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. :dizzy:

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

Thursday 12/30 Beach Chat
 

Good morning, Chickies~~ :coffee:

Post and run for me, as usual.

Welcome MsJulia!! And Welcome back Kryss! :wave:

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. :D

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!

Thursday chit chat
 

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. :lol: 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! :wave:

Julia, I like the idea of using the spinach as an "accent". :lol3:

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

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

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

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

Hi Firefly! :wave: What are you up to?

Colleen, you DO realize that we are all green with envy when you mention the weather conditions there? :lol: 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. :mad: 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! :wave:

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. :lol3:
Enjoy your days off, and congratulations on the lower pants size! :hat: 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

I got the car unstuck without having to yell for male help! Yay ME! I've made 14 pounds of dog food which will feed the Girls another week, made soup for DH's lunch and now I am taking off! I may hit Wally-World in Smiths Falls and try very hard to avoid the Chinese Buffet.
See you later this afternoon.

Holy Smokies I'm Behind!

Today is the day that I don't come into work until noon so I'm really behind! I just got done reading the posts. :lol: Good news on the dinner tomorrow, Beef Wellington, Cobbish type of salad, Green Veggies (lots of butter) and a few courses I'm sure I can't eat. Including Chocolate Fondue for dessert. I'm going to bring some low fat cheeses in my pocket - like I did for the wine & cheese party. I'm going to bring a low carb dark chocolate for dessert so I don't feel left out. I bought two bottles of Cabernet for the beef course and a Muscat for the dessert course. I can't help but giggle and think of Muskrats. :lol:

Ms. Julia - the snow is melting. I actually think you guys got more than we did during the last storm. DS went sliding all day yesterday and slept like a rock last night. I love TC too! I love the jalopeno (sp?) and cherry salsa! Yum!


Ruth - Be careful! Have fun at Wally world!

Solarmama - That is so funny! I can just see the neon mice running around.

Ellis - If you can find the hole were they are coming in stuff it full of steel wool. They can't chew through it and it keeps them out. Usually around pipes or behind cupboards.

Barb - You are my hero! Wow! I think that is terrific and very motivating. I just cleaned all my 22's out of my closet and some of my 20's. I'm about ready to move from 18's to 16's and it is very fun! I'm not sure about the low risers though - I feel like my belly would be hanging over the low rise. :lol:

Bostonchick - have you installed the web cam yet so we can see the beach! :lol:

Little chick - my second job just called for the first time in six months! I'm working two extra weekends in January to help out. DS is 7 and he is reading, reading, reading! Love the new books that they have for kids.

cottagebythesea - I love the quiche cups and I do use all the spinich. I found all the veggies very overwhelming when I started the diet but I've grown to love them. There is another quiche cup recipe in the cookbook. I can post it if you want me to. It uses sausage. Let me know.

Kiko - Speaking of the taco bake - I love to make taco salads with salsa and sour cream yum!

Ok chickies I better get some work done!

Bostonchick, how long have you lived in Bermuda? I've always wanted to go, never been.

Ruth, how much snow did you actually get there? I don't know much about Canada, we are only about 30 minutes from Windsor. We go about twice a year to the casino.

anchor weight, I haven't tried the salsa, I will have to watch for it next summer.

I have not yet tried the taco bake, I'll try that next week. I made pulled pork from a tenderloin, one of the easiest things in a crockpot. My DH has regular bbq sauce on it and I use carb option sauce which is pretty good. I of course eat mine over a bed of lettuce and he uses beautiful white bread buns!

Well it is still a.m. in Oregon, :coffee: overcast with some rain here and there. Snow on the moutains but we have to make the effort to get into it.

Yesterday was sad for us Law & Order fans, Jerry Orbach died. If you are not a fan he was a cop for many many years in that series and we all loved Lenny.

I only have to work about two or three hours today, pay some bills then go to the grocery store and get some dinner goodies. Don't you all just love to pay bills??? :devil:

It is hard to pick just one recipe. I have a bean recipe that I thought I got off these boards but looking at it I think I got it elsewhere. Is it okay to post it moderators? If so, I will do that tonight.

Everybody have a good one. ;)

Hi all,
Ms Julia - I have been in Bermuda since the end of march and absolutely love it. I am a social worker at the hospital. I have been visiting the island for over 10 years and had a lot of friends here and decided I wanted to try to work here. I then applied for over 100 jobs over a 3 year period and was just about to give up when I got this offer. I haven't regretted it for one moment. It is everything I had imagined and if I get "rock fever" (that is what they call the need to get off the island) then I am only 2 hours away by plane to my family...
Bunna - I am so addicted to Law and Order and I couldn't believe Lenny died...I was so saddened to hear it on the news last night.
I hope everyone continues to have a great day and just think the year is almost over and we can start a fresh if we need to.

Colleen, wow you did something that most of us could only dream of. You are very lucky. My DH used to work for the airline when we first got married. We ended up on Maui every year for vacation for the first 3 years of our married life. I would have really liked to have never returned to Michigan as long as I live. I know that feeling, but to have the ability to actually do something about it is amazing!

Well Chicks most of ya have probably hit the sack by now but... DH is home! It has been a very busy day again! But we did manage to get him a digital camera and I finally got a new cordless phone and I bout the earpiece to go with it so when I am talkin to my Mom all the time I can have my hands free! (Big Grin) Thank goodness I have unlimited long distance! teehee! I will be in TN all day tomorrow it seems my sister had 2 extra tickets for The music city Bowl game (which Alabama just happens to be playin in) and so DH and DD are goin with her. Her cheerleading squad was invited with the football team my niece cheers on and my sister coaches. I would have liked to have went but am really excited that they get to go. On the down side DH does not like to be away from home at night so we are gettin up @ 4 yes 4a.m. to head to Nashville! OMG! That is really early for me. Then we are coming back tomorrow afternoon after the game. So I need to be in the bed but I just had to post cause I miss all my lil chickadees when I am away! Not to mention my eatin has been aweful. I went to the doc Tues. and he changed my med to a different antidepressent for pain. My sister said it is the same one she takes for Fibromyalga.(sp?) He said the other one casues weight gain! HELLO! Don't need that! Any way he wants to do a nerve block on my knee Monday. He said he would do it in my back under x-ray. So we'll see how that goes and if it will help. Well I guess I better get ot bed now. Can't wait to get my life back! haha I miss postin durin the day.
Anchor... I hope you have a wonderful time at the party! Becareful with that cheese in your pocket the mice might leave Ellis for you! teehee!