Hey!
Well I already lost one post. So, let me try again. Not much happening here this morning, just fighting these little teeny tiny ants from ****. They will probably carry the dog off in the middle of the night. Sons car still isn't fixed. He got it back Sunday, the transmission is still messed up after it was changed over from an automatic to five speed. He was at work, so I told him I would take it to the shop and drop it off. Well, that was awful. At first it was driving fine. I stopped to put gas in so I could make it to the repair shop, and on the way, it messed up so bad that I was in the middle of traffic being flipped off because it wouldn't go above five miles an hour. Thank goodness my hubby was following me. I finally had to pull over and we drove to the repair shop and told them to tow it. They better not charge for tow either, because it was supposed to be right when it left the shop and it most certainly was not.
Having a hard time staying focused on losing weight. Getting a really bad attitude about it. It seemed so much easier during the school year when I had everything planned out, and lunch packed etc.... I haven't excercised which I keep planning on doing, but just can't manage to make myself. We were playing tennis everyday until the past two insane weeks. The most excercise I did was to clean the pool last night. Yipppeeee.

Ginny: Sorry to hear about your dh lyme disease. That makes ya really really tired I guess. You have deer eating your veggies? We have some critter eating my fish. Either that, or they decided they don't want to live there anymore. My pond is full of baby frogs and about three big frogs and seven fish. At the beginning of the summer I had 21. HMMMMMMMMMMMMm.

Mouse: That really sucks about your ring and necklace. I know you may be able to replace those things, but it just isn't the same. Not to mention the fact that people are so stupid and have no respect for people's things anymore.

Summer: Glad your tag sale went well. It's hard sorting through stuff like that. What exactly is SOuth Beach? A woman I work with was doing that for a while. Is it anything like Atkins?

Kerry: Hope your headache is gone away. I get migranes when it is tom. Just got over that myself, I was worried that would happen while we were at Myrtle Beach. Did you finally make it to the library?

Robin: Staff development in July? Yuck. I am taking a class from August 8-12. However, there is a five hundred dollar stipend. So, that makes it a lot easier to swallow. Ha!

Sue: Hope you're doing ok.

Let me get off this thing and get some stuff done. Ants to fight, clothes to wash, the work never ends.
Cya later!
Pam

Morning All,
I was feeling a little bit better this morning until I came home from Curves. I was walking up the front walk to the tune of my dh yelling and ranting about something to his one son, then he started in all of the kids. So I have another headache thanks to him. It looks like it is going to be a long hot day! I tried talking to him and told him to go walk away from them and the situation and he told me off. So let him have a pissy kind of day. I am not going to put up with him like this today. I will just have to work on avoiding him until he is in a better mood.
Pam, that must have been frustrating this morning trying to get your son's car to the repair shop. I hope they fix it right this time. As for the weight issue, I think it is just that you have a lot of stress in your life right now with your db being sick and your ds's car not running properly. Once life is back to a normal balance for you, you will probably have the desire and motivation again. I felt that way a couple weeks ago, but now I am right back in the mindset that I am going to try my hardest to take off these stubborn pounds that keep hugging on to my body. LOL
Yes I did make it to the library yesterday afternoon. I got a couple books for the kids to read. I wish their father never told them that they could take a break from reading until the end of July. It makes it so much harder for them to pick back up where they left off with their reading at the end of May. But my dh said they needed the break and that they would be fine. Well it came to bit him in the butt big time, since his one son struggles to read. So I sat down with my little struggling reader yesterday afternoon and we read two books. We were only going to read one but he was like Kerry lets read another one. So hopefully when he makes it to second grade he will be fine.
Hello to everyone else! Hope you have a wonderful day today. Talk to you all later.
Take care,
Kerry

Evening All,
Well I did have a gain tonight at TOPS. But it wasn't as bad as I thought. I only gained 1 1/4 pounds, so I am back up to 199 1/2. But atleast I didn't go back into the two hundreds. So I am pleased with myself. I am hoping that when my dh gets home from signing up the boys for football, we can go for a walk.
Hope everyone else had a nice day! I think I am going to go and read for a little bit. So I will talk to you all later.
Have a great evening.
Kerry

OOOH PAM!!! I'D LOVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOUTH BEACH DIET. ;) Before I tell you what it consists of, and I'm not an expert yet, let me just say that it is the first real success I've had in a looooooong time with losing weight. It is a diet I love and can live with. :smug:

