Bob: Sorry you have to go through all this. What a pain. You're right...there will be more trips, I'm sure. I'm waiting to duplicate the first business trip we went on with Derek where we stayed at Nashua, NH and the holiday in had a beautiful pool and the kids just loved it. We had a blast and Derek got us our own rental car and we went to a place called Canobie Lake Park, which is a very small, old amusement park with tons of kiddie rides and some coasters. I could go there a million times.

Monet: I think your upset stomach was from the hippie cheese Just kidding. I hope they liked Vermont. It IS a beautiful state...

Laurie: That red bean and sausage thing sounds good. I'm going to have to give it a whirl. I hope your meetings end soon. And, don't beat yourself up over the 10 lbs...you're beautiful with or without 'em

Toni: How's the perm go? Post pics!!

LadyV: Hi there...I don't think I've formally said hello yet I had my gall bladder out a few years ago. It's a total cinch. One day of discomfort tops and before you know it, you're eating toast and tea and next thing you know, you're asking for KFC!! I was, I know that. KFC was one of the triggers to set off an attack. And they totally <insert expletive>!! I have total sympathy for your DH and the sooner he can get in and get that useless organ out, the better. We didn't have insurance at the time, so I had to suffer for about a year with it until I was covered. Walking seemed to ease them or shorten the attacks. But, I can tell you...I had just had my son three months before my first attack and trust me...the gall bladder attacks are way, way worse than child birth. At least they were for me...and there's no beautiful baby for a reward for your suffering when it's over, either. So, the sooner he gets it out, the better. Hope it stops 'pouring' and you have a less eventful rest of the summer.

Gator: Now THAT was funny!! Thanks for the laugh. And I think it was your neighbors that sabotaged your AC and dish. Why not? We can blame them for everything...it's theraputic. I always loved when the drywall went up...it meant it was about time to pick out paint and the end was near.

So, I just got back from taking Kyle and the two neighbor boys to the park with Junior. I had alterior motives... ...I wanted to get a gallon of milk and had my sights set on one of them carrying it for me. So, we went to the park, walked to the post office and then to the store and bought the one that volunteered to carry my milk a nutty buddy. The other was mad that he didn't volunteer because he wanted a nutty buddy, too, so I bought them both one and said they could take turns. Now THAT was $2 well spent!! I hate carrying a gallon of milk home. They're 10 and 12...Kyle wouldn't carry a gallon of milk from the driveway to the front door...so I knew I'd have con someone. Shelley just got home from marching band practice and I suppose I should go boil some water for spaghetti.

Derek just called and most of the roads around Binghamton and south east New York State and into NJ are closed from flooding. So, then I got scared because I saw on the news that a few people have been killed from bridges washing away with them on them. He's been zig zagging all over to get there and should be in NJ by 8 or so. It's taking forever...and I just saw the forecast for NJ and it's supposed to be cloudy all day tomorrow, my prospective tanning day, so it would have been a wash anyhow. The sun is shining and it's beautiful here today. I saw a ship in the river and Kyle and I went to check it out and found that it's from Panama. We found it on our globe and also saw ships from Malta and Liberia. Malta was a pill to find...I had to Ask Jeeves and found it between Siciliy and Tunisia. Who'da thunk it? OH...we had to find Hong Kong, too. He's getting REALLY good at finding things on the globe. He should be ready for college by fall..

Okay...gotta go boil water. C-yas later...

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a good wednesday. I went over to a friends house to visit this afternoon. It is so nice just to sit and gab!

Sorry about your vacation Tech. I know I would be disappointed.

Bob, ouch hope you can talk your Doctor into making a final decision.

I'm working Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This weekend the Dh and younger DS are painting DS room. The promise from the oldest DS is that he'll clean his room.
Somehow I'm not sad to be missing all these activities.

I got a 50.00 bonus check and I think I'll take the family Saturday night to see Superman.

I made a good brown rice dish that was easy. I cooked the brown rice in the microwave. On the stove I sauteed red pepper and a large vidalia onion. I added curry powder, chicken broth and some spicy herb mix. When the rice was done I combined them and cooked until the chicken broth was absorbed. I served this with barbecued chicken. Very good!

