering from creative constipation. What I need is to get back into my local writers association. Had to let my membership lapse due to financial reasons this past year. I'm sure things will be better come January.

Not much else going on here. Hope everyone has a great day on the Beach!

Mamacita

Morning Mama and Ruth!

Ruth Sorry to hear about the pup.

Mama Good for you for taking it easy yesterday. I actually got quite a bit done including a nap and exercise.

Hope everyone has a super day! Hopefully this won't be the last time I post for the week which seems to be my weekly trend once things get busy and crazy at school.

Behave chickies!

Hello fellow Beach Babes,

Ruth, a fire sounds good right now. Here, its cold, rainy, windy, and dreary. I'm so sorry to hear about the little pup. He's in a better place now. As you said, some things are not meant to be.

Ellis, have you already gotten rid of your old kitchen appliances? I recently heard about a volunteer grassroots organization called Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) that connects people who need to get rid of usable items with those who can use them. It's all done via email and it was started to help reduce them amount of stuff going into landfills. It has spread to over 1,500 cities internationally. The people who need the items have to come and get it!! I can empathize with what you're going through right now. We did the whole kitchen remodel mess a few years ago, down to the floorboards, and I will never go through that again

Well, I had an OOPS moment this weekend. We were invited to a party on Sat. night and I hadn't thought about what to wear until it was time to start getting ready. Most of my old pants don't fit anymore and the tops sort of fit, but are much looser now. I have gotten some jeans to hold me over until goal weight, but I haven't bothered with (read: forgot) dressier pieces. So after trying on all remaining slacks I finally found a pair that was suitable with a light sweater tucked in! I haven't worn something tucked in in YEARS.

At the party there was a variety of good food, though most of it was totally off plan. There were some things I could have, and did, but I supplemented with a few tastes of things I won't be making at home - LOL. For example I had some shrimp cocktail but could tell the cocktail sauce was the store kind because it was too sweet. Same thing with the one meatball I had, the B-B-Q sauce was waaay tooo sweet. Oh well, I was happy concentrating on the smoked salmon - YUM.

I also made a cultural observation. Just about the only people who were eating from the vegetable platter were me and the Germans. The Americans supplemented their meat with chips and dip, peanuts, or other munchies. The Germans had wine or water with their food, but all the Americans that weren't drinking beer were drinking soft drinks. Don't get me wrong, obviously the Germans love their beer, but its usually drunk alone or with a light meal. Those giant .5L beers have between 200 -300 calories each, plus they're heavy and very filling.

It's time to do a mini cooking event. I've been having too many Triscuits with LF cheese the last few days so I made some chili for the week. I think I'll try the zucchini puffs tonight and blanch some broccoli for snacks tomorrow. By the way, this morning I had some plain LF yogurt with Splenda and Pumpkin Pie Spice and it was very tasty.
Well, my squash is about through cooking so I'd better go attend to that. Have a good, ON-plan day ladies.

Good morning all...

Hope everyone is enjoy the crisp October morning! I am waititng to go on my coffee break!

Ruth- Sorry about the pup.

more later...

cac

Good Morning Chickies! School starts back today! Yipee! Yes I love having the 2 week break and i don't have to get up before the sun but.... I am ready for peace and quiet again! haha DH went and bought a pool table for the kids for the bonus room above the garage over the week-end. Well neither one was here until lastnight and then you didn't see them til we made them come in. I'm thinkin hello why didn't you get that before fall break was over! UGH! It is part of their Christmas but DH who is always against giving gifts early insisted that they have ot now! Guess who was the first to rack 'em up? Yeap DH! haha But he did give up some of his C-mas money as well! Not me! haha I'm planning a really srict phase 1 week as I only have 2 weeks left and 5 more lbs. to go! I need to make a grocery run and get some veggies to snack on during the day. I'm sure I will do much better now that the kids are back in school.

a broad abroad... Sound like you did really good at the get together. Isn't it nice to not have anything to wear cause it is to big for once! So much nicer than everything being to small!

Ruth... Sorry bout the pup. But if Morna had put it down she might have felt guilty thinkin it might have survived. You just never know with these things. Pet the puppies for me! It was cold here over the weekend and rained all afternoon yesterday. Looks like it will be in the high 70's again this week though.

Kiko... Have a good week with the lil chittlin's! Teachers are hero's in my book cause that is a job I don't think I would ever want to do. Although I was a good room Mother I think! haha I had one day a week where I went to the school and helped the teacher all day with whatever she needed. What grade do you teach?

Mamacita... Sending creative vibes your way! I used to write a lot when I was younger but have not written anything in years. My Mother is a writer as well. She says one day she is goin to write her life story. Glad you got some much needed rest!

cac... Enjoy that !

Well as long as this took between writing lunch checks saying a prayer with the kids before they left and all that I am sure others have posted! Oh I almost forgot more inspiration to get this weight off! My baby sister called lastnight to tell me she was getting married and ask me if I would be her Maitren of Honor! I was so excited! She had 4 sisters to choose from and she picked me! I'm special so special! So now I really have to get busy cause the wedding is in Dec. Have a good day all! I'm off to get more ! I'll need it after sleepin in for 2 weeks!

