Howd y'all
Shad, Cairns sounds good..i keep forgeting about the sunny queensland weather and how you can nearly swim all year round!!..down her in New South Wales its not quite so toasty and we have actually had a little rain these last few days whch sure helps withthe water shortages and fire hazard danger..god bless australia..it is such a hard old place to live in..full of extremes..but i guess that seems to be a sign of the times..extreme weather patterns all over the world these days.

Its school hols at the mo but i have only beem able to have a few days off as very busy at work at the moment..its our first quarterly review and this new computer system is proving that peple can do so many quirky and exasperating things...plus our new reports need to be flushed down the loo and started again. In fact i am not sure that we should even contaminate the sewerage system with them..excuse me.

Am cooking DH a hot beef vindaloo for dinner..well one of those sauces and you just add meat and veges (shaker i am sure you have used them as you are about as skilled in the kitchen as me) except problem is every time i have a little taste to see if the meat is getting tender i have to drink a pint of water.is too spicy for me..annies lips are on fire..plus have to keep rushing to loo..hee hee..not helping for water shortage either..maybe Sydney water should ban all spicy food and that would save o water consumption.

Any way chickies..must go..will test the vindaloooooo on one of the kids..hee hee..evil annie..bye babes...Annie-on-fire.

Yo everyone!!And a special hello to our recently returned KIWI-ANNIE!!!! nICE TO CATCH UP (OH capital button!)
Shad how are you doing in Cairns? must be great to poop in for a swim on your way "home" after class....are there one or two students you would like to shove in before you test the waters? Now tell all..what size and flavour was the icecream??
The slo-ccoker is just marvelous it is so amazing what you can turn out of one. Apparently you can bake a cake!!!Haven't got to that page yet. I think I want to make a really yummy thick soup in it for lunches as it seems to be getting quite windy now and too cold for cereal. And no I have not re-weighed yet but I have this feeling that I will be renewing my "vows" in the near future
How are you all doing with your scale relationships?Mum took my photo on my camera today, all polished and tidy(!!!) for going out to a carvery for lunch. It hopefully will show a difference a year has made as my last piccie I posted on the pictures thread was taken 51 weeks ago in Derbyshire on a wet, windy day and I was all bundled up in my fleece....
The elders have returned home hopefully with inspiration in mum to use her new slo-cookpot also, watching me chuck in sausages, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of baked beans and an onion and seasoning, go out and not lift the lid even for a milli-second but to return home to a super meal all ready to eat I hope has upped her confidence a mountain or so!!!It certainly made their visit this time FAR less exhausting than at any time previous.So I have slept very well during their stay....only tonight I can't switch off...hence the
Oh well I guess that's all for now.....so bye bye from the North

Hello again.

Great to see Annie posting again. Yes we are swimming up here every night. Teel, the swimming pool is in the back yard, don't need to go anywhere except in. Last course there was one student I would have cheerfully watched go under twice and come up once.
Tonight we are thinking of Indian for dinner. Will have to be real careful with that one.
My shhhhhh Icecream was a double decker. One of the flavours was lo fat (Irish delite) but the other was a full on wickedly creamy double double chocolate mud and I enjoyed every second of it.
Those slow cookers are great! I've had one for a long while. I also gave one to my mum years back (my sister has it now). Mum made an ox-tail soup in it and forgot about it for three days! When she finally figured out it was still there, the bones had all disintegrated and the soup was smooth as silk. Dad thought it was the best soup ever!!! Mum was delighted, because she told him it was a slow cooker and needed three days to develop! Didn't have to let on about the shady memory you see.
Okay, the driver is 'patiently' (not) waiting for me. Gotta go. Will be back

As I suspected,mum hasn't even got hers out of the box yet!!

However I was talking on the pkone to a freind earlier this evening and have convinced her that it would take some of the stress out of her life to bung a load of ingredients in the pot, turn it on and then ignore it for the next 8 hours or so....

