What the heck happened to Sunday - the day not the cat. I read through the posts and decided that I needed breakfast before I answered and then the day just went. DS2 worked on putting in the new aerial and power points and now we have to wait for the electrician to come along and install a new circuit on the power board and certify the work. Meantime I finished the painting in the loo - apart from a second coat of paint to the window and door and tiled in the loo and kitchen. Almost done with this project. It's the finishing things that seem to take forever. You think - only got xyz to do and I'm done and you realise that grouting takes for ever and even longer to clean up the mess and that you still haven't prettied it all up and cleaned until it is shining. Then you realise some more that while you have been lingering and agonizing as to whether it is straight, clean, dust free and smooth you haven't been working on anything else either and the rest of the place is covered in dust, papers, and junk.

Mel - 5 degrees - I hope that is not fahrenheit??? That's below freezing. Last time it got to 5 degrees C here Target, K-mart, and all the other electrical stores ran out of heaters and blankets and quilts. It's a funny old world.

Ceejay - Good on you for thinking about the welfare of the cat. If she decides you are an okay person, you will never get away from her you realise! And they do become a bit of a liability if you go away from home frequently. But they are worth the worry and fuss. Sunday the cat has sort of switched allegiance from me to the DS2. Guess that is what I get for staying home for so long.

I've now been home for 2 months. It's seems a long time but really I think I have needed this. The feelings are moving again and I am beginning to think that I am ready to go back to work. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just work when you felt like it and to give it a rest when every went to **** in a handcart. But that's not what we are made of. We need to work for the feeling of independence and self worth. At least we like to think our work makes a difference somewhere.

I've been eating the veges out of the garden - last night I had a feed of fresh spinach. The darn stuff is going to seed in front of my eyes. The second set of lettuces are ready to eat. Tomatoes have flowers on them so maybe some fruit soon. Parsley is out of control and the beetroot will be ready by the end of the week. Not sure what the snow peas are doing - not much by the look of them.

I'll catch up with you lot again later.

So you have extra parsley Shad? Send it over here. We have 11 Swallowtail caterpillars in the pots. They have decimated the Italian flat leaf parsley and I moved them to the curly parsley. Finished most of that this morning so DH has decided to make a terrarium for them as he really really REALLY wants to see them cucoon (ok that doesn't look right) and moreso see them emerge as butterflies. I'm sure at this time of year they will winter through the season as in their crysalis. When they get to that point. I'm not sure about them getting enough air and please don't let the jar be too hot. He assures me they will be fine. I assure him he will never hear the end of it if they die at our hand. He ran to the store and picked up bunches of fresh parsley from the store. So far they seem happy with that.

After "cleaning" and sorting I am more behind then when I started. And here it is almost time for bed. Weekend just flew by...

GOOD MORNING CHICKS. THE LAUNDRY ROOM IS CALLING ME AND I AM HEADED THERE NOW. HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY. MY WEEKEND WAS GENERALLY QUIET!
HAPPY MONDAY/TUESDAY

HAPPY~ SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THE ENZYME COUNT. HOPE YOU CAN FIX IT WITH FOODS. MAYBE BROCCOLI AND HUMMUS? OR MAYBE BROCCOLI AND A BIT OF RANCH DRESSING? I AM DECLUTTERING WITH YOU SO WE WON'T BE LONELY GOOD LUCK WITH THE CATEPILLARS. HOPE THEY WILL LIKE THEIR NEW HOME.

