Good morning,

Ellis, yes, my oldest just turned 9 last week. (AS if I need to add two more parties to the already hectic time of year) My "baby" will be 5 in April. So we are trying to keep busy during this Christmas vacation. They argue and continually battle over the smallest things. I'll be glad when they go back to school.

Amy, is your snow melting over on your side of the state? Ours is just starting to melt, good packing snow! We love the west side, Cherry Festival every 4th of July. My youngest asks at least once a month, every month of the year, if we are going to TC this month!

What are we having for dinner today? What would you say is your favorite sbd friendly dish? I have to chime in about the spinach cups, I cut the spinach in half, it was just too much for me. I love spinach, but maybe as an more of an accent with the egg instead of overpowering it.

Have a good day, I usually check in on and off all day.
Julia

Good morning, Chickies~~

Post and run for me, as usual.

Welcome MsJulia!! And Welcome back Kryss!

Not much going on around here. Yesterday wasn't quite as boring at work. Had my movies to watch, and actually had three patients wander in.

Well, gotta fly the coop. Hope you all have a great day on the Beach!

Mamacita

Good morning, MissJulia, and all to come. It's nice to see another EarlyChick staring us up!

I hate to admit it but I've not tried the quiche cup recipe but think I agree on the spinach. I sometimes saute some veggies in the am and throw my egg in but would not use that amount of spinach.

The first task today is to get my car out of the snow! I decided to turn around in the area behind the house so that I could get Harold right to the door. Didn't work. I will give it another try this morning and use bear claws or a strong man if necessary. Jane comes to stay with H. at 11 and I need my car!

Actually the first task is to let the Girls out as Lucy is hollering and crashing into the kitchen door! Brat!

Back later.

I tried to check in yesterday AM twice, but I had too many interruptions, then was asked to babysit the rest of the day.
Barb, congratulations on managing to lose weight over the holidays! Can you send some of your motivation this way? I'm having an awful time trying to stay on track. I got home late last night, and just ate a bowl of oatmeal for my supper. I plan to go grocery shopping this morning, and am going to stock up on lots of healthy foods for Phase 1. I want to make a big batch of the Quiche Cups to have on hand , too. I hope that with plenty of healthy food choices in the house, I can get motivated to stay OP. If I had known how hard it would be for me to get back on track, I NEVER would have strayed from the plan. I can say, though, that it won't happen again!

Good morning to everyone, and hope you all have a great day!

Morning chicks it is almost the last day of the year..... wow. Has it gone by fast. I will be right back my whole family is over my shoulder

Apparently everyone excited about Thursday? 3 chat threads?

Just did a major merge! First time that's happened.

I guess we all were up and ready at the same time this morning. I finally got rid of my over the shoulder readers..... I am just sitting here wihsing I did not have to work tonight. But I only have 4 more shifts and I am done. I will miss the store but not the eveing work. Well I am off again hope everyone has a great day.

Good morning everyone, well I am back in bermuda from my cold visit to Boston. I didn't realize how quickly my body had adjusted to the warmth. When I left Boston it was 9 degress with over 11 inches of snow, I am now at work looking out of my window at the ocean and a wonderful 70 degrees... It is nice to be back... I stayed on program approximately 85% of the time and only gained 2.4 pounds... I am happy to say that I have already taken off 1.4 pounds. I would like to lose a couple more before the end of the year but we'll see how it goes... I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years and if I don't get back I'll chat with you all again in 2005... PS my new years resolution is to get online at home...

Good morning, darlings!

Julia, I like the idea of using the spinach as an "accent".

Mamacita, I've got get one of those portable DVD players! Those are too cool!

Ruth, where are you? I hope you're not under the freakin' car. For goodness sakes, be CAREFUL, girl!

Cottage, you'll be okay once you get some OP food in the house. Planning ahead is EVERYTHING!

Little Chick, I know what you mean about the "over-the-shoulder-readers". My 8 year old delights in his ability to read, and loves to stand by my side reading my posts.

Hi Firefly! What are you up to?