Lady V welcome I hope you'll enjoy our group.

Going in search of a healthy snack. Have a good evening. KayeC

Good Evening ladies---

Sorry that I have missed the last few days. My son was hurt at the rodeo last Saturday night and he is staying with us until he can do on his own. He broke his clavicle and his scapula. So he is in a brace to completely imobilize his shoulder and arm, for the next 6 weeks. I drove him down to his place on Sunday morning and he got some things that he can get in and out of easily. I am very sorry that he was hurt of course, but I sure do like having him here to spend some time with his "Mommy". I fee like I am useful again. I even get to cut up his meat at dinner time, lol. He of course is getting very bored. He is talking about going camping with his girlfriend over the 4th. He won't be able to do much, but he is determined to go since he has been planning it for quite a while.

I went and picked 5 flats of strawberries on Tuesday. (Well, we went on Monday first, but they were closed for ripening). I was able to get about half of them taken care of today. 5 of us girls from Curves got together and did a 6.2 miles walk in Deer Park this morning. Our time was 1 hour and 50 minutes. Boy, my hips were aching by the time I got home, but I honestly think that it was from picking the berries yesterday. They were starting to hurt while I was in the fields. Those totes are pretty easy to carry until you fill up the flats. I think each flat holds approximately 10 pounds of berries. And bending over and having to move them each step you take, finally takes its toll on this poor old body. Not to mention that the temp yesterday was in the high nineties. ( Thankfully we were done by about 12:15).

I don't have time for replies tonight, but I do hope that I will be able to get here after I get home in the morning. Dh is working, so I will try to come on as soon as I get back from Mom's. ( I need to check in with her also.) See you all later.

Good morning everyone.
I still have not been walking. I was gonna go yesterday morning, but the guy who is installing the screen for the TV was coming at 8 and my DH couldn't be there to talk with him, so I had to stay home in case he came early. Bummer. Today the Dish guy for my French TV channel is supposed to come between 7:30 and 8, so I'm stuck here again today. Any walking after 9 is almost impossible because of the heat and humidity.

My eating last night was good: meat loaf, french green beans and sautéed patty pan squash. My DH offered me some wine, but I passed on that. Something kind of "snapped" and I realized how out of control I've been and how insane I've been. This food thing is like an addiction! A battle of the will.

The painters got here at 7:15 and are ready to go. I'd better at least go comb my hair. Talk to y'all later.

Gator: With all that's been going with your house as of late, you're certainly excused for using food as a vice. At least the painters seem to have it on the ball...being at work nice and early and all is a good sign.

Colleen: Wow...what an injury!! But you're right...it's nice to have him home with you...I'm sure you're loving it. I wish we had a strawberry patch to pick from here.

Kaye: That rice dish sounds fabulous! Between that and Lauries sausage/red bean thing, I have a few new things to try!!

Good morning to everyone else!! I had a nice shock last night...actually, two. First, yesterday I poured food in Junior's food for breakfast and a mouse hauled a@@ from the bottom of the bowl under the stove. If I'd have blinked I would have missed it, it was so fast. So, before Derek took off for NJ, he set two traps under the stove and last night, I was sitting here looking up NYS unemployment rules and SNAP! Scared the heck outta me. So, it'll sit there till Derek comes home tomorrow because I can't move the stove to get it out...that's if we even caught the bugger. I hate mice. Actually, I quite like them in a cage...very cute...but running underfoot in the kitchen is totally unacceptable. Like spiders...if they're doing the job God gave them and are eating aphids off my rose bushes in the garden, I have no problem, but when they hide under Shelley's bath towels on the floor and then haul a@@ to the floorboards, they have to die.