JEANETTE~ GLAD THE CORTISONE IS WORKING. I FORGOT ABOUT YOUR PAIN. SORRY. HOPE IT CONTINUES TO GET BETTER. HAVE A PAIN-FREE WEEK

SHAD~ YES IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU ONLY HAD TO WORK WHEN YOU FELT LIKE IT I LOVE TO GROUT BUT HATE THE CLEAN UP. I JUST WATCHED A MAN ON TV...HE WAS AN ITALIAN TILER AND HE USES SAWDUST TO CLEAN UP THE GROUT AND POLISH IT. HE WAITS TILL IT'S ALL DRY AND THEN GETS ON THE FLOOR WITH THE SAWDUST AND MUSHES IT AROUND. IT DID AN AMAZING JOB OF REMOVING THE EXCESS DRIED GROUT AND ACTUALLY POLISHED UP THE TILES VERY NICE. THE USED UP SAWDUST CHANGES COLOR AS IT PICKS UP THE GROUT AND THEN HE USED A CANISTER VAC TO SUCK IT ALL UP! IN THE MEANTIME....I HOPE YOU FIND A JOB YOU LIKE

Good morning ladies,

Monday rolls around already. Don't know where the weekend flew to or last night's sleep for that matter. Tired, tired this morning.

Toasting you with a load of laundry myself Mel. That's very interesting with the sawdust clean up. I suppose it can be mildly abrasive.

I see that Progresso came out with a new line of soups that are high fiber. I got 2 cans to try - hope they won't be as powerful as the Fiber One bars can be

I'm tired, my brain's in a fog, it's still overcast and gray here so I can't think of much anything to say. Guess I'll head on over to the office. Happy Monday chicks - hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Just a quick check in as I have to get something done ASAP. So I'll be back for personals later.

I had a busy (but fun) weekend and was away from here for a couple days. DH and I went fishing on Saturday which was fun and a gorgeous day to be out on the boat. Had a good day yesterday, but was busy from before sun up to well after sunset. I wanted to work on my website...but with the weather being SOOOO nice, and knowing that I'd better enjoy the nice weather while it's here...I chose not to spend too much time on the 'puter (just enough to track my WW points online). My eating went to h*ll at dinner time (had 2 grilled hot dogs with sauerkraut- yummmm!) - but I haven't used all my weekly extra points yet...so I guess I'm still okay. I'm continuing to step up the exercise, so hopefully my weigh in this week will be good.

Whew what a great weekend. Made it back from St. Louis safe and sound. The wedding was gorgeous. Ms. O was an absolute doll as the flower girl. I will try to post some pix soon, however my puter at home is so slow and cannot do it here at work.

Tracked to work in absolute dark this morning. It was the first time since last winter/spring. So it be known at 6:40 am in Indianapolis it is dark outside on the way to work. No wonder I wanted to keep sleeping.

Shad...it is approximately 6 weeks till Halloween. Giddy Up Girl...Knuckle down and I don't mean in the loo remodeling either.

Laura...yum..tomato basil soup, like one of my most favorite soups. Hella Bella keeps eating my cherry tomatos as they become ripe on the vine. So I have had only two cherry tomatos for myself.

Happy...holy crap, what would life be without car repairs. It is always something.

Chelle...wow on the steps girl. I am going to call you the high steppin' exercise Goddess. I, too, get my flu shot in a couple of weeks. I just talked to my doc about that on Thursday when I went to get my B12 shot.

Ceejay....yikes, danged ole arthritis. My mom has been battling it for 40 years. Absolute pain in the arse (joints).

MEL....cute Sunday picture. I left my windows open last night after getting back from St. Louis. It was too dang muggy all night and I didn't sleep well at all. I turned the air on this morning so I can sleep tonight, with any luck, I will sleep. Working at CVS tonight, Wed & Thurs. They gave me the weekend off. I won't complain about it.

Not much going on here, still in the raining mode.

Everyone have a great OP week and have a good check in on Thursday.

Much Love and Many Hugs,

Happy Monday ladies -

Ceejay - Good for you for getting your pedometer and for all the exercise! You go, girl! We LOVE the DVR package and use it all the time both for recording and pausing/rewinding live TV when we or the dogs need a potty break, or when we don't hear clearly what was said. It would be so nice of you to rescue Crystal from your cousin's dog.

Mel - Has it warmed up any out there? I heard there was a major cold snap in the New England/East Coast area. But no more winter icons pls. I am not ready for that 4-letter word that begins with an S and rhymes with Tow. I'm so glad you're feeling better.

