Want some harsh reality? Our home/auto insurance went up to $13,000.00 for the year! We are scrambling to find insurance. If any of you know a company to check with, let me know.

Dee-Okay, is it your princess crown or a crown in your mouth? I'm confused! Thanks for the water reminder. That's a big downfall of mine.

Cheryl-How nice of MIL and FIL! Are they nice all the time? If so, you are lucky!!

Shelley, check out the avatar. This is the pic of the cow we tried sending you. Look for the dark spot, this is his nose then just to the side of it you can see part of an ear tag. We are having another winter storm blow through this weekend dumping snow instead of the ice. $13,000 for home insurance? YIKES! I thought a $1,000 a year was bad for ours. Is it because of the hurricanes? What will you guys do? I know we couldn't afford over $1,000 a month for insurance. I'm boo-hooing now because Allies teeth are $120 and her meds are $115 a month our cost.

My first day at the salon was a huge success! I was really nervous, but everything came back to me almost instantly. I need to just get more comfortable with the equipment setup and build my speed up. I have SEVERAL that will come in once a week for shampoo/sets and manicures plus the usual perms/haircuts every 4-12 weeks. I may need to give one day up at the liquor store and add an extra day to the salon. I'll try it for a month or so and see where I'm at. Do any of you use Quicken or Quick books Pro? We purchased Quicken, but not really impressed with it.

Cheryl, how sweet of MIL & FIL!

Gayle-That's awesome! Hey, now I see the cow. Was it living?

YEP! The poor little guy was standing and just froze up with ice. He thawed out just in time for round 2 of the storms. Cattle don't seem to mind the storms as much as we humans do. I hope you work things out with insurance. Do you think you can get cheaper elsewhere?

Gayle~congrats on a good first day at work! And poor little cow.....

Shelley~that is way too expensive! And I thought the extra $1900 for DD's car insurance was a bit steep. I don't know how they can expect people to pay that much! I think we pay about $2500 for homeowners insurance plus another couple of hundred on our earthquake ins policy.

I just spent 7 1/2 hours at our annual charity garage sale. Wow. We were busy! I'm hoping we made between $1200-$1500 for scholarships. We had tons of leftover stuff, but we donated it to one of our philanthropies that runs thrift shops around town. I'm tired and I didn't get anything to eat but half a banana all day. So what do I do? I bought a bunch of leftover bake sale items (to send with DS on his sleepover tonight) but I come home and eat two brownies!

Have a great Saturday night. I'm going to make some Santa Fe Chicken soup (found the recipe somewhere here yesterday).

Made a great dinner tonight. Eggplant dish that I doctored up a bit. It is from WW. Just slice eggplant into one inch circles and then broil on both sides for about 4 minutes a side. Then put in a baking pan, bake with spag. sauce and any spices you want. I added some fresh spinach, left over chicken I cut in cubes and FF mozerella cheese. Then just bake for about 1/2 hour till warmed through. It was yummy and so quick and easy.

Sounds like a great first day for you Gayle! That poor cow looks like a sheep that really needs to be sheared!! Poor thing!! I am shivering just looking at it!

Shelley, I think you can do better on insurance. I would look on line and make a few calls. That seems way to high!

Allison, I love garage sales and thrift shops!

Where is everyone else? Things are so quiet here!

Hello all

I haven't felt good today so I've been laying around.Nothing really hurts..just very ugh..

Gayle...Poor cow!! Oh my! I'm glad you are getting your new place up & running!! How's Allison? I bet she's so big now!

Shelley.....That is soooooooo high for insurance! Were you able to check around for a cheaper plan? Did Mike find a job?

Dee...I bet you DO have a princess crown!! When do you go to Mexico?

Allsion...I love yard sales,Goodwill, etc. That was great money!! Is the Santa Fe Chicken soup WW friendly? If so, I would love the recipe.

Cheryl...Congrats on getting the flowers! You sure do deserve them!!

Later All

Sherry-Feel better! No, Mike hasn't found a job yet, other than calling around about insurance. I am trying to stay positive about everything. I have upped my Prozac, I guess that's why I'm okay right now. He has been doing some a/c work and making a bit of $$ with odd jobs.

Allison-Wow! That's a lot of money you made for the scholorships. That's great!

Debi-That dish sound delish. I wonder if it could be made in the crockpot?

Getting ready to go out for a 20 mile bike ride. Have a great Sunday!

Shelley, I have never put eggplant in a crockpot, but why not? It actually only takes about 1/2 hour to make anyway, so it is fast and easy. We had it with couscous.

Sherry, hope you are feeling better today. I have had days like that too! Just blah!

Today is my last day before the semester starts so doing a few errands and getting ready. This semester is an easier one, as we get a day off every month. In the fall, we go from Labor Day straight through to Thanksgiving with no break and everyone gets so tired and cranky!

Hello

Just back from the store. I bought a box of Kashi to add to my yogurt or just to snack on.

The trackers doesn't show the .8 (or whatever we lose) so you just have to round it off. Does anyone know what I mean???

Ex:
1/7/07: 215.8
1/14/07: 212.6
Today: 210.0

So instead of loosing 5 lbs. as it shows, I have really lost 5.8 lbs.

Today down 2.6!!!!!!!!

Wow, the Santa Fe Chicken Soup was wonderful! It's almost like a chili because of the beans. I'll definately make it again. Here is the recipe:

1/2 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup diced orange peppers
2 garlic cloves, minced
15 1/4 oz canned yellow corn, drained
15 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
14 1/2 oz canned chicken broth (low sodium)
10 oz Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies (Rotel Brand works great)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Over medium heat, cook chicken, diced onion and minced garlic in non-stick skillet until chicken is lightly browned. In pot, combine chicken with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

I think next time I'll add some tomato sauce to thicken it up a bit. I changed the recipe just a bit by adding the peppers. It was really, really good.

Gotta run~time to hit the grocery store!

Recipe sounds great Allison! I love dumping soups together and seeing what I get. Everyone here would eat it other then with the beans. I guess I could make it and then just add my serving of beans to my bowl. I might try it this week. Sounds like the Fiesta Chicken Healthy Choice soup I eat.

Sher, GREAT JOB ON THE WEIGHT LOSS! YES! Allison is growing like crazy. In the 2nd grade and a very mature 8 year old. We just had braces fitted the week before Christmas.

Gayle...Does she like the braces or do they bother her? Did she get the colored rubber bands? A teacher friend of mine DD just got braces too and they hurt her mouth.

Allison...Thanks for the recipe! Sounds great!!

WooHoo, Sherry!!! You are doing great! Are you on Flex?

Where is Vouge. Haven't heard anything from Her. ARE YOU OKAY AMY??
Gayle - You will do great in your salon - just be patient. Don't undersell yourself because of pressure.
Scale hasn't moved in a week. Getting frustrated.
Suzy - How are you doing staying on track?
Have a good week everyone.