The other shock...you may have seen the word 'unemployment' in the above paragraph. When Derek got the call from Noritsu that he'd been hired, he got it from a woman in Los Angeles...and he said, 'well, in the interview, they said they'd need me in Rochester, so, do I have to move to have the job?' and she said the job was located in 'upstate New York' and that's all the info she had on location. So, he called the guy that interviewed him and he wasn't in the office, so Derek left a message and the guy never called him back. So....last night over dinner, my husband said, "by the way...I can stay were I live, right?" and the guy says, "Oh, no, we'll need you to move to Rochester in about two months." So...Derek and I had a nice, long talk until about past midnight about what to do...and we decided that he'd turn down the job and he'd go on unemployment until he can get some degree or start the business we wanted to start. And I'd go back to work full-time as a hairdresser at Penney's or Regis (which I'd LOVE, by the way). We just really love living here...the kids are really embedded in the kid community and love their friends and lives and so do we and even if we wanted to move to Rochester, we can't afford $5,000/year taxes on a $120,000 house...especially with a $2,000/year pay CUT. Our house we live in now we bought for $45,000 and the taxes are, like, $1,200 a year. So, I was on the phone with unemployment and Derek called me and asked me for my social security number and said that everything is okay. Why he needed my soc., I don't know...maybe he's gotten me a job as a work-at-home secretary? Doubt it. I'll let you know.

Talitha: ARE YOU IN LABOR YET?

Okay...have to go whip up something for breakfast. I'm so tired

Tech! Wow! What news! So Derek is not going to the meeting in NJ? How things change so fast. I know you all will do great with your new plan. Just keep supportin' your man and he'll do great and adore you for it.

Just a quick hello before we leave for vacation! Hopefully we leave tomorrow, but it maybe on Saturday. Craig is a manager for Pepsi down here and one of his boy's wife has been in the hospital with something wrong with her pancreas. I'm not sure what it is all about, but we will not be able to leave tomorrow if she is still sick. Craig will have to run the guy's route. I would certainly understand, BUT I would be disappointed too. It's funny, he works for Pepsi down here in Coke land, but for the last few years, the fastest and largest growing region in North America for Pepsi has been the North Georgia market. They get all kinds of recognition and awards, so sort of an embarrassment for Coke that they do not advertise for some reason!

Tech- My mom and dad live right where the Savannah river dumps into the Atlantic and we sit on their porch and watch the ships. Dad keeps binoculars out there and it's neat to try to figure out where they are all from. He is really good at even differentiating between the Arabic letters to figure out which country is which.

We will be back sometime next weekend, so have a great week!

Okay...so, here's proof that if you have your priorities in the right place and you stick to them no matter how scary it might be, things always work out. Derek told his new boss that he was going to have to turn down the job because of the points I listed in my last post and the guy told him to point on the map exactly where we live and he said, "Oh...well, that's fine..." You know...it's only our LIVES here. So, at least that worked out.

It's been a crazy week. But I'm still here. Up a pound from last week. errrr.
Congratulations on your seven pound loss Monet. That is GREAT.

Teensy, I'm so sorry that your son got hurt again. He must really love the rodeo to keep putting up with all this pain. My daughter's fella LOVES to rope and will probably do it until he can't walk. Thank God there's not many injuries.

Tech. I'm so glad that things worked out for ya'll.

Talitha...woo hoo on that little one. Praying your goes smoothly.

Lady V...I hope you and your hubby are feeling tons better.

Gator...I'm like you I haven't been able to walk much lately. Mine is time. Something is always coming up.

Bob...((hugzz)) Sorry you are under the weather. Hope you feel better soon.

Toni...how did your perm turn out? I've been debating on what to do with my hair. Sometimes I think I will wack it all off but I haven't ever had short hair. And the other part of me wants to grow back the foot I had cut off. I can never make up my mind.

Thin...howdy

Heart...you'll get those ten pounds off. I'm up about 15 and some days I think they are here to stay. I've got to get moving more.

Kaye....howdy. Did you son clean his room like he promised? My middle daughter won't clean her room for anything. I've yelled, whinned and grounded....LOL

I think the coffee is about ready....praying each of ya'll has a great day.

Love and hugs,
Crystle

Good morning ladies,

Finished my Curves workout this morning and stopped in to see how Mom was doing. She said she had missed us, but was doing just fine. Now that the weather has warmed up she is staying very busy.