Laura - I love autumn mums! So colorful! I didn't get my Halloween decorations out yet even though a neighbor put their's out 2 weeks ago. I was going to do it yesterday...but the day got away from me.

Happy - So sorry to hear about the car repairs. Repairs are no fun, but not having car payments is nice. DH and I both have 1999 Toyotas (Corolla for me, 4Runner for him). We really like the reliability of Toyotas, and thankfully, they're still running great (knock on wood). I need a pair of comfy low-heeled boots for winter on the snowy days. Or maybe I'll just look for a cushy insole or whatver to place in mine since they are perfectly fine. Sorry to hear about your liver enzymes. If you figure out a good way to make your own V8, let me know. I love the stuff but not the sodium. As for the Progresso High Fiber soups, I tried a couple different ones and really liked them, but they are kind of high in points, especially compared to the Progresso Zero and One Point soups. I didn't have any "overactive digestion" problems with the soup, but then Fiber One bars don't bother me either. I love soup...but I hate to cook and the canned stuff is so high in sodium. So this weekend, I made a huge pot of zero point veggie soup. I took low sodium Vegetable Broth, added tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and lots of cabbage. Added some oregano and garlic for spice, and it turned out SOOO good. I'm just bummed out that I have only enough for a couple more days. I'll have to make more later in the week. Isn't is strange how you can work on decluttering the house for hours and get more behind than when you started?

Shad - Glad to hear the loo is nearly finished and that you are feeling better about going back to work. It would be great to be independently wealthy and only have to work when you want to...but maybe now that you kind of want to, the universe will deliver a great job to you! I wish you could send some of that spinach my way...the salad bar here is out of spinach today, and I miss it (never thought I'd say that!).

Annie - I'm so happy you had a great time at the wedding and got home safe and sound. Nice that CVS gave you the weekend off. I don't know when the sun rises here because it's still dark when I get to work and I'm not near any windows. But it's starting to get dark about 6:30 or so in the evening.

Well, it's time for my lunchtime walk. I've only got 2500 steps so far...so I've got to get moving. It's 66 and cloudy here. Hopefully it won't feel too chilly as I didn't bring a sweater. After work today, I'm going to the gym for cardio, abs and weights. Gotta burn off those two hot dogs from last night.

Love and hugs to all,

Hi chicks,

Checking back in.

I miss my COCA COLA!!!!!! I am trying to make it through lunch with just water. Will probably get up and make a green tea shortly. At least I get to put a little bit of sugar in that. Some habits are hard to break

Michelle - I almost fell over laughing about your comment playing the shows back on DVR because you could not hear what they were saying. I thought only we did that Some of the shows are so muffled it gets annoying. I have to interpret for DH often. Sometimes no matter what, neither of us get it. There was one series (can't remember which) that was so bad I had to go in the spare room and watch the show on closed caption mode! Glad you got some fishing in - the night is closing around us. And what do you have against the word STOW???

I used to be one of the few houses in the neighborhood that decorated all out on Halloween. This year we are protesting the shennanigans in the homeowners association so much to DH's delight, the house will stay dark. In fact, we are considering moving our vacation to the end of October as I am afraid there won't be enough color to make the drive worthwhile. It's still warm here - in the 80's and rainy this week but next week it's supposed to cool off and that will encourage the trees to change.

Thanks Michelle for the info on the high fiber Progresso. I'm surprised. I figured with the extra fiber it would be less pointy - goes to show you - check it before you pop it in your mouth. Must be more pasta in those soups pushing the points. Your soup sounds absolutely delicious. I made the vegetable soup with the roasted veggies you passed along. It was good but needed more vegetables even though I added more. I am making the homemade V8 tonight or tomorrow - will let you know how it comes out. I'm not sure I could ever completely give up hot dogs so I understand your temptation

Annie - glad you had a good time at the wedding. I guess better Hella Bella get the tomatoes than those bloody blackbirds and squirrels. I would hate that they'd take 1 bite out of the regular tomatoes - just enough to ruin them and then they'd run off.

