Baby's napping, so I have time to post a little -

Welcome SugarPlum! I've been posting here for a few months and this is a great group! You've come to a good place for support. I can relate to needing some help getting the posterior in gear, lol. One thing I have learned from years of trying get to and stay at a healthy weight...diets don't mean a darn thing if the lifestyle doesn't change as well. I used to get my weight down, then just go back to my old eating habits - and then of course it all would come right back. I'm focusing on making small, but permanent, changes. The 21 day challenge thread here has been very helpful with that ( Thanks Marti -for getting it going!)

Marti - check out epinions on those treadmills. I have found that you do get what you pay for with those things. If it is not motorized, eventually the walking band (the tread thingy) starts sticking and it gets very difficult to get a good stride going. When we were snowed in, I went a little nuts and ordered a folding stepper. It does the trick for those days when I can't get outside and it folds up, which I need as our house is small and I can't really dedicate a permanent spot for a large piece of equipment.

Jana - I can't remember the last time I got out my iron We are casual to say the least. I did get outside this morning and hang three loads of laundry on the line - now that the rain has gone away for awhile.

Christi - am in awe of everything you got done this weekend. We really need to stain our deck, and do other DIY home improvement, but it's waiting until DH is done with school - two more weeks. Then he gets to start the "honey-do" list. My TOM hit me pretty hard this weekend, so I stayed off the scales also. I felt so bloated, couldn't bring myself to do it.

Thanks for the book ideas, ladies - I keep a running list of recommendations - I use the library alot! I also just picked up a bunch of books at the used booksale at James' school. So i am set for awhile! One of the books is called Motherhood made a Man out of Me I liked the title so much - didn't care what the book was about!

James and I made it to OMSI yesterday and the Titanic exhibit is pretty good. Everyone gets a ticket at the beginning of the exhibit that looks just like a ticket to board the real Titanic, with the name and class of a real passenger. At the end of the exhibit, they have passenger lists of people who were saved and who died. Both my son and I had tickets of third class passengers who died. James was describing the exhibit to his grandpa and said " Basically, if you're third class, you're dead". Marti - Jhanai should have a good time this week. I can't believe the school year is almost over.

Have great day everyone!
RK

Here I am again.....

Finished a take home test for math. Just love those take home test. (Of coarse I waited until the last day to do it!!)

Welcome Sugar Plum!!! Glad to have you here!! I agree with RosieKate....it has to be a lifestyle change rather than a diet (I'm still working on that) when you use the word "diet" it tends to put a burden on you...at least for me anyways. I think that if you just change things you eat and add more exercise you'll see results. I started watching my portions again, drinking lots of water and I'm trying to be more active. It has worked for me before and I know it will work for me again! As for the avatar....I have no idea how to work that. Made my husband do it for me. It was always too big and he managed to shrink it to size. How he did it is beyond me. I'm ready for a new picture...getting tired of seeing my face all the time! Signatures are easy. You can change it anytime....(which I do it seems) Wish I could have been of more help! Hope you enjoy our little corner!!

RosieKate--Love the comment from your son!! How funny. Only little ones would word it that way. All the treadmills we looked at were motorized. Had the heart rate options and all that stuff. Very nice selection. I have to wait for a couple months to get one. Will be nice when I do. Books......I haven't read a book in awhile. The last one I read was "Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz. Was a good book. Actually scared me in spots! I like to read all kinds of books. I tend to read more of the horror ones...not sure why. But there are times that I enjoy a real racey romance novel!! (I better find me one for the days James is away!!) The book I read before that was "The one minute millionaire" It was a book we had to read for class. I couldn't put it down!! I was amazed at what this woman went through to get her kids back. It's a true story. She had her kids taken away by her in-laws (her husband passed away)...and the only way to get them back was if she would be able to make a million dollars within 90 days....no borrowing. Worth reading and gives you idea's to make money and how to do it.

I believe I'm going to go out and trim my roddy (spelling that right?) bushes. I have a lot of dead leaves and it doesn't look to pretty.