There are three phases. Phase 1: You eat low-fat protein, dairy, most veggies (not carrots, beans, black-eyed peas, corn, or potatoes) and LOTS OF WATER. You need to limit artificial sweeteners because they increase appetite and increase water retention (I only just found out about that.) The two weeks of phase 1 are not easy, but if you can make it through, you will lose a significant amount of weight. I lost 11 pounds. This phase is to detox you from carbs. It really cuts back on the cravings if you can make it through the first week. The second week isn't as hard because the cravings begin to go away. The key is sticking with it no matter what.

Phase 2: You S-L-O-W-L-Y reintroduce carbs. You might begin with a fruit on the first day. Each day you will have one serving of a different HIGH FIBER carb. No more white bread, white rice, potatoes, or pasta. Those days are over. I tried whole wheat flatbread today, and made a roast beef/provolone cheese wrap for lunch. YUMMY!!! And it had 12 grams of dietary fiber!!! Anyway, the first week of phase 2 is a drag because all of a sudden you begin to retain water and either maintain or gain weight. It apparently happens to everyone and a week or two later begin to lose weight again. This is the part that I have found discouraging, and if I hadn't spoken and written to so many people who experienced the same thing, it would be easy to quit at this point. But all these people who stalled at the beginning of phase 2 ended up losing huge amounts of weight after that...70 pounds and more!

Phase 3: I'm not there, so I know nothing about it. I'm assuming it is a maintenance phase.

My suggestion: If you are interested in The South Beach Diet, get the book (Amazon.com probably has it used really pretty cheap.) and read it. There is a South Beach thread on 3fatchicks which can be helpful. After reading the book and committing to the diet, I joined online. Some days I think of it as a waste of money, and on other days, it is very helpful.

Kerry, Last summer, I gave DD a break from reading on a regular basis. It was a big mistake. This year she not only reads from her guided reading books, but we are working on flashcards from the Dolch word list. It is too bad that you end up being the one to work with the kids rather than your DH.

Today was a nice, typical, summer day. I really needed one of those. We picked up some stuff from the grocery store, cleaned up the house a little (no marathons today), and had a healthy lunch. DD's friend (snow-day girl) came over to swim in our pool. While they swam (4 hours), I read a trashy novel in a lounge chair and soaked up the sun. After her friend's mother fished her friend out of my pool, I watered the garden and did a little weeding (again, no marathon session today), and had shish-ka-bobs on the grill. These lazy days are what I love about the summer...no doctor appointment, no major projects or chores, etc. I will have those days that really suck, but as long as I try to have more days like today, my summer will be considered a success!!!

I hope everyone else can have some lazy summer days too... :flow2:

Evening everybody.

Summer: Hmmm. That must be another way that my body acts weird. I am most often NOT hungry if I've had more than my usual amount of Splenda. I use a lot more of it since I can't have NutraSweet... I use sweet n low also, but mostly Splenda. Like, yesterday I hardly ate anything at all: I skipped breakfast between being nervous over having to drive my car on Rte. 95 without that rear passenger window (I hate highway noise, so that noise plus the flapping of the plastic bag, plus a slight fear that I might have missed some glass that was going to fly at 65 mph... and starting my new job with the National Board... then, I wound up having to take the car to the glass shop because the one company over-booked and didn't show to fix the car, so I missed lunch (I got to eat my cucumbers and my cottage cheese, but that's it). I didn't get home till 8:00, so I ate dinner then... But I drank decaf coffee with low-carb non-dairy creamer and Splenda, plus 1 diet soda, and decaf iced tea that I put splenda in. I also am definitely not retaining water at this point: that must be the diet, though, because its been going on since they started me on it.
Pam: I'm not really doing South Beach or Atkins, but my diet has lots of similarities to both. Lean protein, low-fat dairy products, vegetables (no corn, beans, potatoes, or higher carb veggies... carrots, mushrooms, and some others I'm forgetting), the only fruit I'm allowed to have are berries. No grain or bread products at all (though I do sometimes eat low-carb whole wheat tortillas from Trader Joes or high-fiber rye bread). I'm not going to say I don't cheat, especially since I do occasionally get lo mein at the chinese place which is a rice flour noodle, but at this point I'm eating maybe 1/4 of a 16 ounce (the larger) container, and throw the rest out... and not eating more than 2 tablespoons of rice. Its not worth the nausea. I haven't had a bagel in 2 months or anything other than that high fiber rye bread. I've had some potatoes. But where I was eating anywhere from 175 to 250 carbs per day, I am down to 40-75 on most days. And your son's car... ICK! What A Lemon!
Robyn: HIHIHIHI
Kerry: Oooo... they don't have TO READ?????? WHAT????? Okay, sorry, had to get that out of my system. Does your husband realize that many kids are put in special education because of reading problems only? Sorry about the headache, and I bet that pound is from your TOM... didn't you say it just started?

