[Solly]

Good morning Chickies,

I am so today. Gues I got to bed around 11:30 and slept soundly all night. When DH woke me up to get on the TM I just couldn't do it. Almost didn't getup when my alarm went off. The girls played ball until 10:00 last night so needless to say I did not get my wt training in. I did walk around the track 4 times (1 mile) in between their games. So tonight I will have extra work to do. Just hope I wake up by then.

This was not a new recipe, but I haven't made this in a while. baked some chicken breasts in a pan, poured spaghetti sauce on them and topped with parmesean cheese. Added green beans, cauliflower and peas and we had a great meal.

bf: 1/2 c oatmeal w 1/4 cup milk
lunch: salad, mushrooms, cheese, ham, ff dressing
dinner: crab cakes, baked cod, scallops (no scallops for me). salad another veggie.


Bob, I didn't see the MS game on TV, maybe I was out cutting grass at that time.

Cindy, enjoy your time off. Cutting down the fat% is hard to do. Please post your menus. Congrats on the 1/2 lb loss.

Kris, :cB; for your DD. I bet she was so excited. Now keep her going on healthy eating and she will be fine and not in the rut we are in.

Monet, still no word on the job? Will you go tomorrow anyway? Hope your headache is better.

Off to get some work done. Be back later.

[Ellen]

Good Morning!

I slept ok last night...except I woke up at 4 and thought I was not going to be able to fall back asleep. I did though, and woke up at 7 when Tom was leaving. I feel much better today...the headache is gone, and I made a press of coffee to make sure it doesn't come back! I have already had breakfast... smoothie made with 1.5 scoops whey protein and frozen strawberries, and two wasa rye crackers with smart balance, coffee with half and half.

I will probably go out shopping for a new dishwasher later this morning. Then I need to sit and obsess about lessons for tomorrow...not sure what they will do if they don't get that last reference in today. I suppose they will ask me to come teach as a second trial day. I am inclined to be very nice about it. Its not her fault the people I used to work for are flakes!

JACK: Taking a morning off is not too bad...obviously, you needed the sleep, and that is important too!

TECH: Congrats to your daughter on her loss! Hopefully, that will spur her on to make healthy choices a habit.

CINDY: I am glad you are losing...enjoy those days off! I have been to Indy! Its been years though! More than I can to admit!

BOB: Don't be such a stranger!

PANCHO: That new gym sounds really nice! I hope you come to like it better than the old one! I really need to think about joining a gym, don't I?

Ok, I need to go get some stuff done...like wake up James, and get him moving. I will be back later!

[techwife]

So, did I mention that on Labor Day weekend I was stuck behind a tourist with a boat going 45 - 50 mph (in a 55 mph zone) after being stuck behind another tourist going the same speed (that pulled into a driveway) in the same mph zone. I get so mad. So, then I passed the guy with the boat and in the process of trying to get passed him (because they ALWAYS end up going faster when you pass...like, "Oh...I'm going slow, I better speed up!"...) I was going 71 mph and a NYS Park Police pulled me over and gave me a ticket!! I was so peeved and upset I started, literally, bawling...sobbing...I was so shaken by it my mom wouldn't let me drive when I got to her house (I was taking Shelley to a birthday party and had to pick her up at my mom's house because she'd spent the night there). Ugh. So, anyhow, I happen to know the judge in town and he told me exactly the night to go to court and speak to a DA and maybe I'll get it reduced or even tossed, depending on things.

So..