I will check in again when I start getting lonely and want to venture into the kitchen!! (this place has saved me many time from there!!)

BBL
Marti

Afternoon,

Welcome Surgar Plum what a cute name Hope you find some friendly support here, pretty sure you will.

Hey again to Jen!! Would love to hear more about you.

Shari's is a restaurant Jana,.......not a person, lol. I took my dad TO Shari's. I had an eggs & sausage with some cottage cheese and a slice of tomato. That is their low cal fare........instead of hashbrowns, I guess.It was yummy and a great change. Enjoyed time with my father. Think I have him taled into moving , he really needs more room.

So, you are planting popcorn- Jana?? That is sooooooo cool. It comes on a plant or something?? lol I don't know.

YIKES, boss is coming!! Better go........

Good evening!

I have a few minutes to spare this evening, so I figured I'd spend it with my new gals! Thanks for all of the warm welcomes! I knew I picked the best group!

I've done pretty well today. Yesterday, well, I gave in to the ice cream demons! But I did work out on my stair stepper yesterday. Today I did my weights and took the dog for a long walk, or was it that she was walking me? Strangely enough, I feel more guilty when I don't walk the dog then when I don't walk myself. I have definately stuck to the meal plan today. I even have enough left over to have a snack before bed. If you eat right, it is alot of food!

Rosiekate - I like to read the books by Robin Cook, but they are medical mystery/thrillers. I guess that's the nurse in me. I haven't read one for awhile though. Maybe I should look into that.

Marti - I hope you enjoy your daughters singing program tonight. I would love to come over and get your spare room into shape. Mine has been a "kitten nursery" for the past 4 months. (2 litters) and I am done now. My youngest is 6 weeks old, and she is just starting to mingle with the pride. Now the room is MINE, MINE ALL MINE.

Angie - I have had some days with my clothes, but yours really takes the cake. I would have just gone back to bed after all of that!

Susan - Oatmeal ice cream sounds wonderful. Two of my favorites, starch and ice cream. I wish we had that here, wait, no I don't!

Jana - Your smoothie sounds great. And yes, I have tried the Blue Bunny ice cream you mentioned. I'm not allowed to buy ice cream and keep it in the house. I eat it all, ALL of it in 1 or 2 days. And that sugar-free stuff, in great quantities, causes a ton of gas and abdominal pain. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day at work. I am a "Homecare Lead" for shift care at a home care agency. What that really means is I'm a supervisor/case manager. I have 35 staff and 23 clients right now. We are hoping to hire 4-5 more this month to take on more clients. I have a waiting list. Anyway, I have been sharing a 10x10 office with the lead for the peds shift care. She is the glass is half empty type of person. I could stand it for 5 months, but I'm done. I'm tired of hearing complaints and gripes all day. I have bad days to, but geez, get over it. I'm sure she's mad at me now. Whatever. But I'm moving to my own office, well, cubical. But it's just me! So who cares. At least I'll be able to hear myself think! But I'll spend the morning packing up my desk, file cabinet, etc and move in the afternoon. At least I'll have my desk cleaned out for the summer!

Man this has gotten long. I'm going to go rest a bit before bed.

Jen

Hi Jen

omg- you get your own office space too!! Ain't that the coolest?? I still need to go to Office Depot and pick me up some cute things for my office. I wanted color file trays........just HAVE to have them.

Right now though I need some black ink for my printer.Supplies have not come in , also I need a binder for my Voyager stuff.....they have a bunch of icky ones that look like they have seen better days.

Also.....the secretery left this African American picture behind.....I thought it was of a college graduation but looking closer it is of a funeral.They are all in a line going up a hill..........never did notice a coffin before.....umm, kind of gloomy, might take that down.

The oatmeal ice cream is really very good!! After all this IS Ben & Jerrys!!!

