[Shad]

Good Morning - and what a beautiful morning it is already. As the Irish would say, Top o' the Mornin' to you.

I'm feeling pretty chipper today. Don't know why. Had a fight with the cat last night and she got put outside for the whole night. Wish I could somehow get through to her that I won't desert her, won't go away permanently, she has a spot for the rest of her days. She just would not stop talking last night and wanted out, then in, then out, then in. Finally I said no you are not going out again and she just got louder and louder, whereby she got put out unceremoniously and told to stay away for a number of hours.

Okay, I have the photos up and finally ready. They probably need a bit of fine tuning, but they are all there. Two albums - take your pick.

Flowers, Gardens and Autumn colour and

Japan visit

Hope those links work. There were some problems on that website a while back. Grab yourself a coffee, sit back and relax and click the View Slideshow button and wander down the narrow roads with me.

Now let's see what you have all been up to.

Nita - I know where you are coming from. It all gets too hard and you think you will never get where you want to be. Courage friend. Take it one day at a time. Give yourself a pat on the back for each day you achieve your goals. Take a rest from exercise at least once a week. And every so often, pack the DH in the car and go somewhere you haven't been for ages. Stay overnight if you feel like it. We need to have some life in our days in order to get through the days of our life. There is only one life. Make sure it is not all discipline, good food and good works. There has to be something to nuture the soul as well.

Hal - Japanese foods. Well you know me - I like food period, Japanese or otherwise. So what did I eat over there -
We had Sushi at Gonza one night. Gonza is a franchise (I think - sort of) and it was the last night of trading - they were closing the doors. So we got all kinds of Sushi Nigiri and it was fairly cheap.
Then we had a Tempura night. Oh the tempura batter was so light and crisp - it was yummy. My friend had a plate of sashimi (raw fish) which included puffer fish (fugu) which can be deadly if not properly prepared. I declined and she is still alive to tell the tale.
One night was Okonimyaki which is a sort of cross between pancake and omelet with lots of cabbage and fish flakes and other veges. Quite nice although I'm not raving about it. It certainly was filling.
We had temaki sushi as well - that's sushi where you pick up your nori (seaweed sheet) and fill it with whatever you want. There was a huge variety of fish, prawns, egg, eel, roe, avocado and natta (fermented soy beans) as well as tofu.
In Nagoya City I had Domburie - which is rice with (in this case) chicken and vegetables, but you can have beef or pork or egg or curry.
Most of the above comes in a set - soup, pickles, the dish, green tea, etc.
Other food that comes to mind is Omrice (omelet stuffed with rice) a Japanese pizza - can't remember what the Japanese name is unfortunately. The miso soup is actually quite nice. It grows on you and depending what they put in it can be very filling. Pickles (some okay, most blah) come with everything. We went to a bread shop where, when you buy some bread, they give you a bowl of mountain vege soup and a cup of coffee free. When I say bread shop, it is nothing like a franchised bread shop here. It's a building on its own, stuck in a tiny village halfway up the mountain and is really for the rural population. However she does a roaring trade on Sundays for half the neighbouring city. Photos are on the web.

That's about it for food. There was other stuff, but much of it tastes similar since rice, soup and pickles are staples. Mind you living on that soup could take pounds off you.

Mooz, Good luck with the exhibition. I know you will do well. I have that one of the Giants causeway on my screensaver. It reminds me of you everytime I see it. Love the colours.
Oh and what a great weightloss. Well done.

I day - hmmmm a new bloke huh. Enjoy it. It could be fun.

Cat - hi where did you get to!!!

Duty calls, gotta go.

[Catlover777]

Patty--you are so right. Do they have retirement prescription benefits? Because if they do, they are almost certainly best off sticking with them. If you need a plan, I think the best thing is to go to www.Medicare.gov with a list of their medications and then compare plans. You can actually even save your work (hit "save work") and go back--for example, if you see there's a generic version of something they're taking and you want to check with the dr to see if that could be substituted. I just rant and rave, though, about what a disaster the whole thing is.

Shad--welcoe back.

Mooz--hooray!!

Patty--glad you met someone nice.

Hal--WTG on the good food.

Nita--We each have our problems, and knowing that others have it worse doesn't just make ours go away. A friend once said that if I have a broken arm and you have a stubbed toe, your toe still HURTS. Any way some of the family could come out and visit you?

I am discouraged with the physical therapy--my shoulder doesn't feel any better. Wonder whether I should keep trying--or try something else. ???

Night, all.

[1day@atime]

Hello Ladies,

Just a quick hello to bring us back to page 1. Will post more this weekend.

[Catlover777]

And another kick back to page 1.

[1day@atime]

Hello Ladies,

Cat - we went to SS website and with my dad's medications there are 57 plans to choose from. I did some print out for him to review and my other sister was looking into too. Sorry to hear your physical theraphy isn't working. Does your therapist have any suggestions for you?

Shad - going to look at your photos after here. The food didn't sound to appetizing to me, but then again I don't care for seafood. I probably would of eaten rice and chicken the whole time. So much for me being adventurous.