I have been over-eating again.I MUST stop this slip to self destruction

Hey girls,
Sorry I haven't posted though been thinking of you. It's been a really, really hectic week with both school and work and unexpected things happening that mess up your otherwise careful plans. And I just found out my mom is coming to spend the night on Sunday so on top of all of this I have to clean the house for company too. My mom's a real sweetie and actually she would clean the house for me but I can't let her do that. I am trying to get ahead of myself so we can have a nice visit Sunday night since I talk to her all the time but don't get to see her as much as I'd like.

Teel you've got me thinking about dusting off the slow cooker again. We had a nice break in the weather this week but it's supposed to rain over the weekend and turn much cooler again. A kitchen filled with warm smells of tasty dinners sounds wonderful. Especially the no fuss kind of meals.

Annie and her famous vindaloo - sure have missed your wit. Have you saved the fire bucket I sent you from the hot cross buns incident? Might want to drag it and the fire hose out again.


Shad sounds like you are really committed with the exercise program now. When did you start Pilates? Have a lap in the pool for me too, will you?

I may not be able to get back here until Monday, if not have yourselves a very enjoyable weekend!!!

I haven't really started pilates. I was reading about some exercises in the local sunday paper and I decided to try them out. They come from pilates classes. I have incorporated them in with some exercises from Richard Simmons that I have remembered from way back when and add to those as I find myself getting bored or they get too easy. Most places I stay at don't have video machines so I can't take my tapes away with me. I tend to do about 20 mins to 1/2 hour exercising and then go out for a walk for another 20 - 30 minutes. I find because of this stupid knee, I can no longer walk at speeds which get the cardio moving along so I have to compensate with other things. Sometimes getting old is not much fun. The knee seems to really act up in the tropical climate. No idea why, I don't have this much problem at home!
Seems everyone is on the slow cooker bandwagon. I may just go get mine out when I get home. Does chicken bits nicely and beef bits and lamb bits. All sorts of bits actually.
Time to move on and finish the rest of my mail. I am using the Internet cafes again so have a limited time on line.
Look after yourselves. Teel, watch that cooker. It turns out stuff so good that you will be overeating!!!

Hello from Suffolk in the very early hours of the morning....or very late Saturday night!!

I did something rather stupid today...(moi??stupid??surely not possible!!)
I have found that the reception for my mobile phone has been terrible lately and have finally found the bestest spot in the whole bungalow that I can use it. This happens to be in the middle of the floor to ceiling lounge window. You can sit or stand, but looooooong conversations need a sitting position...I pulled out the smallest of the nest of tables from easy reach and gingerley placed my gluteus maximus times two upon it. Fine....what a brave girl!! Disaster happened when Holly who had been barking at EVERYTHING all day so far, walked past me to get to a better barking position and I over-reached...and.. ..fell off the table!!!! It would have been quite a delicate landing for any normal accident waiting to happen, but as I went over and down I crunched my skull on the corner of the television table.. .OWWW!!! And now I have felt rather nauseous ever since and feel like I may have a few bruises by the morning.Trouble is a fall of any magnitude can do quite a lot of damage to all those bits that are already rebelling and tonight I feel very stiff and achey. And so I am awake!Ha ha, at least this time I have a bona fide excuse!!!
And on that painful end, I will go back to bed!!!!

Oh by the way...the table was unscathed....

What????
No-one been to visit here in 14 hours.......it must be the weekend!!
Hop everyone is alright and op.

....


p.s. I have still got a after falling off the table yesterday...

