Good morning ladies. Rainy and cooler here this morning. Jack got the trash out but didn't take out the full one in the can so I had to bag and drag, but that's ok.

I am doing fine with the diet though like I said, I had to add a couple hundred calories as I need that extra snack to keep me from being ravenous. I think having an extra piece of fruit or a slice of whole wheat bread with a tb of lower fat peanut butter is better than giving into cravings and then grabbing something fattening. I have steered clear of even the 100 cal cakes and such though I will use a tsp of sugar here or there like on fruit or in cereal. I just don't like the taste of splenda on fruit or in cereal. I never use more than a tsp though and it won't be everyday that I do or even more than once a day. The one thing I have changed up is the nuts. Almost every day the menus call for nuts of some kind and I can't eat regular nuts everyday. I look at the fat and calorie count and substitute the peanut butter or a 1tb of olive oil or maybe olives or avocado. Nuts can bring on diverticulitis attacks and I sure don't want that. I haven't seemed to have trouble with nuts, but I don't want to have them on a regular basis just in case. I know some doctors don't allow their patients anything with nuts or seeds, even strawberries are a no no, but my doctor just said no popcorn or things that don't digest well.

Maggie: Sorry I missed your post. Hope you have a good time on your little trip and Congrats on the loss!!!!

Susan: Sounds like you have a busy rest of the week. This week's clinic schedule was full and next week is spring break so I don't work again until the 25th. I do look forward to getting out of the house and I really need to look into knitting groups, though I am always a little leery about being with a group of ladies that far outshine what I could possibly do. lol I figure it will take a good two weeks for my body to adjust to seriously limited sugar and and less fat and such. I know it is going to be a struggle but it is one I just have to stick to. Besides, I want my quilt!

Jean: Hope your weather takes a turn for the better. I agree with you. If I was retiring and had the opportunity, I would get what I needed to off my chest too. There seems to be some serious lackings at your school and seems to me like administration is the place to start. I did do some napping yesterday, but everytime I would fall asleep the darn phone would ring. First it was a credit card company wanting me to reopen two cards I paid off over a year ago and closed then dominoes called me about their new pizza deals! lol I went to bed really early and crashed after taking some allergy meds. I am hoping the rain will tamp down the pollen a bit and make it more comfortable.

Well gals, I have cleaning to get to this morning as I did absolutely nothing except a load of clothes and my regular daily chores yesterday. Need to get upstairs and get the work done up there.

Have a great day today and hope you all stay dry and warm as it seems spring is not quite here to stay yet.
Faye

Good morning, ladies. Froze yesterday and now it's another day in the 70s today but after that it's back to rain and the 50s for a week.

Faye, I always say we didn't get fat overnight and it's going to take time to learn a leaner way of life. Do what you need to do to make it work long term. What brand of lowfat peanut butter do you use? All I've been able to find has added sugar so I'm sticking with the Natural Peanut butter but I hate stirring it. I really shouldn't even have it in the house. I go for weeks without eating it and then suddenly it becomes a mania. The scale is down a little this week but my official weigh in will be Saturday morning. Faye, I'm going to get started on that quilt so I have it finished when you reach goal. Nice and bright colors, too.

I have a doctor's appointment on the 27th and I have a feeling I'll be getting some heart tests. My feet and legs and hands are still swollen and my blood pressure is up nearly 30 points. I've never had high blood pressure. As I said before, I always knew at some point I'd have heart disease because all my family on both sides have had it. Asthma also puts a strain on the heart and no matter what we do, my asthma continues to get worse.

Jean, sounds like your weather is all over the place, too. We had an article in the paper today that the schools have had a windfall from port taxes so they won't have to cut back on anything for this year. They are pleading for math and science teachers. You don't even have to have a degree in teaching if you can pass a test and continue to take classes.

Have a good day.

Good morning everyone. It is rainy and cold here this morning. Jack took the SUV because he discovered a headlight had gone out on the Grand Marquis. They want $30+ for a light bulb for the headlight. Is that ridiculous or what? It isn't even a headlight replacement just the dang bulb.