I took the girls yesterday and got a flavor with almonds, chocolate chips and coconut.......wonderful. I bought Gaby a Cherry Garcia.......yummy......her lil tongue of course can't lick as fast as mommy's and I offered to help her.....lol
Becky was Strawberry and forget what Rachels was......anyway, might go again tonight.

Hope you have a good night with Jhanai, Marti!!

I work alone tomorrow in the office from 8am to 5pm......going to take off the evening shift and go see Rachel at school, she is getting some award.

Better get!

I'm back!! (not shocking news is it? )

Jhanai's program was fun. Although, there was band there that sang four song first---I'm sitting there thinking...I came here for the kids!! But I got over my impatience!! Then, they had a mother/daughter duo.....the mother got up there like she was the greatest singer.....(her daughter was much better!) but it was a nice little song...They sang "When I'm 64"

The program lasted much longer than they usually do. Usually it's half an hour...tonight it was almost an hour and a half! But I'm home now and can relax and go to bed somewhat early.

Jen--How ya doin'? Good job with sticking with the meal plan. I've been doing ok. Really trying to watch my portions and the types of foods I eat. With the weather getting warmer I should be drinking more water...but that hasn't happened yet! Don't ever worry about long post......that's what we're here for...to read them!!

Susan--It's fun seeing your kids get awards in school isn't it? Jhanai received one tonight for going through Choir the whole year and not missing any rehearsals...(she'd have to be extremely sick for her to want to miss one!) She was quite proud and told me to bring it home and get a frame for it!! So I guess I'm stopping at Wal-mart tomorrow!

Hope everyone is having a good night.

I better get off of here and let the dogs out. Pesky little butts!!

Talk to you all tomorrow....

Marti

Hello everyone,,,,
Welcome Sugar Plum! This is an awesome place to hang out...these ladies have become some of my closest friends.

Today was a good day,,,a one shirt day...ha ha ha
I went and hung at Angelika's , traded fitness books. Called up my old boss, who has quit Penningtons too, and chit chatted,,,we have plans of going for walks,,,we live so close to each other.

Jana,,,I bet she wouldn't mind taking a break from 3 lil ones under the age of 2 every so often...lol
Marti, I have had weird computer things happening with mine this past couple of days too.
Susan,,,Ill send you a pic of me for your desk...lol
Cristi, good to know your ok....hate that some of you live in tornado areas.
Rosiekate, I felt so horrible watching Titanic,,those poor people...dying cause they were third class.

I got the best news tonight....*smile
my realtor called to say he found the perfect house for us...ya right Ryan...well he did. Actually we found it. The house we had made an offer,,,then another offer was given and we had to drop our offer,,,remember that house 2 weeks ago? Well those peoples financing fell throu so its ours again! I will have enough room to get a tread mill...right now I can't even get another pair of shoes...lol
ok I lied...I threw away 2 pairs this weekend and a chair.
well I need to get to bed,,,night all
Angie

Hi all you chatty ones!

Marti - there's nothing wrong with being spoiled.... I admit that I am. But Neal was single for a long time, and said he learned how to treat a wife by watching his friends mess up. Hope you find a nice frame for Jhanai's award.

Cristi - wow you have been busy, and I'm glad to see you back. Sorry Aunt Flo found you again.... actually I gave her your address so she'd leave me alone, lol.

Sugar Plum - Welcome!! I do WW (at home) while following Dr. Phil's advice about less processed foods, etc. I also drink lots of water, and have smaller, more frequent meals. Well, 3 meals and two nice-sized snacks a day. Try to find something that is do-able for the rest of your life.

RosieKate - I just love the smell of clothes that have hung outside to dry. Especially bed linens. I also use Epinions! I recently was checking out smoothie makers, and decided to just keep using the food processor I already have, lol. Saved myself some $$, lol.

Susan - yeah, popcorn starts as a seed in someones field! It is very similar to sweet corn and feed corn (for animals to eat) but the kernels are hard. Neal has grown it all his life, and the taste is much better than store-bought popcorn. There is a small iron shucker thingy that strips the kernels from the cob... wanna help with that? What is Rachel getting an award for?