Colleen, you DO realize that we are all green with envy when you mention the weather conditions there? Enjoy it while you can, girl!

I'm trying to upload some photos from my camera, and I can't find the goll-darned cord thingy. It's probably right in front on me, and I just can't see it.
The mice have been into the poison, but they still seem to be partying. I wonder if there's an expiration date on that box... I bought it two years ago.
Hope everyone has a great day!

Ellis - It sounds like we do our drivers licenses the same way. Mine was due to expire on my birthday next month but they let us off work early yesterday so I got mine done. Every other time you can renew it over the internet but I really did need a new picture. In my old picture I had shoulder length permed hair and a chubby face. Very different from now. Yes, I have seen a mouse caught in a sticky trap. That is when we found out that mice can scream. There are a group at work that hate the sticky traps but facilities puts them down. We take any mice that get caught in our recycle bins and release them down by the pond.

MsJulia - It sounds like you did the right thing with those spinach cups. I tried them when I was on phase 1 and they just had WAY to much spinach. What I like to do on the weekend sometimes is to stir fry zucchini, mushrooms, onions and maybe tomatoes, add a little Italian Seasoning and then mix in an egg. Now that is a filling breakfast. I don't know that I have one favorite dish. I love to cook. Last night I made homemade Mu Shu Pork (served in Whole Wheat tortillas). Since I put my own hoisin sauce on the tortilla I can control how much I use. I do love the Broccoli Cheese soup that is posted in phase 2 soups. It is wonderful!

Boston - It was 70 here yesterday in Dallas. It was great to be able to wear shorts to the gym. I just don't think I could live where it was cold all winter. When it gets cold here you just have to wait a few days and it will all change again.

Me - I am off work today and tomorrow. I am still about three hours away from my exercise goal so I'm headed back to the gym today. I really need to go shopping for some more clothes but I hate to spend the money. I do need to replace my size 16 Navy dress pants. My 14s are getting loose and I actually fit into a 12 that I tried on yesterday. I find that being able to wear smaller clothes is very motivating (remember I started at a size 20).

That's so nice, Barb. You should mark them... I'll bet they come right back.
Enjoy your days off, and congratulations on the lower pants size! You've done SO well!!

Barb Woohoo on the lower pants size. That is fabulous! You need to try a pair of the jeans that Mamacita was mentioning- lowrise and bootcut. They are so comfy and flattering. I have a pair of maternity ones from Old Navy and love them.

Not much to report here- in a shortlived burst of motivation I got the ornaments off the tree and DDs bookshlef reorganized with all of her books, puzzles, games, and art supplies. The girl is seriously blessed!

On the topic of good SBD recipes- we cannot forget to mention the Taco Bake. It is a house hold favorite around here.

'Morning, Ladies -

I tried the taco bake last night with DH, who had his with tortilla chips since he's the tall and perpetually skinny type. As we say here in MA, "WICKED YUMMY!" I have leftovers for lunch today, mmmm. As for Spinach, I can eat a plate of spinach with garlic and olive oil as a snack, so perhaps the recipe as written will be right for me! I did make modified cups last night - mushroom, pepper, broccoli and turkey breast chopped fine. Pretty good, but a little on the dry side - I'll take them out of the oven a little sooner next time.

Thanks for recommendations! Day two is done, Day three begun! And I'm a pound down! Yahoo!

Well, now to force myself to work instead of goofing off with y'all! (much rather enjoy your company!)

Ciao!
Solarmama

And BTW - Woo Hoo Barb! You definitely are the hero of the week, being so good in the face of temptation.

Kiko, Congrats on getting the tidying done - I'm saving mine for the weekend.

Ellis - you're absolutely right, if the mice are released anywhere close, they do tend to come right back in. I had a Bio professor in college who did exactly what you suggested - he spray-painted the mice he caught (with non-toxic paint) crazy neon colors, a different color for each week, and let them go farther and farther away - they had to be about a mile away before they didn't make it back after a few weeks. It was funny to see the crazy-colored mice scurrying around, too.

Solarmama