Mooz - let us know how the art exhibitions is going?

Nita - How did you do at this week's weigh in? How's Gene doing?

Hal - How did your meeting with the legislators go? Get any funds from them? Are you staying home for holiday or going to see your brother or sis?

So what's everyone's plans for thanksgiving? I guess Shad and Mooz don't celebrate that day with us.

I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend next week. It's also my b-day weekend, not to sure what i'm doing on that day. Going to my parents on thanksgiving day, all my family will be there so that will be nice.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

[HalGal]

Happy Thanksgiving Week everyone!

It looks like our weather will be traditional for this time of year, with cold rains and the 'chance' of snow. I was beginning to wonder, as this time last week our high temps were still in the low 70's. I truly enjoy the change of seasons, and all of them! I've been happy with the warmer temps since our heating expenses are due to be 50 or more percent higher than last year - I cannot imagine - but I think reality will arrive in the mailbox this time next month.

I have a school picture this year I can send in our Christmas cards this year. If anyone has a new address, would you send me a PM so I can update it. I usually start writing cards after Thanksgiving. I am pretty excited to put up my new Martha Stewart prelit tree. It is 7 1/2 foot, has white lights and will turn around it I want it to. Nice, huh? I bought a few new ornaments over the last month at one of my favorite stores called Tuesday Morning. Do any of you guys have that store? They sell high end items at 40 or more percent discounts. You still have to look for the 'real' bargains - but it is fun. You have to be there at the right time. I love to pop in on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and take a quick spin around. Anyway, I found boxes of crystal angel ornaments with hints of silver and gold. I picked up 4 boxes of them and I think that gives me 24 of the little Angels. As one of my friends reminded me - IF I want this new tree to rotate I had better decorate it all the way around. Let the holidays begin...

Mooz: WAY TO GO on your weight loss. I am so happy for you!!! That is awesome. Have you been doing anything different? I see you said following WW is what you are doing. I have a coupon for free registeration until early December. Hummm... Hey I saw the 'biscuits' you talk about in the store I mentioned above. They were imported from Scotland, and I found myself thinking of you. They were what we would call a fancy cookie here. So, have you found any new recipes from the fine folks at WW that are working for you?

Shad: The food, the food... Oh my gosh! Way cool. I would have loved it, I love all of those types of foods. You did not have to worry about gaining weight with the extra walking and eating well did you? I just began eating sushi a few months ago, and have enjoyed all I have tried. What type of hotel accomodations did you have there? I don't think you mentioned where you stayed while traveling. I bet you are glad you are home. Do you have contracts lined up for the end of the year? You mentioned you were working on therm.

OK, I have the television on and they are showing the a segment on the life of a food critic. Yes, that is the job for me. One guy said the first thing he did was hire a personal trainer. I have a feeling, can you imagine?


OneDay: Happy Birthday to YOU, Happy Birthday to YOU, Happiest of Days!!
I'm going to post a special card to you immediately after this post... = )

Our dinner meeting with the legistators appeared to me to be nothing more than a song and dance with traditional retoric. We need this, and we can't do that with out more of $$$$$ this. Sad, but true. We drove home in threatening weather with high winds and threats of tornadoes - quite a night indeed. Thanksgiving will be a quiet one here. I don't have plans to go anywhere this year, and that is fine. I've gained some serious weight this last year, and don't need any more opportunities to add to the damage. I'll never forget the year I fasted and how different the holidays felt - as in the very, very best. When you don't have to worry about food, the stress is all gone - it was wonderful. I think I'll think along those lines this year. I've never been larger. Scary, but true. I keep thinking Oprah was her smallest at 50, and look at me - the largest. Anyway, time to make a plan.

Nita: I hope you had a nice vacation. Are you cooking for the holiday? I bet Gene looks forward to this special time with you. I had a dream about bowling this week, and I know it came from you!

CAT: Way to go on Spanish lessons. How are you learning it again? This is something I should look into. We are getting more and more Spanish speaking students with no English. We call them LEP - limited English proficeincy. It should be NEP. No English! I hope your shoulder pain fades quickly, how are you? Are you cooking for the holiday?

If you guys have special recipes for the holday you should share them! That would be fun.

OK, now this show has a bakery spot on for dogs! The foods look like human food, and they say we spend $1.6 dollars annually on dog treats. Poor Rocky, he must be mistreated. He LOVES milkbones! LOL...

[HalGal]

[Shad]

Morning all

It's another glorious morning in the great South East and going to be a scorcher like yesterday. We got a tropical storm yesterday afternoon with some welcome rain and some not so welcome thunder, lightning and wind. But it is that time of the year.

Tried a new gym in the city this morning. Got everything ready last night and just picked myself up and went this morning. I'm working on the theory that I work better and more during the early part of the day than the later part of the day. Besides there is that feeling of not having to worry about it later - it is already done. The City gym is fully refurbished and is not bad, however I have difficulty figuring out which of the machines I need to use, since they all look different - the cardio stuff is okay, I can get with that. So maybe I might just do cardio at this gym and leave the weights till I get back to the other gym on Saturday and Sunday. So far this new regime of 5 days on and 2 days off seems to agree with me. Not that I am losing weight of course but because I only go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday during the week. Then I have time off for good behaviour. It's all pyschological but what the heck.