Read your entry yesterday Teely, however the computer up in Yungaburra is so slow I decided not to waste my time or effort on trying to reply. Anyway I was laughing so hard I nearly fell off my chair.
It really is not funny because you could have damaged yourself quite badly and it seems you may have done because you still have the headache. Best get yourself seen to young lady in case you have concussion!
Happy is probably having a good chin wag with Mum and her DH will be producing bacon and scrambled eggs!! He's one of the few people in USA who can cook reasonable bacon! Bond Place in Toronto cooked it until it was crisp, then went back for a second go in case it was not black enough yet!!! Phoenix was similar. Waste of good bacon I say. Must say though their ham with eggs was much better!!!
Back at work for another 4 days. Go home Thursday night and am looking forward to that. Have several things to do on the Friday.
Went shopping on Saturday and have bought myself a Sari type red and black long wrap around skirt and a short red and gold one (very Chinese design) along with a red top which doesn't (even if I say so myself) look too bad although I think I will have to get a red bra to wear underneath (or maybe skin colour???) Then I picked up some three quarter length green pants and a matching green and white striped top because I forgot to pack some good casual walking clothes and only have my exercise stuff. Silly me. Don't really need any new clothes.
Yesterday I went to the botanical gardens and to the Atherton Tablelands. It is pretty up there but very dry at the moment. NO MANGOES for sale. Very disappointing. I did however see some wonderful opal rings at Yungaburra. Too pricey for the budget but I am allowed to drool right? This guy is heading to the States with these rings to sell over there. Watch out happy!!!!! He is in Chicago at some stage - can't remember exactly when!!

Hmmm, hope teel is ok with her headache. I know happy will be catching up on school, home and work after a weekend with Mum. Annie, back you come and bring Shaker in with you. What has happened to dear old Shaker. Has she achieved goal and is celebrating or has she hopped off the wagon for a time.
This class has only had a few lightbulb moments today. Hopefully the rest will sink in soon. Can't always have classes like the last two where things went in and stuck immediately and interest grew as understanding came.
Time to move out of here. Will have to go out to dinner tonight as I have finished all my salad stuff and am only left with the mueslie and a couple of bits of fruit. So dinner tonight will be something mediterranean or maybe something Thai or Vietnamese. Still working on it.

Hello!!

I am here really and hi to Shad 'cos her light's a-shining (or it was when I started!)
Not much news really except to say I am having a hard time with everything at the moment....not helped by my attemping a 12" bungi jump!! I have still got an underlying headache but the worse pain is of course my lower back/pelvic area. Couple this with a looooong session of oh my sleep is all over the place and you'll see why I am in a particular mess at the moment!!And I had to go to the dentists today 'cos it was postponed two weeks ago.It appears you cannot get a simple checkup these days...the dear man would insist on doing a clean and polish and said as a diabetic I should have one every three months....I should coco!!

Shad your new outfit sounds gorgeous...go on be a and send us a piccie...have you got shoes to match??

Okay I am off now...be good , 'cos someone has to keep the home fires burning...and perhaps the flames will attract Shaker back home....

Hi everyone. I am new to the boards and Shad was kind enough to respond to my first post and invite me to this thread. It is neat to read through and see the different countries represented. I live in Eastern Washington State but lived in England for 5 years in the 1980's. I loved it there and two of my children were born there so England holds a dear place in my heart.

I just finished my first week of WW and lost 3.8 pounds! I have about 30 pounds to go and consider that a good start. I know that I likely won't have such a big loss each week but am excited to see some success.

I mentioned in my bio that I have three kids (14, 13 & 9) and work outside the home. My job requires travel as I drive 2500-3000 miles per month. So my two biggest obstacles are eating well in the car and being accountable for my choices, even when I'm tired and bored in the car! I look forward to visiting here frequently and getting to know some of you.

Have a good night!

O wow Kim, 3.8lbs that is super.
It really gets the motivation going when one of us loses a good amount.
How are you going with the snacks in the car?

We are a bit quiet around here recently. But let me introduce you to those who are around

Teel is in England, she's been around for a year or so and lost quite a bit of weight. She is not in good health and needs to lose a bit more yet. She may not be very healthy, but she has a great English sense of humour and she has Holly the hound.