I'm coming home from the vet after dropping off Junior. I have my cruise control set at EXACTLY 55 mph. So, I'm going down some curvy spots on the road and going past a horse farm where a horse is whinnying and galloping right next to my car and I guess I was watching it too intently...at that and some cute, funny faces my son was making in the backseat and I apparently went over the yellow line. I hear this 'bleeep' from behind me and thought, well, I KNOW I'm not speeding, so I pulled over and doesn't he pull up behind me? A New York State Trooper this time. So, it's a young, pimply kid in a trooper suit and I'm thinking..what could I have been doing wrong this time??? I NEVER go out and the four times I've been out in the past three weeks, I get pulled over twice? Now I'm totally paranoid to drive anywhere!! So, he checks to see that Kyle is in his booster seat and properly buckled in and told me I was swirving over the yellow line and checked my license and all that. I mean, gawd. The vet is about 25 miles away and I probably pass 10 cars TOPS going in the other direction all the way back and I was going around curves, etc... What gives with the cops these days? I"m so paranoid now I don't even want to leave my house!! My husband says he thinks that the cop saw a blond and wanted to check me out. I love that story. I was so upset.

Oh...and our new computer? It's a MAC. Which would be fine, but the extensive Nancy Drew collection of pc games we have in UNCOMPATABLE with a MAC!! So...I have to wait for my husband to build my daughter's loft bed to make room for the old computer to be installed in her room to ever play my ND games with my DD again. My husband and his toys...He just HAD to have a new computer. He says it's because MACs are less vulnerable to viruses, etc. Sure...I"m so thrilled...

Okay...replies later. I need a stiff cup of coffee...

[Ellen]

TECH: I feel for you...in this day and age most people go the other way...from Mac to PC because there is just so much more software for PCs. You CAN get virus protection for a PC. We have Ad-aware, and Norton anti-virus. Having two live in geeks helps, too. Thankfully, both my geeks are PC snobs and not Mac snobs. My son used to get into very spirited discussions on which was better, Mac or PC. He says for musicians, Mac, for just about everything else, PC. My massage therapist was a Mac snob and she and my son would really go at it. Then, she started nursing school, and found that everything she wanted for her computer for school was only available in PC...and when her second Mac in less than two years developed fatal problems, she switched. Could you just go ahead and plug in the PC someplace so you can play your ND games? I would... Oh, and I am sorry about your ticket and run ins with the law! One night on our way home from church, Tom crossed the yellow line and the cops pulled him over. We were in an Oldsmobile custom cruiser (think TANK of a station wagon) and all three kids were going to town in the back seats. Tom got out and the officer asked him if he had been drinking! He said not unless the little old ladies at church spiked the punch without telling anyone. The officer must have realized he was a bit distracted by the kids, and gave him a warning and let him go. He did make sure we did not go through the apartment complex by where he stopped us. It was riddled with crime, illegal immigrants, and gangs. Such an exciting event on the way home from church! Tom has also been stopped by the Indiana State Patrol for going too fast while passing a truck. It was downhill and he was irritated with the truck for the same thing...speeding up when he tried to pass it...so he stomped it, and just about then, the blue lights came on! See? You aren't the only one!

Ok, off to think on lesson plans and watch the phone, in hopes it rings soon!

[techwife]

Thanks, Monet: Well, in regards to playing my games I like to play, I'm not inclined to sit in my daughter's room and play games on her computer. It's kind of like something we'd both sit and play together during our time I have set aside for Kyle to play the gamecube and then me and my DD would sit at the computer and play Nancy Drew or Roller Coaster Tycoon together...and RTC doesn't work on the MAC, either. Not even RTC3. DH already had enough of an attitude when we'd play ND games because we'd be locked on it for hours and he'd get miffed because we were ignoring him. So, I just don't understand why it was so urgent to spend a few hundred dollars on a new mac when the pc we had was just fine, imho. You know, I guess I'm just ultra irritated because I'm always getting flack over spending $50 too much on groceries or for buying my DD too many clothes for school (which is part and parcel why I wanted her to drop a few pounds so she'd still fit into last years pants!!) when he spends hundreds on things just so he can have new toys. You know...he just HAD to have the new Mac mini or whatever it is. I'm just mad...my two favorite things to do on the computer (other than talking to YOU guys, of course )...Nancy Drew games and RTC....gone...now what am I supposed to do? Clean the house, I suppose!! I just can't help feeling slightly sabotaged...