As for me... I started working for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards on Monday. They are seriously strict about test security and confidentiality: we're not allowed to have PDAs or things like iPods in the room, and cell phones need to be turned off. I keep my PDA, iPod and cell phone in my purse which is in my school bag, which is zipped. We can only use our cell phones in the hallway outside the area, or the lounge. And, I can't tell you much about what we do or how we're trained. But, I'm enjoying it and learning a lot. I have a great trainer, he has made things very clear, and we are moving quickly. We spent today doing test cases, and I think that we might do real scoring tomorrow. I'm not sure.
I'm in a group of other vocational (career and techinical) teachers, and there are only 2 of us that are local. Everybody else is from out of state: we have New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, our trainer is from Oklahoma, and South Carolina. Tomorrow, we have somebody joining us via high speed Internet (this person is very experienced and piloting the home-scoring version). We're a small group, too... Its neat to listen to the discussions because so many of them believe and say the same things I do. They actually wanted some more voc-ed teachers, but I wouldn't volunteer anybody from my former school because I don't want them there.
And, I'm proud to say that although they feed us constantly, I've not touched most of the stuff. I've avoided the bagels, muffins and coffecake in the mornings, the cookies candy and brownies later. But, in the afternoon they are kind to us: they have a veggie tray (I eat the snow pea pods without dip or anything), cheese and some pretty high quality lunch meat: like real roast beef or real turkey breast. So I have the pea pods, a slice of cheddar cheese (and I checked the fat content, it was low enough for me to eat) and a slice of turkey or roast beef. They also give us lunch vouchers, but the vouchers are only good at Panera Bread, ChikFilA, and 2 more places like Panera. I could eat at either Panera or the one other Panera like place because both have some great salad choices... but you have to walk to the restaurants. I walk so slowly, that I'm afraid by the time I walk there and back I won't have time to eat, and I feel weird driving across the street when everybody else walked. So I've eaten my own lunch (my tuna, cucumbers and cottage cheese) the last 2 days.
My car is fixed, Allstate has processed most of my claim, and I have the new iPod case, new swim suit, the arm band for the iPod case. My new bag will be here tomorrow, and I'll get the toiletries kit once I get to Trader Joes to buy new shampoo and stuff. I'll have to wear my sandles upstairs till I can get new sneakers, which I can't get till I go to my mom's house. Or, I may retire my school sneakers and wear those. I'll see. I'm waiting to hear from the parking garage: I asked them for my deductibles on my insurance. I told them that would be acceptable since I *did* have insurance and had used it.
I'm looking forward to getting to the gym tomorrow! I may wind up having to drive over during lunch, because if I want to go to the gym, I need to have something that will work for me as an afternoon snack... I can't eat lunch at 11:30, leave work at 4, go to the gym, and not eat again till 7 or 8. Well, I could, but I'm learning that is a bad idea! My body really crashes when I do that: I was asleep last night by 9:30, despite not getting home till 8. And I'd prefer having a nice large salad for lunch and putting my tuna in that, then using my cottage cheese or cucumbers for a snack around 3 or 3:30. We'll see what happens. They are getting us breakfast tomorrow morning also, but its from ChikFilA, so I'm pretty sure there won't be anything there I can eat. I'm planning on eating something very light at home, and bringing some berries with me just in case... that way if I can eat something there, I will, and if not, I'll have my berries. Oh... and I actually found the Starbucks sugar-free frappucino in the bottles in the store!!!!! I had that for breakfast this morning, and then refilled the bottle with regular coffee. I didn't drink it, I just used it to warm my hands: those rooms are cold!! :)
:mouse:

Hey guys!
How are things going? I am sitting here believe it or not, drinking a diet coke. Which I must say sucks! I need to make some unsweetened iced tea, but haven't gotten around to that yet.
I don't know about South Beach. Don't know if I have the will power to exclude so many foods that I dearly love. Especially in the summer when watermelon abounds, and I love baked potatoes. I'm still thinking about it. I was back down to 174.5 today. My goal for the day is to drink tons of water. Tons and tons of water. I may read the book and then see how I feel about it. I was on Atkins before, and lost 17 pounds in three weeks. However, as soon as I went back to eating regular foods, I gained it all right back and it didn't take very long. My friend was doing either LA weight loss or Trim Spa I am not sure which. Every two weeks they had to do this thing where they didn't eat carbs for three days for what was called a carb cleansing and then went back on the regular low fat diet. She lost a lot of weight. I mean thirtyish pounds the way I was doing it was great, since I really didn't feel deprived or anything, but I just don't know. Something has got to give. Lately it's just been the I don't give a crap attitude. I haven't been eating like a hog except for vacation, but I haven't been really trying either. So, we'll see. I'm not giving up.
If anyone is interested in their personal ant farm, I'd be happy to donate some of the ants from my house. Free shipping too! Just let me know.
Summer: I love those lazy days too. I went outside to weed my flower beds three times yesterday, I managed to pull one weed. It was too hot. I have become very lazy the past two days. Guess I need to buckle down, and atleast do some laundry today.
Mouse: Glad you are getting everything straightened out from your robbery. What a pain.
Have a good day!
Pam

Morning Everyone,
It is raining here at my house. From the sounds of things we are in for some rain today. Good thing I didn't really have no major plans for the day. I just hope that this evening it is not raining out, so my one friend and I can go for our walk. Looks like it is going to be a good day to stay in and read today. Plus I promised my stepson I would take him to the library to pick out a few more books.
Pam as for your eating it will come back together one of these days. I promise you. You will eventually find the right combition of eating foods that will help you lose the weight. Keep the faith! You just hit a plateau and need to break out of it again.
Mouse sounds like you really like your new job. That is great. I am glad that you got your car fixed. So how long is your training?
Summer so what trashy novel did you read yesterday? I am currently reading a Christian book called Oceans Apart by Karen Kingsbury. It is about a couple who are faced with the husband finding out that he has a 7 year-old son from a one night stand. It is very interesting.
Hi to Ginny, Sue, and Robyn. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! I think I am going to go and do a short workout here at home today.
Talk to you all later.
Kerry

I feel like I have been gone forever! We had a great time camping. The camp had a pool and miniture golf (plus lots of other things but those are the ones we used). It was a bit too hot for me to sit long at the pool. Funny I use to be such a sun worshiper but now I can't do it unless I have a good book to keep me occupied. I read 2 1/2 books! I wasn't very good on the diet. I hit the chips (baked or light at least) at the pool pretty heavily. Then there were those smores..... I have Weight Watchers tonight, so I'll know the damage tomorrow. I also have been terrible on my water.

Pam - I hope your brother continues too improve. That must be very hard for you, especially since it started with what was meant to be out patient surgery! I agree with you it is too hot to do anything outside these days. Our yard is fried and my flower bed is looking sad after being on vacation. We haven't had any rain in weeks. I am glad you enjoyed your trip to Myrtle Beach. I have never been there but hear that it is very nice. It is good that you can joke with your DH when he makes his jeolous comments about meeting your boyfriend. Hopefully he will out grow that soon as that would get old in a hurry. I go through phases too where I just can't concentrate on my diet. I think you need to let yourself do that once in a while or you will go insane. No one can diet 365 days a year for the rest of their lives! I just have a weight that once I get near it, I know it is time to get serious again. I think I'll be there tonight when I weigh in! I feel for you with all the problems you have with your ds car. They are so frustrating (and expensive) when they don't work. My "check engine" light came on yesterday, so I will need to call to have that looked at. Hopefully it isn't anything major. I also really need new shocks. The last time I got tires they told me that I could really use them but I can REALLY feel the bumps when I am hauling the trailer. I think the South Beach diet is very similar to Weight Watchers. They want you to eat lean meat, low-fat dairy, fruits/veggys, whole grains and tons of water. The difference is on Weight Watchers there isn't any foods that you can't have. You just need to budget for them. I don't do well if I think I can't have something, then I obsess over it and eat ten times the calories trying to satify that craving with other food.