Happy2bme is in the States. She's very busy at the moment with study and work and home and family, but she pops in from time to time and we try to educate her to our way of thinking!!!! She is married

Kiwi Annie is from New Zealand but lives in New South Wales in Australia. She is also busy at the moment but will pop in from time to time. Annie is married with 2 young boys

Shaker lives in Auckland New Zealand. We haven't heard from her for a while and are a bit worried as to where she might be. She has a DH and boy and a girl. Could be school holidays over there so she might be enjoying life.

I'm also a New Zealander but I live in Brisbane in the subtropics of Queensland. I travel a lot, but mostly by plane. I keep in touch both through the work computers and the home computer, so am liable to be here at any old time. My children are well grown up at nearly 30 and nearly 28. One lives in Brisbane, the other in Wellington New Zealand.

Well that's just about us. Welcome to Focussed chicks, I hope you will be happy here on our little thread. We love having people around who come from all over. It's interesting to see how others live and love.

Catch up again soon.

Hello ladies of the world and a big welcome to Kimallen. So you are from the eastern part of Washington? That would be the dessert part of the state as opposed to the rainforests to the west, right? I've only been to Seattle and westward, but Washington is a very scenic area.

Teel, sorry to hear that you didn't do so well trying out for the tumbling team. Hope you are feeling a bit better. As for the dentists, they are really pushing the dental cleanings here, partly because there are more studies about the dangers of bacteria in the mouth and also too I think that most of us avoid the dentist and if we don't go every 6 months, they don't see us for years on end. Me, I'm a regular cleaner myself, tho I wasn't always.

Shad, sounds like you've picked up some sharp looking new outfits in your travels. I went on a shoe binge a few weeks ago, finally found some comfortable shoes after years of frustration and so I bought 3 pairs to get me through the winter.

Winter, ack! We did have quite a lovely week this week past. The weather warmed a bit and the colors were just bursting. DH got out and took some pictures, but I had things to do so I couldn't go with him. It rained on Tuesday and washed away our warm weather. Now we are back in the throws of rapidly cooler air.

This is always a hard time for me diet wise, I get more hungry as it gets colder and I have a problem with salt which is more of an issue when starting to cook the warmer meals. I sort of fell off the wagon with exercise too but things will calm down by the weekend and it's time to get focused again.

Had a nice visit with me Mum on Sunday. I asked her some questions about her grandparents, found out some interesting trivia I didn't know. It was good to sit and talk the evening away with her although when she went to bed at 11, I sat up until 2am catching up on my homework. I did score an almost perfect grade on my mid term exams which I was quite happy about. I have started another class this week, will have to use DH's computer for it so that will be an adventure prying him off. Most likely I'll have to wait until he goes to bed at 10:30 and do it then. He's almost finished with the bathroom Shad, only 2 more pieces to go. By his schedule that means at least he'll be done by Christmas.

Nothing very interesting going on in my life right now. I am worried about Shaker also. If she stays away too long, we might lose her like the others. At least Annie has been popping in.

Tah tah for now...

Hello and welcome to Kimallen.....phew back now after 10minutes trying to shut the hound up.Cor you did very well in your first week, well done!!
Avery quiet week here by all accounts, except for having a dentists appointment on Tuesday and going to see my g.p. on Wednesday.No particular problem had arisen, just the not getting to sleep till 02:30 and waking every one or two hours was driving me I had not meant for it to be an emotional upheaval, but g.p. knows me too well and before the end hot tears were silently tracking down my face. And so I have come away with a 40mg script for evening analgesia and the morning 30mg stays the same. He has also upped my sleeping pills by another half.... Well last night I think thee was a minute movement in some direction or other ( NOT in that direction you crazy lot)because I fellasleep pretty quickly but to my horror woke up within the hour and kept that up pretty well all night. Today I feel like...er....a drunk orangotan. Don't ask me how I know what one even looks like but TODAY I AM ONE!! Well I think as I am falling asleep in my chair I aught to mke some trecks in the direction of the kitchen...mmmmn eating???Gosh I think I'd rather be asleep right now. Brain is incapable of sensible synapses......bye bye......