[techwife]

Okay...so, like, NONE of the games we have that the kids play...even the ones that say macintosh on them...will play on our computer. I am so mystified as to why my DH needed to get this system. He says because it's so small and the keyboard and mouse are wireless...and the whole virus thing. I'm so mad right now... The kids have so many great educational games that they play that I play with them...things like Big Thinkers Kindergarden, Jump Start Typing, etc... I'm just...so...confused.

I'm going outside to enjoy the Junior-free-ness of it...like not getting knocked over while picking tomatoes and not having Kyle galloped over. I DO miss my dog, but the quiet it kind of nice, too.

I'm still too mad to do replies...and thanks again, Monet, for sharing the getting-pulled-over stories...it really DOES help to make me feel better...

[Ellen]

TECH: Hmm, maybe that was part of the decision to get a new Mac...so you would not be able to spend time playing. Men! I am thankful that I live in a geeky household. There are four of us, and we each have our own computer. Laura has a laptop, and a wireless internet card in it, so she can go to Starbucks and use the wi-fi there, or numerous other places. If she wants to use the internet here, she just uses Tom's computer, or mine if I am not home. James doesn't let anyone touch his computers...he has two, but only uses one. For a long time, I used the same one as Tom, but at the time, I was also working and used the computer to write scripts for my program as well as kept records,etc. on the computer. James was building new computers for himself and Tom and this one was going to be for Ruth, my older daugther, who was in college at the time. She was supposed to take it to the dorm to use, but rarely stayed there more than three days a week, because she was working near home too. So, when I found out she was not going to take the computer to the dorm, I told Tom I thought it was unfair that she just have a computer to play on at home, when I was working and had to share his. After some discussion, the computer was given to me instead. Ruth was mad, but she was only going to play on it, and I needed it for work. I love having my own, so I can set it up the way I like and no one messes with it. The prices have really come down! I remember our first PC about 15 years ago cost us over $1000. Now, you can get state of the art, up to date, really cool systems for about $250! And our first harddrive? 30 megs! We bought one that was 340 megs a few years later and thought we were hot stuff! The new one in my computer is 80 gigs! (and it costed us roughly one fifth what the 340 meg one costed 12 years ago!)

[techwife]

Monet: That's just the thing. I hardly have time to play games, etc. Especially now that Kyle's in PreK, I'll be there for three morning's a week and I'm always making a meal or cleaning the dishes from them or folding wash or putting together puzzles with Kyle or sitting in the driveway while he rides his bike or chalks on the sidewalk or I'm walking the dog or just dumb busy stuff. So, once in a while, I like to poke around on a rainy day or if I'm just a bit bored on the ND game me and Shelley are working on and see if I find any new clues, etc. or work on a park DS and I are working on. So now, I guess, I'll just have to find something else to do. It IS a distraction, but I feel bad that kids loose their games. Kyle and I were working on games that help me teach him math and reading and they're games I worked on with Shelley when she was his age. I was having fun reliving them again.

[Ellen]

TECH: Did you tell that to Derek? I still think you ought to find a place to plug the PC in and do it. Its really not hard to set it up...cables go from the monitor to the CPU, and the keyboard and CPU. Then it would be ready to roll for the educational games for Kyle and the mom and daughter time with Shelley. Men can be rather clueless about these kinds of things, so you have to spell it out for them.

[techwife]

Well, I did just talk to him about it and suggested he talk to his friend, Don, that is a big time Mac user and ask him if he knows of some sort of download or something we're missing that makes it possible to play the games on the mac. There has to be some way. I'm just disappointed is all. Derek gets all excited about something and when things go wrong, I hate to be negative about it to him because he gets all defeated about it and then I feel bad. He seemed pretty optimistic that Donny might have a fix for this. You know...when I used to work at Kodak, we all had Macs, and I worked in the IS department. Then everyone went to PC's and then after a while, they all got windows 3.1 and everyone freaked out at the similarities with the Macs and I'm like, 'who cares...as long as Excel and Word work, that's all I need it for'. And the computer gurus were all, "Well, this is horrible...Macs are the worst!" This was 1995 and then Windows 95 came out and I didn't really hear much more about it other than PC's and Macs went together like oil and water and there was literally no grey area between the pc people and the mac people. I'm so shocked that ten years later, it's still the same? You'd of thought this little rivalry could have been worked out by now and things would be more across the board and compatible.

