JEN ~ Wow -- lucky you ... off to Hawaii in February. I suppose you are flying there? Hope your family are all feeling better by then too!

They said it was supposed to be today but Mr. Sun hasn't arrived yet, maybe he'll show up later. The temps are much milder though: +1C which is good for this time of year. Our winter interlude is finished for this year and the committee, volunteers, and sponsors did a fabulous job once again!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend with nice weather like us ... Rosebud

March 5 to the 14th to be exact. 13 days from now. We've been planning this trip since July and my best friend is coming with us, her and i are going to climb diamond head crater otherwise known as Honolulu's outdoor stair climber. lol

P.S. yes we are flying, otherwise it would be an awful tiring swim.

Welcome, Jen. Glad you've joined us.

This last week was so busy. It was our church's turn at the Goodwill centre in town and I was there Tuesday to Friday each afternoon. I did, however, find some wonderful buys this week while I was there. I bought a brand new yogurt maker still in the box for $2, a couple of tops, 2 dresses, 2 sweaters, 2 plastic baby cups and a pizza cutter. I didn't spend over $15 for the whole lot including 3 tops for DH. I luv the Goodwill Centre. I spent most of the afternoons sorting and shelving clothing so I was on my feet most of the time.

Our weather has been snowy, rainy, slushy and totally uncharacteristically warm for this time of the year. The ground isn't even frozen so not only is there slush but mud as well. What a mess when walking.

Rosebud, send me your Shepherdless pie, I'm vegetarian... Maybe you could fry up some ground beef and spoon it over the top.

Aunty Jam, I believe all desserts are about 500 calories!! I'm always blown away by the calories in cakes and pies, etc. I have dessert once a week and I'm always looking for low calorie desserts with full fat, full sugar content and they are not to be found, of course, but I wish anyway. So I find my portions are getting a little smaller trying to compensate for the high calories. I love cheesecake and don't think I could get rid of it that easily.

My back is better and I've been out walking since Tuesday but I actually gained 1/2 pound this week (which I'm refusing to claim). I did have a bad breakdown Tuesday night where I ate an equivalent of 3 days calories (or 8 pieces of cheesecake). I haven't done that in such a long time but I just kept eating...sigh....but I've been ever vigilant since and will be for some time to come. I would have been at goal this week I'll wager if not for Tuesday night.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I have been working 2 jobs since January 4th and it looks like it will not come to an end until. March 12. I have been told that the new driver criminal background should be cleared by the end of the March Break. I will be driving my school run until the 12th then the break starts and I will get actual days off and then I can spend more time on me. I can keep a "vampire" type schedule and not have to make my body switch between a vampire schedule and a nanny schedule. I will also be able to stay up to date on what everyone else is doing. I look foarward to getting to know you all again.

When you start a new Spring Thread be sure to send me an email with the link to the new thread in case thing don't go as planned. First day of Spring is March 21.

Laura

Hi Jen Nice to meet ya.

RO - I actually like to have yogurt for desert... no fat, no sugar (splenda). I find it very satisfying, sometimes I throw in some bran buds or chop up some real fruit and add that. Very nummy!

Rosebud - It's very nice here too.. was going to go to the off leash park with my dogs today but just didn't make it.

My "young" dog turned 7 today and became a senior! Of course he still looks and acts like he's 4 or so. My old dog is 14 1/2... and still dominates over the young one.

Hubby and I figured out a way to get the treadmill into the basement so keep your fingers crossed that happens for me soon! I really need to start some serious training for this 5k run.

I'm worried about my business trip in March, I'm going to Houston, Texas for 6 days. Last time I was there there were almost no vegatables to be seen!!! Portions are MASSIVE in Texas and everything is either deep fried or smothered in sauce We had to hunt for a place with good veggies! PLUS it's right in the middle of my training. This is not going to be good.

I will be so glad when the temps stay above 10 degrees Celsius again. When I get dressed for the 12 hr night shift job I feel like a stuffed turkey b/c of all the clothes you need to wear so you stay warm. This night was so damp and cold the cold seemed to seep into your bones and stay there.

HI LADIES ~ Well, Mr. finally showed up today -- nice! It is very warm out there ... above 0C and the snow is melting on the road too.

RO ~ yes, that is exactly what I plan to do; fry up some lean hamburger and put it on that -- great minds think alike. That's a good idea having all the churches take turns voluteering at your goodwill; maybe I'll suggest that to ours as they have been having some struggles lately. Donations have been down with 2 major employers closed up for most of this winter. One friend just returned to work this week becuz someone else decided to retire.


