My school's gym is great but my membership is up until it starts again in September - starting then, NO EXCUSES!! Maybe I could pick up a cheap treadmill on Kijiji or something like that. I leave for work at 8 am so it'd be a real push to run before, but I've heard it can improve your energy throughout the day. Definitely better than running alone late at night! Thanks for the tips.

I think I might try a bit of strength training or something in the basement, but I have no idea where to start. I'll see if there's anything on youtube.

SOPHIE ~ I am in Northern Ontario and it is much cooler in the AM here, so we do more stuff then (like JOSEY suggested); and have a siesta in the late afternoon or early evening, when the temps get too high. The treadmill in the basement is a good idea too.


JOSEY ~ glad you like that name; maybe I could count all my walking for each day, as my knees won't let me run ...

Did all the last signing for the house today; yeah! Just one more week and we can get at the prep phase. I am resting for a few days; as my back was a bit sore, but I am way ahead.

Time for a tea and put my legs up (my evening siesta) now that it is cooling down outside again. Have a good day tomorrow ... Rosebud

Sure thing, join us Rosebud! The walking goal is a neat idea! I should add some fitness goals too.

Keep us posted on the moving etc.

Josey - I wish I could say I haven't gained!!! At my lowest I was 145, right now I average between 153 and 155 I just can't get my butt in gear and I don't know why. I wish you guys were all here so you could kick my butt on a daily basis. I like the Turkey Trot name also I was going to suggest something like galloping gobbling.

Rose - Rubarb is good with enough sugar... We have a patch too, my Dad loves rubarb pie but hasn't had any in a long time so I'm going to make him one this year. He likes it mixed with strawberries. I'm glad all went well with your signing!

Sophie - Nice to meet ya. Any activity is good, when it's warm here I work out in the basement too. A treadmill is a really good idea, it's how I stay running in the winter. But remember it's easier to run on the treadmill then it is outside or on a track. If you can set it for a slight incline to make it more realistic.

Thanks for the welcomes all!

My energy is helped a ton by an extremely supportive partner. He comes out with me every morning to do exercises.

HAPPY SUMMER LONG WEEKEND ~ hope you are all enjoying our August holiday weekend; we are blessed in this province to have them each month. It's here again, but it is supposed to cool down again by Monday ...

JOSEY ~ I did a lot of walking this week; trying to figure out how to estimate it all though, as I packed my pedometer already (drats). I take breaks in between but it adds up in the end.

AUNTY ~ I use some artificial sweetener in mine to cut down on the sugar (ie Splenda is good); and I almost always mix in other fruit with the Rhubarb like apples, strawberries, or even blueberries (either together or just two fruit at a time). Last time I made apples & rhubarb with sweetener and cinnamon; and sprinkled some granola on top before eating it, just like a fruit crisp. I like Rhubarb in fruit crisps too. One of my all-time favorites is Rhubarb & Cherry pie; then apple & rhubarb (but haven't had either in a very long time) ... yum!


We picked up Deli BBQ spit chicken to have for dinner this weekend; having mine with salad & DH will have his tators. Have a great weekend ladies ... Rosebud

Morning everyone... hope you all had a great long weekend. We went camping and had a really good time... ate a few smores though. It looks as if summer has finally arrived here! It's supposed to be hot finally next week 28°with humidity. So far we've been calling 2011 "The year the misquitos came and summer didn't". Don't get me wrong, I don't envy you guys with the 35° temps, I think I would melt in that.

Armida - That's great that your partner exercises with you! The most mine will do is go for a walk.

Rose - my dad likes rubarb - strawberry pie... on our next coolish day I'm going to make him one.. there's lots of barb in the garden!

HELLO FELLOW CANUCKS ~ ya, it's summer alright; posting gets mighty scarce during this time of year, but we're all busy and that's A-OKaaaay! We've been busy all this week over at our new house; been cleaning, then now painting. So far, we have most of the kitchen (we did that first), the livingroom & about half the hallway done. Not bad since there is only four of us and we all have our physical challenges.

We took today off to rest; DH's friend put new locks on our doors today while it was quiet. I puttied a hole in one wall so it will be dry in time to paint this week. I'm quite happy with the light colors I chose; it really brightens the place up and makes it seem even bigger. That's a good decor trick: light colors to make rooms seem larger; and brighter or darker colors to make large rooms appear smaller & more cozy.

We had really hot temps last week, but our house stayed at least 10 degrees cooler than this place -- I'm sure it's the brick exterior doing that, and we are appreciating this right now. We had a nice cool breeze today. Ate well this week; stayed within my plan pretty good with a couple of treats within serving sizes -- I'm getting better at this.

I'm gonna go pack a lunch now to take with us tomorrow -- have a great week coming up & do enjoy our last month of summer ... Rosebud

Hi Rose - I'm glad someone is getting summer! Ours decided not to come after all. Brick exteriors are great, good insulation is another thing that can keep your house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. A few years ago we had foam insulation put into our attic and it has helped out a bunch.

Hey everyone... just checking in. The pie was great... my Dad loved it and so did my husband. I managed to only have 2 small pieces, it helped that I gave half of it away to my parents!

Hi guys, sorry for not being around here for a while. I was in a bit of a funk (aka stalling). Better now!

So sad to hear about Jack Layton this morning!! I think he was a great guy, very likeable.

I am on a shopping frenzy right now since I am afraid winter is coming and I am going to run around naked in the snow because nothing fits anymore. Nice problem to have but expensive! I only buy cheap (on sale) stuff right now because I don't know how long I can wear stuff.
I also found that I shop at store now I never dared to enter because I wouldn't fit in anything. My new favourites right now are: SmartSet, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger (mostly for pants & jeans) and Mexx. Oh and a great new find is Joe Fresh. They are a Superstore brand apparently but have a big store in the new mall north of Calgary now. Wow, I am seriously impressed by the prices. I bought a down vest for $35 and a blouse on sale for $5!

Where are you shopping usually?

I am looking for a black knit dress. Something wintery with long sleeves and turtleneck maybe? Any idea where I might find something? I haven't been wearing dresses for so many years I don't even know where to look!!!

Have a great week everybody!

OMG, summer's almost over...

On another note, indeed very sad about Layton. Although I don't really follow canadian politics (I've only lived here two years and US politics made me a cynical toward them) I've heard nothing but good things spoken about him.

I guess the type of things you hear depend on who you listen to but I agree... very sad about his passing. Only a month ago he announced the new cancer and that he was stepping down to fight it. He must have been a lot sicker then he let on.

I don't shop much... we don't have the money at all. When I do I tend to follow the sales, I'm not a terribly trendy person, I just wear what I like. I used to like Rietmans but haven't been there in a while.

We actually had one day of summer!!! Yesterday it was 30°c-ish That's the warmest it's been all summer. We were camping with some friends and took our dogs down to the lake to cool off. We discovered our newest adoption actually likes to swim He'll fetch a frisbee from the water all day long if you let him! Our older dog doesn't like to swim and so he waits for the young guy to bring it back then he steals it! Not very nice but the young one lets him do it. I forsee us spending a lot of time down at the river next year if we get a summer.

Hey everyone... hope all our friends in the east are alright.

Hi everybody, how is it going?
We had a fantastic summer day yesterday, hottest of the year. And I had the day off! Woohoo!
Not so great today though. Rain, 20C drop in temperature and I can almost smell winter.
Oh well, what can you do?

Have a great week everybody!