Oh...well...I'm going to go look up to see if any ships are coming down the river and get some binoculars and take Kyle to the river to see it before we go meet Shelley at the bus stop. That is, of course, if the Seaway website it MAC compatible!! Gosh..you know...ONE good thing is I was a little late leaving the dog trainer's yesterday and I was soooo glad Shelley has a cell phone now so I could call her and let her know I wouldn't be home when she got there, but would be in five minutes. THAT was a nice thing...

Okay...I'm starting to calm down now...things could be worse, right? Time to move on and look at the bright side of things...like the real fact that the state trooper didn't give me a ticket for something.

I'm done pouting...thanks again, Monet, for cheering me up!! You're a true friend

[GatorGal]

Cindy--Congrats on losing that 1/2 pound. Way to go! You have been so faithful with your eating, and you will get to your goal before you know it.

Tech--I'm sorry to hear of your problems with the police. It is maddening, especially when so many others are flagrant violators of the law: ie. weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, etc. Hope you can get the ticket thrown out.

Here's a little history of the PC and Mac: Back in the "olden days" IBM was happy to let other manufacturers "clone" its DOS based operating system. DOS stands for disk operating system and was the first OS for the PC and is the underlying control program for Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and ME. Windows NT, 2000 and XP emulate DOS in order to support existing DOS applications. At the same time, Apple Computer was not willing to allow cloning of its operating system (OS) and kept the propriatary rights to itself. So, because of the flood of DOS based machines on the market the price went down, and people could buy PCs for less than Apples. And despite the superiority of the Mac OS, the lower price of the PCs spurred the software companies to write their software for the more plentiful PCs, that were being bought by large corporations for business purposes. Microsoft Corp., seeing how "intuitive" and non-command based the Mac was, developed Windows, so that a PC would act like a Mac. Thus, the PCs appeared to be a WYSIWYG format, with the Mac-like ability to use a mouse to "drag" and move things around on a "desktop." However, the PC was still a DOS OS running in the background. The Apple operating system is totally different from the PC as it is based on Unix. In 2001 Apple totally revamped its OS from the ground up with the introduction of Mac OS X. And even though this OS is much more advanced than earlier versions of the Mac, it still has the same ease-of-use that people have come to expect from Apple software. If Apple had allowed cloning of its machines back when the PCs were first being cloned, we would be an Apple computer world, because, in truth, Apples are superior machines. The problems the consumer has is that the software writers put all their eggs in the PC basket because of the large number of those cloned machines. With all the holes in the Windows software, and because of some natural weaknesses in basing Windows on top of DOS, hackers and other unsavory types create worms, viruses and trojan horses to attack those inherent weaknesses of the PC with Windows. Anyone who has a PC and who has not set their computer to automatically update the many patches that Microsoft has to keep writing to keep one step ahead of the hackers is just asking for trouble. The reason that Macs don't have those kind of problems is (1) hackers don't bother writing their viruses, etc. for an OS for such a fewer number of computers, (2) the Mac OS is much harder to write viruses for because of the Unix based OS, and (3) a bunch of technical reasons that are easier for computer nerds to understand than I can explain. So, Tech, your DH has actually bought a superior machine, but you are in an "adjustment period" where you are having to deal with some changes, and feeling the frustration because of the software problem. In the long run, I hope you will come to appreciate your new Mac, and you will find that you have no problems with it whatsoever. You probably won't need a computer nerd to figure out things for you, because Macs generally have no problems. Their systems don't ever crash, and the machine is easy to use. So, give it some time, and maybe in a couple of months you will be feeling happier about your DH's purchase.

Jackie--Don't fret over the missed walking. I only got 8600 steps yesterday myself. Some days you just have to do your best and let it go at that. You are so good with your weight lifting, and probably better than 90% of the population. So give yourself a pat on the back.