Susan: I have Jiff reduced fat peanut butter. Looks like one serving, which is 2 tbl is 2 g sugar. I never have more than one tbl for whatever I am eating and only eat it occasionally. I would rather substitute olives or avocado I think for the healthy fat. I even use olive oil or canola oil if I need the fat but rarely. I give myself 2 years which is plenty of time to lose at a healthy rate. I would like to be 100 lbs down in 18 months to go to Vegas again. I can then walk around comfortably. I am really trying to have healthier snacks instead of the little cakes or whatever. I guess it is a good thing I enjoy fruit so much. I bought some whole wheat sociable crackers and they are really good. I am making my first batch of brown rice for dinner tonight. Never made it before but I know it takes a bit longer than white rice.

Jean: I know you are like me and have to be sick and tired of winter weather. I have already started scouting out pricing for hotels in Vegas. If things are still the same next year I imagine we will get a really good deal. They had one of the nicest strip hotels, MGM Grand for $69 a night up through Sept of this year so hopefully we can get a good deal next year. I will start looking around January to see when I can book for August. It is one of the cheapest months because it is also the hottest out there, but we always have a car so we don't have to walk any farther than we want to. Jack and I always like walking at night. There is something neat about it and it is so safe. I mean, you can't be foolish, you need to watch your handbag and wallet and such, but you don't get mugged and such and the police presence is pretty heavy as they have bicycle patrols up and down the strip. (Cute cops in bike shorts, how can you beat that! lol)

I got a call from our son last night. My nephew called him and ask him to call us. My oldest sister went into the hospital with kidney stones. I talked to her this morning and she has passed the stones, but the doctor thinks she may have bruised her liver. She is in pain, but she may get to go home tomorrow once all the tests come back.

Too wet to do mopping today so it will have to wait until tomorrow I guess. In the meantime, I am going to try and catch up on getting those placemats done.

Have a good Thursday all! (Gloria and Gail we miss you)
Faye

Good morning, ladies! Down to 45 today so chilly.

I figured out my prescriptions weren't going to last until my doctor's appointment so I called to get them renewed and the nurse said I had better move my appointment up so I'm going at 9 on Monday. Jean, I've had the appointment for 6 months. I hadn't called and asked for a new one before. I don't like taking off work for the doctor since I am home on Friday. They would have had me in today or tomorrow but there were no appointments until afternoon and I have to have a fasting blood draw.

Faye, I'll look for the Jiff when I go grocery shopping again. I like to mix a tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of FF cream cheese. Makes it go farther.

I'm have an awful time getting adjusted to the time change - can't go to sleep at night and don't want to get up in the morning. I wish they would choose a time and leave it there.

The Bradford Pear trees and the Japanese Cherry Trees are blooming now - so pretty!

Have a great day!

Good morning to you all. It is still cool here but at least the rain has moved out. I am going to go out in awhile and run errands. Jack decided to take a vacation day today so he is home with me. He is welcome to come with me, but I will have to warn him I am getting my nails done and that could take some time.

Susan: Because of the removal of the oil, the Jiff lowfat is a bit stiff, but it is still good I think. Like I said, I don't eat PB that often and I have always hated pbj even as a child so I never have to worry about a craving for it. I bet you could make a yummy frosting with pb, cream cheese and sweetener and maybe put it on a cake that had a jam filling or something! It would be fun to fool with and see. I find I don't miss regular cream cheese at all. It doesn't taste different to me. I think the one thing I find not as tasty is salad dressing (not mayo, but dressing for your salad.) I tend to not eat just plain salad because of it. I will put salad greens in with chicken or tuna or something. We are going to Olive Garden tomorrow night with the kids before they leave on their cruise on Sunday and I went to the OG website and they have all their nutritionals. I can have linguine with marinara and pasta fagoli soup for 10 pts total so that isn't too bad. I was amazed at the fat in the different foods and desserts though. You wonder if people would eat it if they knew they were eating about twice what the daily recommend is for fat in just that one dessert. What I am going to order is the leanest except for minestrone, but it came up the same in pts and I like their pasta fagoli. I am not that fond of their bread sticks so I am not tempted by those. I am going to ask if they have whole wheat pasta too and may get that instead of regular.