Hi everyone. I'm back after being MIA for so long. I had been lurking for a while but decided that I must get my act together and particpate fully. I'm so glad that you're all here and are so awesome...

Ruth - I'm so sorry to hear about the pup. I'm amazed you were able to perform yesterday. I'm sure you must have burnt off the cider staying warm! he he he....

Kiko Congratulations! Please keep us posted with all the details. I still hope that we will have another one day...

A broad... good job on resisting temptations...

Mama - I'm glad you took it easy yesterday. Don't fret about the creativity, it will come...

Everyone to come have a great OP day!

Me - well, my dh lost the job from ****, but is in suprisingly good spirits. I am too as he is much less tortured now. It was truly making him miserable. As a result though, I was very bummed about having to stop karate classes. For some reason that really hurt. My semphi (teacher) has been kind enough to let me suit up and help with the toddler class. Which has been terrific fun. I'm back to Phase I, day 1 today...

Baumie, I'm sorry I missed you by accident. Men are such men sometimes. It sure sounds like something my DH would have done. Have a great day!

Hey Under a palm tree... Welcome back! It sounds like a happy sad for DH. Hope it all works out and if he hasn't found another job yet I pray he will soon. Good luck on your first day back!

a broad abroad, that site is great! Thank you!! Unfortunately we had to pay to have appliances removed, but I'll remember that for next time.
That was an interesting observation you made at the party. We North Americans are really in a bad way where food is concerned. Every occasion revolves around food, and it's all about rewarding ourselves.

Bamie, an excuse to lose weight! We could all use one of those... good luck, girl, and congratulations to your sister!

Ruthie, so sorry about the pup. Bamie's right... it's such a difficult call.
So, how about sitting down in front of the woodstove this afternoon and learning some lines, eh?

Mamacita, last November I got myself going with writing by participating in NaNoWriMo. Have you heard of it? http://www.nanowrimo.org/ It was all about quantity and not quality, but I managed to churn out my 50 000 words, and there was a fair bit of good stuff in there!

Karen, you're doing better than most of us, and you're pregnant!

Hi Cac!

I'm rushing off to see my psychi... back later...

Under a Palm Tree, I missed your post... I'm sorry/glad about your DH. I'll pray for a new job for him.

Good morning everyone. It sounds like everyone had eventful weekends.

Ruth: I'm so sorry to hear about the puppy. That is just too sad. I hear you about all the extras in October. But the worst temptation is still to come! HALLOWEEN!

Mamacita: Wishing you some inspiration.

A broad: That's so funny about the cultural observation. I spent some time in Europe for a few months and def. know what you're saying.

I had a very busy weekend. I had an alumni event for school and a cookout at the Patriot's game for my bday yesterday and had no choice but to ignore my diet. Oh boy were there treats! I just decided that it was my bday and was giong to eat what I wanted. And that I did. But I'm okay with it. I'll take responsibility for my actions. I think that I will be back at Phase I for a bit now. I won't even step on a scale and see what kind of damage I did. Instead I'm Phase I full charge and hitting Curves all this week. Basically starting fresh here. Hahahaha, oh well. I will say though that I am really enjoying my time at Curves and really can tell that it is helping me a lot.

So that's about it. I hope everyone has a great day and really feels good about themselves. Will stop in again later.

Just a quick drive by to say hi!!! I am waaaay behind here after being out Fri. afternoon. But, I'll post more later. Promise!!!

lauren

Morning, gals! Saturday may have been cool but it is supposed to be in the 90's today! Pretty cloudy too. Where did Fall go?

Ruth, sorry about the puppy.

Good Morning Chicks!

I walked in the door at work and guess who got in my face - my teacher who complains all the time. I hadn't even had a green tea yet!

Oh well she can't get me down today because I'm down 3 more pounds! This Wednesday will be one month and I'm 20 pounds lighter. I bought veggies over the weekend and I'm re-dedicating myself to less dairy more veggies!

Alli - don't worry about b-day splurge. I'll probably do the same thing unless I can convince my mom to buy a cake I don't like. It really is for my son anyhow because he thinks everyone should have a cake on their b-day.

Ruth - Sorry about the puppy. Morna did the right thing. Kiss the other puppies for me and get a good wiff of that puppy breath!

Bami- Yeah - a wedding - now that is motivation to stay OP.

A broad - Congrats on doing well at the party. Yes, we Americans eat like we are never going to eat again! Everything that used to be a treat when I was a kid is now standard fare for everyone. Here in Michigan they joke that the most popular meal is a huge prime rib steak and potato and most people leave the potato on their plates. When I was kid soda pop was a treat, candy was a treat, potato chips and dip were a treat that you got on Christmas or Easter or at family reunion.

Mama - Good luck on finding your inspiration. Maybe the stress at work is blocking your flow.

I didn't exercise this weekend because of jerking my back out at the show but I'm going to do it this week! To everyone else who I may have missed - have a very OP kind of day. I'm hoping to be in onederland by January 1, 2005.