I am hoping that we will soon have a new member here. She works out with me at Curves, and we have also been walking together. She took my SB book home and has been reading it. She asked me this morning if there was a web site, so hopefully she will join us!!

I have got to finish taking care of my berries this morning and then I am going to do some yard work. Mow the back yards and check my garden.

Gator-- I agree with you 100%. It is a battle of will all the time. Two years ago at the surprise party that I threw for my dh, I decided to let myself have one slice of cake........it spiraled from there.....I just couldn't control my sweet tooth any longer. I went almost 4 full years without sugar and then WHAM!! Get tough, and stick it out!! Otherwise you will end up like me!!

Tech-- How funny, we spent all of Tuesday afternoon trying to get rid of a mouse that showed up in my pantry. I am glad that Brant was here, his girlfriend was here as well. We got it, and released it outdoors. (Far away from the house!!) I usually can smell when mice come in the house, but this one sure surprised me!! And I was feeding him well, he wasn't the fastest mouse in the house!!

Monet-- Good for you, running!!! I have been trying to do a bit of jogging.....but it seems to jostle all of my flab, and it feels so uncomfortable. I am trying to stick with it though. Spokane sponsors a hugh race in the spring called Bloomsday. I promised my SIL that I would go with her next May. I really want to be able to jog as well as walk this course. It is a 7.5 mile course and consists of a hill called "Doomsday". Oh, I so need to get in shape for this!!! I don't know if I could have walked our walk yesterday so fast if it hadn't have been for our leader, Coline. She kept us going......she said she usually walks a 15 minutes mile, so you can see that we held her back a bit. But we did enjoy it.

Thin-- Have a great vacation and enjoy yourselves!!!

Country-- Nice to see you. Looks like we all need a good swift kick to get us going. I sure hate the fact that I have let myself gain back some of the weight that I worked so hard to get off. It is even harder this time to get it off!! Hang in there, and I know that you can do it!!

See you all later, have a great ON PLAN day!!

I am sooooooooooooo maddddddddddd!!!!!!!!! I have lost TWO posts!!!! UGH. Well, I'm not going to re-type everything. Oh yea, I am down a pound to 169. I'm sure it's probably more than a pound because I was an oinker this weekend. I didn't weigh. It's probably more like 5, but I'll claim the one. Gotta go!

I could not get myself psyched for the walk, so jumped in the pool and did some water jogging/walking instead. If I keep this up, the freckles will eventually join and I will have a nice tan. I just ate lunch: leftover bbq chicken breast, squash casserole and macaroni and cheese, and a piece of the Vermont Cabot cheddar and bacon cheese.

THIN: I am so jealous that you get to go stay beach! Have a blast, ok? And eat lots of Georgia shrimp, and think of me. I don't think we are going to make it to the beach this year...oh well!

TECH: Do you mean that you can stay put, and Derek can take the job and not have to move to Rochester? That is cool! Are you relieved?

COUNTRY: Thank you for praying for us all. I for one, appreciate it, and really need it. I wish you were my neighbor, I would have you over for coffee, and make you walk with me! I can't find a good consistent walking buddy here. Everyone works, or is a slug.

TEENSY: Check out this website, coolrunning.com, and find the couch to 5k program. It is a training program to go from couch potato to running 5k in 30 minutes in two months. You can lengthen the training and go slower if you like... The mods over in Exercise and Ladies Who Lift recommended it to me. Great program! If you want to run, its a great way to get into it. You run three days a week with it...but alternate walking and jogging. I hope your friend joins us!

HEART: I hate when that happens! Yay for the pound gone!

Off to get something done around here!

Alright, I finally changed my ticker, that was too much work,lol. Oh yea, I would omit the thyme from the red beans. That was a first for me and it made them have a funny twang. They were good, but not as good as they normally are because of the thyme. Anyhoo, I didn't take anything out for supper tonight. Wonder what I'll do? It'll be legal though! I ate Subway for lunch. Had a loaded(Everything including jalapenos) salad that was very good. Might be having it again for supper now. Alright, here comes a customer........