1day - No we don't have Thanksgiving here. Maybe we should - because we have it good out here really. But that is not the way we seem to work.
The food in Japan is really not bad. Yes they do eat a lot of fish and Pork. Beef is very expensive. Chicken is not bad in price. But I found that their meals are quite big enough to sustain - just not always a lot of flavour. Nutritionally it is very good. They tend to eat very bland food and flavour it with soy and/ or pickles. I'm not that fussy about the pickles. But there is nothing to stop you cooking Western style. My friend does, often.

Hal - we stayed at my friends flat on the School Campus. We travelled about by car and train. Last time I was there we stayed at hotels and the odd Ryoban - sort of guest house. They are fine. You can choose between a Western or Japanese breakfast in most of them. Some have the Japanese Onsen (bath house - a real treat but not for the fainthearted) others have beautiful gardens and/or singing toilets (I kid you not). Their public transport system is very good. Underground, buses and cableways (sometimes monorail) in the city and good frequent train services between cities. Some of the commuter trains have women only carriages due to the number of gropings some women had to put up with.


I've been busyat home cleaning and washing and getting the wardrobe cleaned out. Chucked out 3 bit bags of clothes and shoes. It's now all sitting in the hall waiting for me to take it to the goodwill bins. I've also weeded and watered and dug. I have the ironing to do tonight and the 2 spare bedrooms to clean and I am done. Life is good.

But now I better go do my duty to the State and the Federation and the Commonwealth and the Queen. i.e. work. See ya

[1day@atime]

Good Morning

Had a few extra minutes this morning and thought I would checkin.

Hal - Thanks for the b-day wishes, I think when i type earlier i stated it was this weekend, but it's actually this upcoming weekend, the 26th. But that doesn't really matter, i'm already in the b-day mode.

Shad - Singing toilets? Wow, now that would be interesting. STG on packing your bags and hitting the gym. Went in and look at your photo album. OH, where to start. They were all so beautiful. I especially liked the begonia house, and the Chrysanthem doll display. Oh and the reflecting pools were just beautiful too. I wasn't able to get into the 2nd album. Will try again later.

gotta run

[Shad]

Oooh heck we are in danger of becoming page 3 girls.

Where are you all.

Check back later.

[HalGal]

This is the life, 5 days off! We are off tomorrow so students and staff may travel to long distance family locations. Nice, nice, nice. We are due our first snowy weather of the season, just in time!

I had part of a supermarket rotissery chicken and steamed brussel sprouts for dinner this PM. As I always say, diet is not a big problem for me, now to move it!

I taped the season finale of The Biggest Loser tonight. I'll watch it later. Those guys certainly are masters of moving it, and it appears that is just the way it has to be.

I'm going to move a few things around, to prepare to put up my new Martha Stewart 7 1/2 foot prelit tree. I am excited. I picked up a few new ornaments these last few months, but I am still nervous I may not have enough for this huge tree. It rotates so I have to have ornaments ALL the way around. to me...LOL...

I have the American Music Awards on. I have to say, I do not know many of these entertainers!

Well, I bet you are all busy making dinner arrangements and plans for the holiday.

Shad: I'll take some time to look at the pictures from your trip!

All the very best to each of you!!!

[HalGal]

Where ever this Thanksgiving holiday finds each of you - may you have a joyful and restful holiday. It's nice to be a part of such a nice group of Movers and Losers!

[Shad]

Everyone must be so busy. Where is Nita?? I know she was feeling a bit down last post she made, but she usually bounces back a bit before this. Hope Mooz is doing okay. She must be still in the land of the living since there were some jokes from her on my e-Mail this morning.

Last night was a pain on the trains. There was a signal failure somewhere down on our line and we got stuck for long periods of time at various stations. Took 2 hours to get home. No matter how grumpy you get about it, there is not much to do for it and you hope that there is someone on the train who can provide some entertainment. Well yesterdays was a policeman. He told some of the school kids where to go and how to get there and organised the crowds so that they didn't all stand around the doors getting in each others way. He had kids going in all directions. Sorted out where they were getting off and putting them further up the carriage so the rest of us could get on and off the train. Some drunk in the far corner kept us entertained ?!#$%??? with a monologue running down the various races, nationalities and their lurks and quirks. I was waiting for an argument to develop but it didn't happen. Such is life.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for you all in the States. Hope the day is wonderful, light and bright. There won't be a forum tomorrow so I need to wish you all the best today.

Happy birthday to 1 day for this coming weekend - in case I don't get back in time.

[1day@atime]

Hello ladies,

Just a quick hello, was busy this evening cooking a jello rasberry-cranberry dessert. Got it from TV food network. One of Paula Dean's recipes. We'll see how it turns out. Tomorrow morning make a corn casserole.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

talk to you all on friday.

[Shad]

Enjoy your special day.





time to do something different. How about dancing on the rooftops.