Summer - I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose your DM. Hopefully I won't know for a long time to come. It is so good that you keep her memory alive for your DD. I am glad you are doing better. Too bad your MIL doesn't fill the gap. I don't know what I would do without my parents. They help out so much. I had no idea that artificial sweeteners caused you to retain water let alone increased your appetite. That would explain why I am so hungry after I do go on a SF icecream binge! Don't you worry that your students might come to your tagsale and see their gifts for sale? Maybe that isn't a possibility in a bigger city. I teach high school so that isn't a problem for me. I some times get lovely notes (which I save) but seldom gifts.

Mouse - Congratulations on getting the apartment you hoped for. That extra money sure will make a difference. Do you know where you are teaching yet? My first year of teaching I started out at the high school but after a few weeks they realized the caseloads had switched and they needed me at the middle school more. That was a pain moving mid-stream. Hopefully you will know in time to get everything ready. That is terrible about your car getting broke into. My DS was swimming at her gym, since she has lost a lot of weight and was afraid she would lose it, she hooked her wedding ring to her keys and left them in the locker. This is the country so we don't put locks on lockers or anything silly like that. Someone stole her keys. As she was looking in a panic, another woman's keys were missing too. That woman had tons stolen from her car but they must have reached that car first and grabbed the stuff and ran. Lucky for my DS they left her keys in that woman's car, ring still attached! Nothing was missing from my sister's car. I just can't believe someone would be that bold to steal with so many people around.

Robyn - I hope you are surviving your staff development. Is that in your contract that you have to go in July? That would never fly around here. Most people complain when they have to go in the week before school.

Kerry - By IM do you mean personal message? I am not familiar with that abbreviation. Feel free to do that anytime. I'm not sure I'll be of any help but it sounds like our lives are very similar. My DH has done the Kidney stone thing too. I guess it is VERY painful. Has your DH passed his yet? I assume if he is on percoset, they are just letting it work itself out. It is so amazing how small they are when they do make it through. Speaking of the Y chromosome and doing stupid things, My husband went to the eye doctor to have something removed. The doctor told him not to drive or watch TV. So my husband drove 40 miles to get coffee from Duncan Doughnuts, than watched TV as he drank it! Then he got mad at me, when I suggested that it wasn't a good idea! MEN!!! It is so wonderful that you got your DSS to read two books! I have to force my DS to read daily. I keep hoping that someday it will click and he will love it. He doesn't complain as much but he still doesn't pick up a book on his own to read. I know this is really hard to do but you need to be careful to stay positive about your DH-ex when you are around the children. She is worthless but those children love her (ALL children do) and they will take it personally if you insult her. I have had to bite my lip so hard it bleed before but I try really hard to to bad mouth my ex in front of the children. In the long run they figure out the truth and they love you all the more for how you handle it. If you like real icecream as in a bowl and a spoon, I like the Healthy Choice sugar free vanilla. I don't have any on hand but I know it is low points.

Ginny - I always enjoy my golf. It is so beautiful on the courses. Plus I am not competitive at all, so I don't get upset when I suck (which is most of the time!). I love your WW quote "I came, I weighed, I cried, I stayed". It really helps me when I take my lumps. I ended up skipping last week. I never miss during the school year but I am so busy having fun in the summer! I am going tonight no matter what. I need to get back on track because my shorts are beginning to get snug. So how is Core going for you? Two of my DS do Core and are doing well. I tried it. I lost the first week because I was still measuring and such. Then I gained like crazy. I just need to measure and keep track because I don't have a comfort zone that talks English! Are you sure your bigger fish aren't eating the smaller ones? Fish will do that. Plus with this heat they may just be dying and then being eaten. Sorry to hear your DH has Lyme disease. That isn't a big problem in Michigan yet but this summer was suppose to be bad. I worry since we live in the country and my children are always outside. Too bad your DH is opposed to counselling. All men think everything is the woman's fault, that is why you need a counsellor to help mediate. Ours is pretty good about telling my DH he is being an idiot without pissing him off.

Gosh, I think that is everything since I posted last. It is so hard to be gone! I hope everyone is enjoying their summers. Today I need to do all that camping laundry and get to the library for new books.