Monet--What are you going to do tomorrow about the job the principal hasn't called you back on? Will you just show up? I think she ought to call you, and not leave you hanging. Perhaps she could offer you another demo class while you are waiting for her to get the information she needs for you. I hope it all works out for you.

Got my weight lifting in today. It was hard. The Pers. trainer never does the same thing when I go in. Today it was all upper body except for the leg press. He has lowered the weights a bit for my leg press, and has me doing 140 pounds per leg for 10 reps, then 12 reps and then 30 reps. Ugh. My legs were shaking at the end. He ALWAYS has me do something on the leg press, and I call it my "favorite" machine. NOT!

Well, its late and I need to fix myself some lunch, and study some French. Hope everyone has a great day.

Hi to Heart and Keng. Heart, where are you? Keng, we all think Jr. has arrived and can't wait to hear the official news.

[techwife]

Gator: Wow....thanks for that pc/mac 101 course!! That explains it all. I feel kind of like I did when we got our DVD player and though...great, so what am I supposed to do with all these tapes now? Or more closer to the feeling is when we had a BETA VCR and all the BETA tapes and then, for reasond unknown to me, VHS stuff became the dominant force in the VCR world. I so much preferred the quality of the BETA world, but was forced into the VHS stuff because the BETA was fazed out. My very first computer at kodak was a Mac S-10 or something...it was this little thing and I'd turn it on and it would go dink-da-dink-da-dink for what seemed like a half hour before it would turn on. I really liked that little 'puter. But then it was on my desk barely long enough to collect dust and then they'd swipe it off my desk and say, "Whoops...can't have that old dinosaur laying around...that thing is old...old...old!!" and then they'd give me a new one...then it seemed a month later...."Well, time for an upgrade!! We're going to PC's!!"...and in would come another computer and it seemed like every six months, they'd be swapping out computers and going from one operating system to the other...first the Mac world, then the pc world, then 3.1, then 95, then 98 (as if there was a difference from 95...) then 2000, then I became a stay at home mom and that was it. I'm hoping with this OS X (that's what we have) that things are more compatible than they were over the last few years. Meanwhile, I'll remain calm and be happy for the 19 inch screen!! Holy Toledo!! I keep thinking I'm going to have people outside in their cars thinking it's a drive in!!

[GatorGal]

Tech--Hang in there and you will get the "hang" of it. LOL
Myself, I'm waiting for a year or so when the Mac G-5 comes out with the new Pentium chip. Things will really change then and some of the software makers are already starting to get things fired up for that event. I have an old "flower power" Mac, almost 5 years old, and would like to upgrade to the new "Tiger" OS, (that's the latest version of OS X) but don't have the capabilities with memory or periphials to upgrade on my computer, which was one of the earlier MacIntoshs that came out. So, I'll wait for my huge screen, clear lucite, CPU hidden in the monitor screen somewhere, fast as a jet, new Mac G5 series. It's so powerful, it should last me 10 years or so.

[Ellen]

What an afternoon... We went to Best Buy and I found a dishwasher. They had a $900 Kitchenaid on clearance. I got it for $560! It has a stainless steel tub, and super duper racks. The front is all stainless steel, with the operating buttons on the top and out of sight. They bring it Friday and install it. Woo hoo! I can't wait. I am thinking that is a deal even BOB will approve of!

Then, we went to Costco for me to get Tom's Slo-Niacin, and then to Target for Laura to shop a bit. She took way too long and totally wore me out. I wanted to be home by 4, so I could call the school if I did not have a message. Well, We did not get home until 4:45, and there was no message from them. I tried calling and the office was already closed, and I got the answering machine. I left a message, but dang! I will go in tomorrow with lessons planned, but I hate this uncertainty. I am sure she is waiting to hear from that school I worked at before, and they are rather full of themselves and probably in no hurry to be helpful. Grrrrr..