Jen - if you have read our bios, you know you're among the biggest group of dog lovers at 3FC, lol. Glad to know you are one, too. I read Coma by Robin Cook back in the late 70's and it scared the bejeebies out of me. He sure can spin a tale! Like you, I also have little tolerance for negative people! There were two of them on a church committee I chaired, and they just about drove me bonkers. They found the darkness of every situtation and so I left the committee to avoid knocking their heads together, lol. Wanted to recapture the Christian spirit, lol.

Angie - oh, I am so excited for you! When will you know for sure that you get the house?? Glad yesterday was a one-shirt day for you, lol.

Had coffee with my son unexpectantly this morning. He came out to bring some firewood to the stack, and so we visited on the back porch for awhile. It was nice to talk with him by ourselves. Nothing against everyone else, but I love to spend time with each of my kids with no one else around once in awhile. They tend to be more open, or something.

Going to Walmart for groceries later today, a day early. But tomorrow is Dale's outpatient surgery on his shoulder, and we'll be watching the kids til they get back from the hospital.

Have a good one,
Jana

Good day sunshine...

Hey Marti, now you've got me on a Beatles kick -- guess what I'll be listening to today? If James wants to spoil you a bit and get you a better treadmill, then let him. At the risk of sounding sexist, guys tend to gravitate toward better made tools and techno gadgets that might cost a bit more, but will ususally work better and last longer. Bells and whistles you can do without, but you want a treadmill that's sturdy and will last, and you will enjoy using.

I am sick today sore throat, earache, no voice, and since I work on the phones all day, I had to call in to work.

Welcome to Jen and Sugarplum! This is a great bunch... very supportive and VERY chatty!

Angie, great news on the house -- I hope this is the one for you! Sorry the Flames lost. Tim and I stopped following the series closely after both the Red Wings and the Sharks were out. Being from Detroit and California, we were hoping that at least one of them would make it to the end. We saw Shrek 2 this weekend and loved it! Puss in Boots was hilarious.

Cristi, you have a three day weekend and you actually get stuff done around your house. I have a three day weekend and I run away out of town. No wonder I'm not very productive! Glad the tornados missed you, even if the wind attacked your tree.

Jana, smoothies are a big hit around here, too. My kids love them. I buy different frozen fruits at Trader Joe's -- pineapple, mango, mixed berries, peaches -- and we just try different combos. I ususally use OJ and sometimes throw in frozen banana chunks.

Susan, I don't know if B&J make anything that doesn't taste good. I bet they could make spinach ice cream taste good...well, maybe not... I have pints of their Cherry Garcia and Half-Baked frozen yogurt in my freezer right now.

Hi to everyone else

My middle son, Michael, graduates HS on the 9th. Wow, such big changes...I can barely remember what it was like to be just starting out, your whole life ahead of you...he's been living with his dad, but will be moving in with my husband and me sometime before fall for a while so he can get a job up here and get enrolled in community college.

Lake Tahoe was beautiful!!! We went on a sailboat cruise of the lake, lounging on the deck, listening to Jimmy Buffet, drinking Mai Tai's -- and Tim said, "Congratulations, baby...once again, you have planned the perfect vacation." And -- I can't believe I did this -- but we took the Gondola at Heavenly to the top of the mountain. I am so afraid of heights! It was terrifying, but so much fun. There was an observation deck halfway up. The city of South Lake Tahoe looked like a postage stamp. I asked the girl at the snack bar if they had any Valium for people who didn't have the nerve to go back down. I got pics, if I can just figure out how to post them...and I bought postcards to send, but forgot to bring your addresses with me! Doh! So those will go out in the mail today.

OK, I'm going to make some tea with honey for my throat. Talk to you soon...

Katie

You ladies have been busy little bees...it is good to see all the posts.

Jana~thank's alot! Don't want anymore visits from Auntie Flo! Hope everything goes well tomorrow with Dale's surgery. And enjoy your time with the grandbabies.

