Good Morning on this very rainy and windy morning! Our power was out overnight due to some downed trees, and I don't know how long we'll have it on today. I have to go out later for some groceries, so I hope this storm eases up by then.

The girls and I had a great time at the aquarium yesterday, it was really fascinating and educational, too. We could have picked a better time to go, though, because the place was packed! It was hard to keep track of the kids, they kept wanting to run up ahead, so I made them hold each other's hand to stay together. The rain held off until we were headed home, so the driving wasn't too bad, thank goodness.

So what's everyone doing today? If you're in this storm's path, stay dry and be careful!

Good morning! Yes, please, please be careful and stay safe. Rain and wind are looking very scary over the East Coast. Here we are expecting strong winds and lots of rain but nothing like they are getting in NC and other spots!

Cottage, my power isn't out but I have no water! When I went to get my bedtime drink, there was nothing but air coming out of the tap. I think the pump may have died. "Yes, Dad. I did check the fuses." Of course the timing is lousy with the long weekend. I am going to call my friend Charlie who is in the plumbing business and see if he can do anything. In the meantime, I will run a very long hose from the well in the meadow to the house for water! It's a good thing I have at least 300' of hose! I just may have to put up with lugging pails until Tuesday. (I suspect Charlie and family are away for the weekend.)

BUT it's not going to ruin my weekend! I plan to cozy in and do some easy jobs like sewing and a bit of paperwork and have a book to re-read for my book club meeting next Thursday. I have a dental re-check that same day so could spend the weekend flossing too.

What's happening on your stretch of The Beach? Are you soggy? Windswept?

OY Vey! Ernesto left, but has left behind lots of flooding , downed trees and power outtages all over this area of NC... Our power was up and down all day yesterday, and the main street in the development is a swamp. Nothing planned for today... may just stay indoors to wait for stuff to dry out!

Good Morning Chicks. It is NASTY here - the rain and wind are awful - I am sure not as bad as it is in some places, but bad enough. And to think I need to pay the rent, go get food, go get school supplies today - what was I thinking not doing them yesterday????? Oh wait - didn't have time

Anyway Penn State has their first home football game today - feel bad for them - I would not want to be playing in this - town will be nuts - it isn't all that big here so when it is football traffic just plain sucks!!!!!

Ruthxxx - I am so sorry about your water - hey good point - you can count each pail that you carry as excersie time - you might just become the queen this month - on a serious note - I hope that you get it fixed

Well my daughter needs to go check her webkinz (any of you parents out there - great toy for kids - teaches them so many things - I don't think I can post the website but it is kind of like sims but with pets for kids - my daughter has 29 - you have to feed them, play with them, bathe them and work for $$$ - really neat and the stuffed animals that you buy are just too cute)

Well I hope everyone stays dry today and warm too - cold out - hard to believe that it was almost 100 last week - not it isn't even 50 )

Take care and keep on beachin - RMT

Wow, the weather isn't playing so nice with some of you!

Today marks my official first weekend on the Beach.... and we're going up to my family's cottage at the lake- a.k.a. the land of brownies & beer! Wish me luck, I'll need it!!!

Geez girls. Be careful with all that crazy weather! That's nasty business with flooding and such. Not to brag, but it looks as though it'll be a nice day today. Sunny and a high of 78. I haven't decided if I want to be outside all day or not for work. It's just a lot of work setting up a sidewalk sale. I do get to dress down if I go outside though. It's such a tough decision...

Otherwise, let's hope that my day goes better than yesterday did. I had so many angry guests yesterday! I can't count the number of times I got yelled at, and my partner Mike, too. I got heart palpitations and had anxiety from it even. Not a good situation. Of course, a little relaxation last night got rid of all that so I feel good today. I try not to let it get to me, but after the first 3, I started to get a little stressed. I told my boss about it and he said "Well if you're crabby, the guests are going to be crabby too." I wasn't crabby until after the 3rd one, and that's when my patience ran out. I thought I did pretty well being patient with the first 3, but that's just me.

Well, I think I'm going to camp out on the couch for an hour before I have to get ready for work. Hope everybody has a great (and dry) day today! Be careful!

Lisa

cottage - Brian loves the aquarium. He can spend hours just observing. That's our favorite thing to visit when we go to see my sister. I'm glad you have your power back on. I can remember going for days without it in Florida after a hurricane but we don't have that problem here in Dallas.

Ruth - take it easy with the water hauling. I'm glad you've got the long hose. Hauling water is hard work.

schatzi - I'm glad you're okay but it doesn't sound like any of you chicks have had it easy. Thank goodness it wasn't worse. We don't need another Katrina this year.

RMT - We have some badly needed rain predicted here. It seems like in this drought we will have two good stretches of rain. The 4th of July holiday and Labor Day weekend. We need any rain we can get. Wow! You guys have really cooled down. It feels cool in the morning here but it was still in the upper 90's yesterday. However that's a lot cooler than last week so I'm enjoying it.

Emilie - I found that when I let my friends know that I was eating differently in order to be more healthy and I brought tasty on plan food to share, that they were very supportive. And very encouraging as the weight and inches came off. Be strong and bring food you can eat!

Me - Powerflex is cancelled due to the holiday but Kwando is still on and I think JB is going to make the class longer so I'll be up at the gym soon. I need to get out there and do some gardening too if the rain hold off. There is more okra to pick. Hmm. I've got quite a bit up in the freezer. Maybe I should make gumbo this week.

Hey girls, it's good to see some of you floating, blowing or swimming by. Glad Ernesto is about done. Sorry to those of you suffering the after effects.