Sue

Evening, all.

Sue: Welcome back! That sounds like my kind of campground. I used to LOVE miniture golf (especially if there were watertraps) before I hurt my ankle. There is a great one not far from the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania (we have some nice camp grounds there too, but the best one doesn't have a pool; its the best one not just because two friends of mine run it, but because it really is a good campground).
Kerry: How is your husband? Did you get to the library?
Pam: I understand the "attitude", I have it frequently (just look at my posts!!!!). Right now, I'm frustrated since I couldn't go to the gym without a swimsuit and all; I got everything last night, and stuffed it all in an small nylon bag I have had around... And tried to get there today, I really did. And all the routes were backed up. I'm going to try again tomorrow, and just deal with the traffic.

We finished training today, and started what they call "live scoring". That means we're reading and responding to actual candidate responses. There are only 7 of us in the room, and we started sometime around 10:30. We scored for an hour before lunch, and then 3.5 hours after lunch. In that 4 hours, we closed around 80 cases. A closed case means that its been read twice, and a score was approved by the system. That's really pretty good!!! :)
I would have thought (I did think, actually) that most of the responses would be pretty good because it costs $2300 to take the test, submit a portfolio, and get a score. But a lot of the repsonses don't even match the scenario that was given to them to read. Anyway... I am enjoying it. I wish we could listen to music while we scored, though. It would keep me more focused. We were told no earphones, and another room was told specifically no iPods. I can only theorize that they're afraid we might try to use it as a harddrive or as a voice recorder, but both of those would be pretty obvious. Or maybe we might be getting advice or something with the earphones.
I'm not sure.
Oh, and I am really pretty pleased with myself: I have not had (nor have I *WANTED*) to have any of the bad stuff they offer us daily... no cookies, muffins, bagels, cereal bars, fruit snacks, or sodas. I did go over to the mall to get lunch today, and got a fresh custom salad: olives, artichokes, feta, romaine, cucumber, and tuna. Fat-free ranch. I couldn't finish it all... even with two sittings (I ate some at lunch, and some at the afternoon snackbreak). And then, just now, I had no problems throwing away the bread from my sandwich I picked up. We get $10 each day for lunch/food, and so I used some for the salad, and some for a sandwich. I was kinda surprised to be honest with you. I just ate the roast beef from the sandwich with a little horseradish.
I did have two small (really bite-sized) cookies; and some skim milk. Most of my carbs today came from the milk.
:mouse:

Ok, I will be back later to address everyone.......but I had to stop in and announce I WILL NOT work tomorrow!!!!!!!! My supervisor (who was so tremendous when my mom was in for surgery) has called me in to sub for another driver the past 2 days. She actually apologized today for calling....but I knew she was desparate, so I thought I would bail her out. Tomorrow I will not answer the phone.
Worked Monday pm, tuesday all day and today pm. I thought this was summer vacation???????
Be back later.....sorry had to vent.
Ginny

Hey! I just lost a post again!
Sue: Hey! Glad you had fun on your trip. Don't you love summer? It was me who lost the fish. However, several of them just died, when I went back to the pet store to find out what the problem could be because I had tested my water and stuff they told me they happened to be be a batch of bad fish. I know the bigger fish aren't eating the little ones, cause it was my biggest that went missing. I found it today outside of the pond. I think it was my sneaky feline friend who was slinking in the calla lillies chasing a frog today. She denied it. I love my kitty, but the evidence although completely circumstantial is very incriminating.
Mouse: Sounds like you are having a good week. It helps to have people to work with that actually share your view points. Kudos for your power to resist temptation.

Ginny: Don't answer the phone. Hide, and read a good book. Do you have caller ID?

Kerry: I just don't think I can do South Beach. I read about it, but like Sue, if I feel like I can't have something, I only want it more. I was seriously considering it until CHic fila this morning. I happen to run across a biscuit...
OOPS>

Hi to Summer and Robyn!
Nite Ya'll
Pam

Afternoon Ladies,
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I went to workout this morning with my friend at Curves. Than I came home and finished reading Oceans Apart. It was a really good book. Now I am trying to decide what to do this afternoon since it looks like it is going to rain again.
Well I need to go and try to figure out what is wrong with our email. My dh said he couldn't get it to work. Talk to you all later.
Have a wonderful afternoon!
Kerry

Ginny - JUST SAY NO!! Maybe just not answering the phone is good too as you want her to say okay if you need time off at a future date. I just can't imagine being on a school bus in this weather.