Marti~glad you enjoyed Jhanai's program, I bet she was great! Would love to hear her sing. And yes, there is nothing at all wrong with being spoiled. You are lucky to have such a sweet man. I think we all are!

RosieKate~I am telling ya, we did have a busy weekend and I am definitely feeling it today. Not as bad as last night though. Of course too, I forgot to use sunscreen and my neck, feet and head are burnt. Haven't heard of epinions, fill me in please. I think I know. Just don't spend as much time on the 'puter as I used to. Isn't that sad how that works, the Titanic? I have seen the movie a zillion times I swear, and read a few books, and it is just so sad, but I bet the exhibit was cool. I have always been fascinated by it and anytime there is something on about it I will watch it.

Jen~haven't read anything from Robin Cook in a while but do love the books. Have a couple if I ever get around to reading them. I seem to read more in the winter than the summer. I would rather be outside doing something than inside when the weather is nice.

Angie~CONGRAT'S on the house! I hope everything goes through and you get it, when will you know for sure? Have you guys had any offers on your house as of yet? Keeping my fingers for ya. Yeah, I have never actually been in or even seen a tornado but they are a little scary.I have been in my share of earthquakes, and they too are scary. I hope I never do see one, a tornado that is. I think they can be worse than earthquakes. There was a woman who was taken out of her mobile home by the one the other night, there was actually about 5 that were cought on video. Two guys, tornado chasers saw a person coming towards them, they said it kind of looked like a zombie, they way she was walking. Of course they didn't know it was a she. When she got closer she was covered in blood from being tossed around in the air. Luckily she lived, she is in the hospital doing fine. But if they hadn't been there she would have been dead, scary stuff.

Susan~I think I have seen that picture you are talking about, I don't think it would be so bad, gloomy. Of course in an office, I don't know. I would want everything bright and cheery, lots of knic knacs and family pictures. Of course I am obsessed with angels, so I would probably do angels if I had my own office space. As it is, our office I put Vince's stuff on the walls, picture of him river rafting in Colorado, his hunting stuff, a big stuffed fish he caught and had mounted , etc. and just added a few of my little knic knacs, and of course my table and scrapbook stuff. Enjoy your evening, let us know what award Rachel gets.

WELCOME Sugarplum! Glad to have ya aboard.

Hi to everyone else, Katie, Kathy, Kayecee, Rita, Suetalks and anyone else I may have forgotten. Hope you ladies are fine-we are missing you.

Well, normally I do Wal-Mart on Wednesday, but have decided to take in a show. DD, DS#2 and I are going to go see The Day After Tomorrow. Saw the previews when we saw Man on Fire and it looked good. I'll let ya know. Will make a trip to SAMS when DH gets home. He wants to get a haircut and we need to stock up on a few things. Okay, I best get going and get ready. Didn't mean to write a mini-novel. Take care ladies and have a GREAT day!

Well, Hi Miss Katie! I completely forgot you went to Tahoe! Glad you guys had a wonderful time, of course how can you not at Lake Tahoe?! Sorry to hear you are not feeling well, hope you get better soon.

Yeah, I would have loved to go away for a three day weekend...but...I am in such a hurry to get things done around the house, make it all purdy and be done with it. I told Vince after we did the deck, not it feels like home. He laughed and said is that what it took to make it feel like home? Well, no, but when I looked out on to the deck there was nothing, it didn't look good. We stained it, bought some new patio furniture, a big pot of flowers and now it looks finished, it looks like someone lives here. To me it is like an extension of the house, which it is, and needs to look nice also. Anyway, we did get a lot done. The only thing we didn't get to was the garage door opener which Vince is going to tackle this evening.

CONGRAT'S to Michael on his graduation! Don't they just grow up too fast?

Well, I really need to get going. Just wanted to say Hi to ya. Guess we were posting about the same time.

Bye ladies for now...

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, life goes on, bra, La-la-la-la-la life goes on!!!