Cottage the aquarium sounded fun, but sheesh, trying to keep track of kids....exhausting.

Ruth, sorry about the no water thing. It's amazing how often you turn to the faucet. Be careful with hauling the water, don't want to strain something. Don't you have some handyman that could help? We all always enjoy reading about them.

Schatzi, hopefully you'll be able to do lots of stuff indoors today. Hoping there isn't too much damage for you!

RMT, the drastic weather change is tough, 50 isn't usually cold....unless you've just left 100!

EmiliB, take the land of fruits and veggies with you, sip v8 and maybe you won't hit the land mines of brownies and beer.

Weezle, breathe deeply, go to the happy place...........imagine all those customers a big split in the back of their pants, their fly unzipped or broccoli in their teeth..........SERVES THEM RIGHT!

Barb, you are an exercising animal! Also a dedicated scouter! you are amazing!

Well, I'm off to help with the bathroom remodel, it's about time, we've been minus a bathroom for about a month. Ya'll take care this weekend and wear your seatbelts!

I see everyone is up and at em this morning. Most of you seem to be swimming though! Hope everything moves through quickly. It is lovely here, low to mid 80's and partly sunny. They even decided to open the pool up for the last weekend. It was stupid to close it for a month, but then I am not on the condo board and don't make the decisions. Next empty spot though either Jack or I am claiming it. I am tired of having problems here that no one seems to want to fix.

I don't have time for personals today. We are trying to get everything done we can that I wouldn't be able to do by myself once Jack has surgery. He needs to take stuff up to the attic, shampoo carpets, stuff like that. I can do the carpets, but he gets prissy about it so I quit and let him do it. Like I care if I lose one cleaning job to do! I want the condo to be in good shape because I am liable to have a houseful of company.

We had to postpone his surgical consult for a week because he can't see the surgeon without a referral and can't get a referral until at least Tuesday. Only problem is this guy operates all week and only has office hours ON Tuesday so we made it for the 12th. Jack physically feels fine and is having no problems so all we can do is just pay attention if he starts to feel bad or anything. He knows the warning signs and he is not one to let something go. So, with that being the case, it might be the end of Sept before he has surgery. I am much better than I was. Just takes time to swallow everything and it was a shock. We really did think the most they would have to do is put in another stent.

Onward and upward girls! Have to get the work done, then it is in the recliner with a book for me!

Faye

The rain looks like it's about over, right now it's just drizzling. Of course, Jake and I couldn't wait, we just had to brave the storm at it's worst, running errands and getting groceries. But we had the store to ourselves, which was great! We made it back home safe, but soggy.
I've been craving pizza like mad, so I picked up a frozen SBD cheese pizza for myself for lunch, and it wasn't bad at all. I didn't want to read the ingredients, I knew there'd be a lot of " FRANKENFOOD" garbage in it, but I could have done a lot worse, and it DID satisfy the cravings. I had a cup of Carrot Ginger Soup with it, Mmmm, so good! (I get the soup at Trader Joe's). So we're just staying home for the rest of the day. I just finished making a Cauliflower salad for our BBQ tomorrow, and later I'm going to make a Chocolate Mousse pie, using SF FF chocolate fudge pudding mix, FF Cool Whip and LF cream cheese. I make my own version of a graham cracker crust, using Fiber One cereal that I put in the processor with a little splenda and Smart Balance margarine. If I make the pie I won't be tempted to eat the cake and ice cream. We're celebrating 3 birthdays tomorrow, so there will be plenty of temptations for me to try to avoid. I'm really motivated right now, so I know I'll be good.
Jake must have fallen asleep, I can hear him snoring all the way up here! I'm going to snuggle up with a book, and maybe join him in a nap.

Ruth, I hope you can get someone out to fix your water problem today! I hate to think of you hauling water, especially in the rain.

Yippee! I have water! Charlie dropped in for coffee on his way through the Village from the campground - trying to escape his nagging wife and whining triplets, he said, but I know it was in response to my voicemail. (I managed to call Mike and cancel him before he got here - I guess I owe him a beer or two.) Charlie had the pump fixed and running in a half hour and I won't have to haul water this weekend. I am insisting he bill me but he says "If I remember!" C. is on the Fair Board with me but it still was a business call on a holiday weekend even though it is about to rain.

I can manage fine without electricity but water is another matter!

So...maybe a nap now and then some reading and plan something good for dinner.

Good afternoon everyone. I hope that your day is going well. Despite the rain it has been a wonderful saturday. My daughter and I had so much fun buying the school supplies.

Ruthxxx so glad you have water - sometimes we forget how lucky we are with modern technology.

Quick question - cottage cheese 1% is ok on phase 1????? I had some for my snack just a few minutes ago w/ some cinnamon and splends - it was very yummy and took my craving for sweets away.

Well hope all is well and you all have a great day - RMT

RMT, it's fine. Please check out the Phase I revised Food List.

HELP PLEASE///////

HI Everyone, I am on day 13 of south beach phase 1 . i have lost 3 pounds this entire time. I am walking every morning for 30 minutes. Staying on the right foods from the allowed list. WHAT is going on?????????????? I am soooooooo discouraged I could just cry. Why dont these dang diets work for me?

Keen, how much do you want to lose? Loss is much slower if you weigh less than 200. Please post a day's menu WITH quantities and we'll take a look at it.
Um....have there been any other pistachio "incidents"? Also, is TOM on the way? You could be holding water. You might also consider completely eliminating SF treats like fudgsicles. Eating clean is very important.