Mouse - I don't think you would have been thrilled with the pool. It was pretty small and about 1/2 of that was more like a wading pool. I tried to do laps and my hands were hitting bottom doing the crawl stroke. It did work fine for staying cool and entertaining the children though! Some day I would like to travel around and visit other states camping as we go. It is just so hard to find a good chunk of time to be gone.

Pam - A cat has to do, what a cat has to do! Poor little fish!! Is your pond new this year? Fish need certain bacteria to survive, which gets in the water by things dying. That is why when you do a new tank you buy cheap "sacrificial" fish. I never realized that until I married my DH. He is big time into fish. We have two huge tropical fish tanks and a regular one too.

Kerry - So please tell me who wrote Oceans Apart! I keep just grabbing what ever books they have in the "new book" section of the library. I did read the Hot Flash Club and the Hot Flash Club Strikes Again that someone suggested. They were very cute and fast reads. I gave them to my mom to read since she can relate a bit more than I (it won't be long now though!). So it is raining again? I wish we would just get rain once. I think we have only had one measurable rain fall this summer. Everything is so dried out it is pitiful. I wish we would get some rain and a break from this near 90 degree weather!

Sue

Sue Oceans Apart is written by Karen Kingsbury. It was a fast read too! It mades you stop and think about life and second chances. Hope you can find it at your local library. I signed up at my sister's library to do the Adult Summer Reading Program and it is about the Arts this year. I have to read a book from the following sections: Art of Fiction (Impossible by Danielle Steel), Art of the Building(Log Cabins of the North), Artful Biographies (attempting to read about Andy Warhol), Artistic Death, Novels of Note and Culinary Arts. I am hoping that I can get through the biography by the end of this weekend since I start back to summer school on Monday for three weeks.
It is thankful has stopped raining here for the moment. It tried to rain off and on all day long but on sprinkles. So I think my dh and I might go for a walk this evening.
Nothing else new here. Just that I can't wait for my TOM to be over and I will stop my food craving binges. LOL.
Well I better go and check email now. Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Wow! I'm really behind! Let me catch up...

Kerry, I'm in the middle of Full House by Janet Evanovich. I've been busy, so I haven't made much progress.

Sue, no, I don't worry about my students showing up at my tag sale. I live in the suburbs, and my students' parents rely on the city bus to get from point A to point B. I'm pretty lucky that way. My DS lives in the town she teaches in, and sees her students at Stop & Shop, the mall, and even church! She, unlike me, is pretty burned out and hates to see them outside of school.

Pam, SB isn't for everyone. I am trying to avoid adult-onset diabetes, so I really need to cut down on carbs for my health as well as for weight loss. I will always have to be careful with sugar and carbs. Do what works for you...that is the best way to succeed!

Mouse, your job scoring sounds like what my DS does for the state of CT for the BEST program portfolio scoring for new teachers.

Ginny, you are right, it is summer!!! You shouldn't have to work. I'm getting annoyed with all the commercials and catalogs showing new school clothes for fall!!! EEK!!!

Yesterday, DD slept over her best friend's house so DH and I could go see Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire in concert. It was phenomenal. As members of the fan club, we were allowed to rush the stage with security protecting us. We got lots of dirty looks, but these kind of perks come with being in the fan club. It was thrilling to be so close...I actually got light-headed! :dizzy: :o For dinner we ate at Ruby Tuesdays. I had shrimp with creamy mashed cauliflower on the side. It tasted like mashed potatoes!!! I drank a Baha Bob's sugar-free margarita...yummy! For dessert, we had sugar-free cheese cake. In the middle of the concert, and again at the end, I got really bad diarrhea. I'm trying to figure out which new thing I ate caused it. Heavy cream can cause it as well as artificial sweeteners. Right now I'm drinking another Baha Bob's margarita to see if it is that. I'm having a party tomorrow, and I will be really disappointed if the Baha Bob's caused the diarrhea. :( Hopefully it was the creamy cauliflower or cheese cake. Gotta go, DD wants to cuddle.

If I missed anybody, I'll catch ya later!

Good evening, all.

All I can say is that I am just about ready to commit violence against teachers who think Powerpoint will save them. I can't explain further, because I'd be giving away testing stuff, I think.