AUNTY ~ our girls were the same; of course, the older one was her mommy. Sadly they passed away and now we have our boy, NIKO who is just a young fella about 2 years old now. We really don't know his exact age as he was an abandoned dog that was rescued and we adopted him; he's very lovable and looks similar to yours too.

2b ~ we have a frosty cold here this year; biting cold would be more accurate. Thankfully, today is much milder ...

JEN ~ ... actually, I was just wondering if it was a cruise vs a fly-in. A lady I know has a dream to go to Hawaii, but she is afraid to fly, so we suggested a cruise, if there is such a thing???

Hope you all have a very pleasant Sunday ... Rosebud

i was teasing you, i couldn't resist sorry honey.

anyway there are cruises where you go to all the islands, but i haven't seen any from the mainland to Hawaii.

Hello ladies. What a nice day here. It was 7 C when I went for my walk and the sun came out and I got the best time ever walking/jogging my 6.55 k route. It looks and feels like spring. It's so hard to believe it's February 22. We're usually in a deep freeze this time of the year. I suppose we could be in the middle of a blizzard next week.

Aunty Jam, I often have yogurt for dessert but I don't count that as dessert. Desserts are rich and gooey and full of calories so anything healthy doesn't count. Haha But the yogurt and fruit gives me the sweetness I'm craving. Actually, the more fruit I have in my diet the less I want/crave refined sugar.

Rosebud, I guess lay-offs are everywhere. The papermill close to where I live closed down this year and it's affected the whole area. But I haven't noticed any lack of donations in the goodwill. The bags of clothing seem to breed in the collection room.

Laura, I know what you mean about so many layers of clothing on in the winter. Sometimes I feel like Maggie Simpson in her snowsuit. (DSs always watched The Simpson's when they were home. When Maggie, the baby was in her snowsuit she couldn't move her arms or feet and looked like a five point star with all her limbs sticking out and her head at the top.) What's your night job?

Jen, that swim to Hawaii would be quite a workout!

Keep warm and I'll be back.

My 12 hr night shifts are in Security. I answer alarm calls. When off from that I drive school vehicle. I was suppose to be done the driving in December but when the MTO was on strike it was impossible to get new drivers licenced so I was asked to stay on until a new driver could be licenced for my run. I am hoping to be free and clear of driving in 2 weeks. I am finding that not having any time off is hard on the system.

There are some cruises that leave from Vancouver and go to Hawaii. We have been looking at them, but they have 5 sea days to get to Hawaii, and we thought we might not enjoy that.

Rosebud - Rescues are the best... my old dog (front) was adopted from the humane society and the young one (back) was from an unwanted litter they were going to take to the humane society.

RO - I keep trying to think of yogurt as a desert! I repeat it as I eat "This is desert... this is desert!"

I want to go to Hawaii too!!!! But I'll have to settle for a business trip to Houston next month

Getting the treadmill moved into the basement soon... I keep pestering hubby he says I have a one track mind.

JUDY-LYNN ~ thanks for that info; I will pass it along for sure.

AUNTY ~ yes, our boy just seems to happy and grateful to be with us all the time; he is so meek now and always trying to please us. My sister says it is becuz he knows how lucky he is to live with you; DH says he thinks his previous home wasn't too good, and he may be right (well, they deserted him and left him & his sister there to starve). He is such a sweet, lovable, and well-behaved dog; I guess I'll just never understand some people ...

We had lots of big, giant ***** flakes fall all day today; it really was so very pretty. DH grumbles about it a bit, but I love it myself becuz I'd rather have the snow and the nicer temps that go along with it. Just had another quiet day today, but tomorrow, I'm off to the dentist to have my last filling done. Glad that will be done with soon.

Have a wonderful Wednesday ladies ... Rosebud

Rosebud - Sometimes they just know.

It's supposed to get up to +4° here today!

Woo Hoo! Hubby got the treadmill into the basement last night!

Now I think I may be comming down with something, there's something going around work. Either that or it's all the dust and carp from cleaning out the basement. Hubby insists on cleaning out the entire basement since I wanted the treadmill in there... couldn't just clean out the little room it needed. Oh well... it really, REALLY needed it.

HI TO ALL OUR FELLOW CANUCKS out there ~ hope you are all having a Fabulous Friday ...

The temps were colder (down to about -18C) here during the night and we had some really frosty northern winds this week which made is seem about 10 degrees colder than that. So we just jacked up the furnace last night and that helped a lot. Today the temps came up to almost 0C but those winds were still here ... drats!

Well, in a couple of days, we'll be in March and then spring will be here before we know it ...

Ttyl ... have a wonderful weekend ...