Jean: Maybe we can coordinate and be in Vegas at the same time next year! That would be fun to see you. If you go in August it is very hot, but lots cheaper, then Sept the prices go up. As long as you go before the end of October, the pools stay open at the hotels. It is one of those places you can go back a lot and still have stuff to see. You don't ever have to sit at one slot machine or table game to have fun there. Lots of interesting stuff. I want to ride the gondolas. Never done it because I am sure the seat belts they require you to wear won't fit me. I plan on that being totally different. We have never been downtown when the canopy is going. The one year we went they were working on it so they didn't have it running. I have never seen it except on tv. We want to go back and take pics at some of the stuff we visited in 2005 but Jack's hard drive crashed the fall of that year and we lost all the pics of where we had been. We always go to two shows but haven't decided exactly which ones we will go to as of yet. We plan on being there from a Sunday to the following Saturday, more than likely the last week in August or possibly labor day week if we can get a good price.

I will wait until Monday to clue you in on my first week's weigh in, but it will be a surprise.

Well, I need to figure out pts and stuff for the menu I have so I need to go. Have a great weekend all.
Faye

Good evening, ladies. Cold and raining so Faye's rain has come here!

I had day chapter Quilt Guild this morning then lunch with the ladies afterwards. I came home and had a 2 hour nap - had to make up for the missing sleep of the past week.

I am supposed to go to a quilt show with friends tomorrow but it may be a day sitting and sewing since most of the show was to be displayed outside and its still raining. No matter what, it will be fun.

Jean, it's warmer in Iowa than Virginia. The pear and cherry trees do have fruit. They are very popular around here.

Faye, I invest a point in salad dressings now and then. I like Newman's Own Lite Balsamic and Ken's Lite Raspberry Walnut. Mostly I use a teaspoon of Olive Oil and a tablespoon of vinegar - balsamic, raspberry, garlic wine, or rice. I just can't stand plain salad.

Have a good Saturday!

Good morning to you all! It is still raining here now. I thought it was going to move off but I guess there was more behind it. It rained all night.

The kids leave for their Mexican cruise tomorrow and I know Thomas has to be beyond the moon. They are driving to New Orleans tomorrow morning to catch the ship out of New Orleans. I imagine he is driving his mom stark raving nuts. We will have the granddoggy for the week starting tonight so I am trying to make preps for that.

I went and got my nails done yesterday (Jack did go and had some breakfast at McD's and came back just as my nails were drying) and I messed two of them up because I had to go to the bathroom bad and smudged them when I took down my pants. They are such a pretty reddish orange sort of like sunset and I was preparing our dinner last night and looked down and had snapped one corner of one off so I had to take off the rest and file it down. Bummer!

Jean: I will savor my pasta and think of you tonight! lol We had issues when we were with a couple vacationing. It was in Vegas about 3 years back and my sister and bil came over from Calf for a long weekend. My bil took over and we had to go where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, etc. We literally were chasing him through casinos until I got fed up as did Jack. His wife gets mad at him but she never said a word to him. This was at the Luxor and I told Jack I was going out and sitting outside and they could look for me. They both went with me and he showed up about half an hour later like nothing had happened. Of course the two of them fought the whole time they were in Vegas. They couldn't afford to be there for one thing and he went the first night they were there and took $300 out of the atm and played blackjack all night which made my sister mad of course. They have to put up the perception they have lots and lots of money so he would take the meal checks to pay them, etc. At first I tried to get Jack to try and reason with him because I knew from talking to my sister they were hurting financially, but then I just gave up and let him pay. Every meal, every outing was an argument with them. We took them to a fancy Italian restaurant for their anniversary and they fought there too. What a miserable way to live your life with your spouse. So, I think you have to say it is fun if you go with a couple who is like you and at least is open minded to sharing what to do. Needless to say, though I missed seeing my sister, the last time we went, I didn't tell her we had gone to Vegas until we came home. She was hurt I think but he ruined a good part of our vacation and I wasn't letting that happen again. The year my son got married in Vegas they came over along with my niece and nephew in law flying in from Indiana. They are close friends and everytime all six of us were together it was like Jack and I didn't exist. On the day of the wedding my feet had swelled so much I couldn't get on my dress shoes. My sister and niece had gone out for coffee and shopping together (not bothering to invite me along) and Jack finally hunted them down and ask her if they could come by and get me so I could go get some shoes someplace. My sister was the only one with a car. They did and took me to Walmart's where I did find a pair of black slip on sandals that worked. We came out of Walmart's and she took their shopping back to her car and told me she knew my feet were swollen and I could sit in the car. She said they just wanted to peek in the shop next door and I could wait in the car. I waited an hour for them in the car in near 90 degree heat without her car keys to turn on the ac before they came out loaded with shopping bags. I was returned to the hotel and they roared off to do more shopping. Since then, Jack and I do not do anything with them when the four of them are together. In fact, she called me the other day and said my niece and her dh were flying into Vegas in April and could we come out too! Uh, no not at the last minute and uh, no, not if the whole vacation were free! lol