DH noticed we get a bit more light down here then you guys do. Dark is 5:45 - by 6:30am it's light enough for me to see. I notice the evening closing in faster, particularly since I leave work late. Gotta be on the road no later than 7pm in order to beat the blackness. Even driving home at 6 - 6:30, the oncoming headlights are bothering me. Won't be long before I have to get the yellow glasses out.

Still tired. Maybe I'll go do a lap or two around the building with my virtual friend Michelle

I went for a 45 minute walk at lunch time (7,000 steps = approx. 3 miles). My back was getting a little tweaky at the end, but now that I've sat for a few minutes, I'm doing great! Not bad considering that before my last cortisone shot, I couldn't walk much more than 5 minutes at a time.

Happy - Did you get your walk in? I remember you saying how you decorated for Halloween so much because you were in IL for Christmas. I don't blame you for boycotting decorating after all the homeowners association BS you had to deal with. We're probably at 30 or 40% fall color now. Even though I don't like that horrible season that comes after fall or all the STOW it brings, I love the fall colors. The High Fiber Soup is less pointy than regular Progresso, but has considerably more points than the Progresso Light 0 and 1 point soups. As for hot dogs...now that I've had Chicago style dogs, I can't eat the regular. Give me a good GRILLED Chicago dog (luckily they sell them in the grocery store) covered in kraut! Yummmmmm! You leave work at 7 pm??? Sheesh! That's crazy!! I'm glad I switched my hours because I'm usually home by 4 pm, which is typically when dusk is in January or February.

Sour kraut is a bust for me as I have to put some type of sweetner in it to like it well enough to eat. Kind of defeats the purpose of SOUR kraut. LOL.

Chelle.....Wow that is a LOT of steps for lunch time. It is 3 pm here and my pedometer says 1373. I usually rack them up the evenings I work at CVS, so I should be ok.

Happy....Good for you for drinking water instead of coca cola. My SIL quit drinking all sodas and opted for water and iced tea. Over a 9 mo period she lost 30 lbs and that was the only thing she changed in her diet. Now granted she was drinking more than two liters of soda a day.

I started drinking protein drinks for breakfast today. I think I need more protein in my diet and less carbs and such.

Not much else....

Annie - I have no doubt that you get a ton of exercise in while working at CVS! Great workout, and they pay you too! How cool is that! As for sauerkraut, I used to think I only liked it on bratwurst, but now that I've tried it on hot dogs....I almost wonder if it's not the sauerkraut that I crave rather than the meat! But the two combined is SOOOO good...the hot dogs HAVE to be grilled though. I only like boiled dogs if you add them to Bush's baked beans.

Have I started a pedometer trend? Sounds like a lot of you are counting (and trying to increase) your steps! We totally ROCK! Keep on rockin' (um...I mean walking), chicas!

I am a bit sad today....I just found out that a 3FC moderator, Meowee, passed away over the weekend. She was a really sweet woman who moderated the Dieting with Diabetes forum. She was so helpful and supportive and knowledgable. She always had some great words of wisdom and tons of compassion. She really helped me get my health back on track after I was first diagnosed with early diabetes, and I will always be grateful to her. May she rest in peace.

It's truly amazing how we can develop such special relationships without ever meeting. I truly feel blessed to have all you wonderful ladies in my life.

Chelle....Couldn't of said it better. I actually felt lost not posting for almost 4 days. Even if most of what is typed here by me is babble, it just feels good to know someone out there is listening.

I have actually been pedometering...since January and have earned 250 bucks through Humana. I have just a bit more to go and will earn another 100 bucks. You have helped with moving my steps upward however. WE ROCK SISTA'S

That's awesome that Humana rewards your activity with cash! I'd forgotten that you had started pedometering long ago. My apologies. Good for you for doing SOOOO well!