We are heading out in a bit to babysit for a young couple from church. Their little guy is about ten months...he will be in bed asleep the whole time we are there. I need to get Tom in from stretching after his run to eat some of the soup I made, so we can go. We are having Potato Leek soup with chicken. I used low carb potatoes. Its made in the pressure cooker and so far, it smells divine!

If we get in early enough, I will check in before bed. Otherwise, I will be back in the morning!

[heartmom]

Hey, guys! I finally have time to post. So I'll guess I'll start with Katrina. Man, that was really bad. Bush just got around to calling our county a disaster area a couple of days ago. We were without power for 9 days and lost all our food in our fridge and deep freezer, several hundreds of dollars. Too bad we didn't get some kind of assistance for that. Our town is FULL of Katrina survivors(I hate the word refugee). We are suppossed to be a FEMA distributor site, so probably eventually 10,000 newcomers. Lots of homes got destroyed by fallen trees. Alot were damaged. Only one casualty here, but that's one too many. Sad, a tree broke and fell on this man and he died of his injuries later at the hospital. We got some minor damage. My new carpet got wet, but we peeled it back and it dried out. Some minor roof damage. My beautiful big umbella-type oak tree is gone. It's located right next to the house and could have fallen on it and destroyed the home plus killed the kids(we had 6 here at the time)playing in the back bedrooms. So thank God it fell on the ground beside the house. There were times I sat and bawled after hearing of the terrible things people had encountered. Some people are pure evil. And not trying to get into politics, but it definetly could have and should have been handled totally different than it was. Disgrace. I didn't start work until this past Tuesday(one week after I was orginally due to start). It's going okay, my hardest thing for me is being STILL at a desk for hours at a time. Bookkeeping is boring, but interesting and extremely tedious. So ask my how I like my job in a couple of months,lol. As for my weight, it's not as good as it was. I was getting back down, I think I was 163 the day before Katrina hit. Now I'm guesstimating..I think I'm around 168. Not for sure since I'm not weighing because TOM just showed up yesterday. I plan to get a hold back on things. The week without power, I ate things that I NEVER eat, like canned beanie weenies, can ravioli, and LOTS and LOTS of junk food. I probably was more in weight but didn't weigh until I had a couple of OP days back in me. As for my exercise, it sucks. It's hard to get up at 5 and do a workout. And even harder when you come home and your tired and you don't have the energy to cook, let alone exercise. My job is not physical at all, I sit at a desk using virtually no calories. But the eye strain and brain strain make me tired by the end of the day. I'm sure I'll get into some sort of routine, it'll just take time to figure out. Today, our server was down, so we were sent home at 11:30. Which I was kind of glad for. I was able to run some errands and come home and workout while I had some energy and cook supper and finally get around to cleaning the nasty deep freezer. I want to thank you all for asking about me, thanks for caring. Please continue to keep all the Katrina survivors in your thoughts and prayers, they will need them for awhile. I am proud of our community for embracing them like we have. I've talked to some and they said they loved our hospitality so much that they wanted to make Meridian their permanent home.

Tech- great job on getting the weight back off!

Pancho- did you ever try the Turbojam? How is it?

I'm going to post on the exercise board, although it will be this weekend before I get around to posting again. Here's my menu for the day:

BF- leftover spaghetti and meat and sauce(used Mueller's LC noodles)
Lunch- Protein bar(190 c and 6g fat)
Snack- lite yogurt
Supper- grilled burger with LC sauce(no bread) and legal coleslaw

I need to work on the veggies. I've been eating fruit and yogurt for BF, but I was burned out today. Since I know I won't post tomorrow, here's my menu:

BF- probably fruit(apple or orange) and plain yogurt(with splenda)
Lunch- probably a protein bar(I'll eat at my desk and won't have to clock out)
Snack- unsure, probably yogurt or walnuts
Supper- making the rest of the family taco salad but I don't need the sodium. So I'll grill some chicken tenders and make a big salad with veggies, some cheese, and Ranch dressing, ohhh that sounds good

I'll check back in a couple of days!!