Susan: Have fun with your quilting ladies today. I am going to clean the downstairs this morning before the kids come over this afternoon and we go to dinner. That is my Saturday fun!

Guess I need to get myself some breakfast. It is breakfast burritos for me with egg beaters, mushrooms, some lowfat cheese, salsa and wrapped in whole wheat tortillas. Yum!

Have a fun Saturday all!
Faye

Good morning to you all! It is still cool here but doesn't seem to be quite as cold.

Got all my cleaning done yesterday and they brought the dog over and we then went out to dinner. Thomas is pretty excited about his trip and talks about the food constantly til it drives his mom nuts. He is predicting he is going to gain 10 lbs eating. Yeah, right, he is rail thin and has a good healthy appetite and never gains an oz so he might accomplish a lb or two, but unlike us, he isn't going to gain much even round the clock eating!

Jean: I don't put up with shoddiness either and if I am unhappy I make it known. I mean, if it is hotel services, you pay a lot of money to sleep in their beds the least they could do is have things clean, etc. I remember going to Indiana after my first surgery. It was cold and icy and Jack tried to communicate to the guy I couldn't walk around on the ice. He sent us to the first building (this was a Residence Inn) and we hauled bags in and discovered the bedroom had been slept in. The covers were thrown back and the bedding mess up like someone had just gotten out of bed. We had to haul all our stuff back he drove to the front desk and he gave us another room and we started hauling bags and such and he had put us way back behind the pool and the whole sidewalkl was solid ice. We got to that point and turned around and hauled back to the car. At this point, I was tired and mad, but I let Jack take care of it and we finally got a room that we could get to and no one had been in. I did write to Marriot and complain though. Sometimes they will do something for you and sometimes they will ignore you.

I am going to hunt up their dog and get in the recliner and watch tv or knit for awhile since it is early.

Everyone have a nice Sunday.
Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! Still raining but a little warmer - 45 degrees.

We had a good time at the quilt show yesterday, despite the rain. They moved the quilts into shops and put bunches of balloons on the doors so you would know where to go.

I went to church this morning then had coffee and a bagel with friends afterwards.

Faye, wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to eat anything and everything and not gain weight! I was born overweight. Lucky Thomas!

Jean, I think it must have been warmer in Iowa the last several days than Virginia. I hope the rain stops soon or we are going to be having big problems with flooding.

Have a good evening!

Good Monday morning everybody! We are going to have a warm up trend and so that will be nice. Maybe spring has decided to permanently descend on us at last.

Today was weigh in and I lost 13 lbs this last week. Don't freak out, that won't continue, but I always lose a whopping amount first week until my body adjusts to proper amounts and types of food.

Susan: Indiana has had a lot of flooding. The last week they had a rain storm that dumped 5-6 inches on them all at once I guess. Hope you had a nice time with friends at the quilt show.

Jean: Fortune and Marty run free while we are gone. They don't tear anything up and seem to get along just fine. They don't fight and such. Marty is getting up in years, has cataracts, and not as hyper as he was when he was younger and Fortune is really laid back so he basically wants to sit your lap if you are home or he sleeps on the sofa pillows all the time. He is funny as I have overstuffed sides on my couch and he will stand on the sides and then "tap" down the pillow on the corner of the couch with his front paws until it is just right for him. Marty is attached to the men in his house more than Kelly I think so he follows Jack around all the time. It is cute, like hero worship. It is interesting having two dogs in bed with us every night instead of just one, but they both do much better than I would have thought. Actually, Marty is much less fidgety than Fortune is and stays put on the bed.

Well, I need to go upstairs and make the bed and take and shower and dress. I am going to take the dogs out for a nice walk this morning as exercise.
Faye