(can you guess which song is stuck in my head at the moments?)

Only a two more days of school...then three days of finals and I'm finished!! I'm just too happy about that!!

Stopped at the store on my way home today. Had bought some strawberries the other day and wanted to make some shortcake.....now I can. Bought some cottage cheese......light lunch and dinner today. I don't like making a "meal" when it's just me! So I'm saving money by not having to shop too much!!

Angie--Congrats on the house!! I hope you get it! I will keep my fingers crossed for you. And I think it's great that you're getting together with friends to walk. I have been talking to two of my friends who moved to the same town and I am and one of them doesn't know the town well. So I told them that we could start walking and make it like a guided tour!!

Jana--How nice to have been able to have a private morning chat with your son. I used to love getting up and talking with my grandma (this is when I lived with her back when I was 18) Always has our coffee and talked about everything. I like to have my moments with Jhanai right now too. She's growing so fast so I want to enjoy every moment with her. This weekend we are going to see a movie...I will let her choose...either Harry Potter or Shrek2....She may want to wait for Harry Potter since this is the opening weekend and it will be crowded!!

Katie--Your trip to Lake Tahoe sounded wonderful!! I envy you!! I miss being there. James and I have talked about his first vacation...(long ways off I know) but we had idea's of places to go...I think I want to add that to the list of possiblilities!! A BIG congrats to your son Michael for making it through school!! It doesn't feel that long ago that we were all graduating does it?...and now our children......(Can we stop time for a little while!!)

Cristi--Enjoy your movie. James and I have talked about going to see "Day after tomorrow" but we just haven't had time yet. I've been watching a lot of movies from the satellite! So far I've seen "Sweet Home Alabama" "Legally Blonde" "Fried Green Tomatoes" "Coal Miners Daughter"....all good movies that I haven't ever seen. I guess I shouldn't be watching so much late night movies...that's why I don't ever want to get up in the morning!!

Thank you all for thinking I deserve to be spoiled. I have to say.....I have never been used to being pampered or treated so wonderfully ever. It's nice.

Well if you all could see my dogs right now...You would see that they are dancing around wanting to go out. So I better get going.

May check in later
Marti

Hiya ladies,

Angie - aww you sweetie! Thanks for the card - it made my day.

Katiecat - hope you're feeling better. Your vacation sounded so beautiful and relaxing.... Neal and I will have to put Lake Tahoe on our list of places to visit once he retires.

Cristi - Just give Aunt Flo somebody else's address like I did, lol. How'd you like the movie and who stars in it? Speaking of which...

Marti - Shrek 2 is a MUST SEE movie either now or later. I want to see it again to catch some of the stuff I probably missed the first time around. I've never read or seen any Harry Potter stuff, but my Katie likes all that. She uses words I don't understand, lol.

I got two crock pots ready for tomorrow with roasts, potatoes and carrots. One for my house and one for Mary's. I know she won't want to cook after being at the hospital for who-knows-how-long. And I won't want to either, after being with the 3 musketeers all day, lol.

Be good!
Jana

Hi ladies~

A quickie here...just got back a few minutes ago and I am a little pooped. Luckily SAMS wasn't busy at all so that was good.

Marti~hey, those are some good movies. I have seen them all and liked them all. I love the part in Fried Green Tomatoes where she rams those girls in the parking lot. Of course I like Kathy Bates, she is funny.

Jana~gotta love crockpots! I don't use one a lot during the summer, but love soups and stews in the winter time.

Jen~a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! Hope your day was a special one.

The movie was okay. I must say the special effects how ever they did them were awesome! I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5. I guess I thought it would be better, not sure why. It was kind of weird because it was about the weather and when the storm started it was also storming outside. I didn't think we were supposed to get any bad weather today but as we were leaving the black clouds were moving in. Anywho...have a good-evening all. Almost forgot Jana, Dennis Quaid, Sela Ward, and Jake Gyllenhal (sp??) were the main actors in the movie.

Happy Birthday Jen!!!!!