I finally got to the gym today. Monday and Tuesday I didn't have a bathing suit, yesterday there was a tanker truck that spilled over on Route 29, so I couldn't get on that and its the quickest way to the gym from where we're scoring. And now its likely that we have to work on Saturday. I'm not terribly thrilled by that concept, but I could certainy use the money, so I'll do it.
I'm having issues with lunch: I can't walk all the way over to the mall (its up hill and about a quarter of a mile). Well, I could walk over there if I had more time. We have an hour to get lunch. I can't walk there, walk back, and eat my lunch. So I drove the last 2 days, and today there was no parking spaces left when we got back. I wound up parking on the 2nd floor of the garage, then realized that there was no elevator, and while there is a walkway into the 2nd floor, its owned by a private company that leases that half of the 2nd floor of the building: you can't get in!!!! I had to ASK them to let me out that door this evening when I left. Fortunately, I have my salad from lunch today (I had a salad and sandwich, but only managed to finish the sandwich).
Its a shame, too: we get a $10 voucher every day to use at the mall. I've considered trying to use it after we're finished for the day, but I'm afraid if I wait as much as a half an hour, I'll get stuck on the beltway and have no hope of getting to the gym.
Any ideas?
:mouse:

Hey, Summer...
We posted at the same time, but I thought I'd answer your post...
I had the creamy cauliflower at Ruby Tuesdays when my father took me there, and I got a bit sick as well. I didn't eat very much of it because it wasn't very good (I've had it other places and it was fine). I figured they put chicken broth in something, but now maybe it was the cauliflower. Was the cheesecake good? My father tried to talk me into a piece, but it was 400 calories a slice!
I've had the sugar-free cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory, and also a local supermarket chain has one in their bakery. The latter is really, really good... and its an individual tart size, so only about 200 calories. The Cheesecake Factory one was okay, but not worth the $5 they charged per slice. It might have been more, but I was with friends from that special ed teahcer's convention so we split the bill.
:mouse:

this staff development junk is for the birds........
...no I don't get any $$ for doing this...this is part of my contract...

I could do it in July or in August.... I do NOT do anything for school ANYTHING during the first 2 weeks of August... so this was better than that! I guess....

Funnnn (sarcasm!) stuff here with all 4 of us home.... STRESSSSSS YUMMY!

gotta run......class tomorrow...yipppee! (but it is the last day!)
take care,
meee
hope everyone is ok...I've not read posts in days...sorry! TIMEEE and energy..and dh camped out at computer trying to solve dsl issues that are driving him to insanity... arghh!

Hello all
I am terribly hearbroken this am. My sweet little cat was run over last night. I cried myself to sleep as did everyone else I think. I had gone to Walmart and when I came in, my husband was looking really weird, and I kissed him and said Hey what's up to which he replied, Sassy is dead. I couldn't believe it. Apparently, a dog was chasing her and she stepped into the street and got hit by a van. My nine year old was out there, and thought her paw was hurt so he carried her home. This makes me cry harder. The van didn't even stop. It just pisses me off. So, in the dark, in the rain, we buried her under a shady tree. I'm crying again. She was such a sweet little kitty. I have had her almost as long as my youngest. Almost ten years. Needless to say, my eyes are swollen, and I have a headache this morning. I'm sure my husband will be having one too, as he began drinking beer in response to this accident. He really loved that cat. When she was a kitty, we thought she had drowned because of Hurricane Floyd. But, when we were able to get into the house she was floating on the couch.
Anyway, enough of my babble, I'll come back later when I'm not so depressed.
Take Care,
Pam

Pam....I'm so sorry. Our kitty is 18. I am sorry that your child was there to witness everything. Not to even stop....how mean! Take care, Robyn

I'm going to vomit.
On the news this morning (3 "cities" away....about 30 minutes...not rural by a long shot...) :

Police are searching for the 2nd morning for 5 year old boy. He is wearing only a diaper. (DIAPER??) Last seen in the front yard of his aunt's house on Wednesday night sometime around 10 p.m. According to the news, he was being "cared" for by the aunt's boyfriend. The news also has stated that the child needs medical attention as he not only is medically fragile (before "disappearing"), evidently he was severely scalded (hands and arms) 1 day before he disappeared and was never taken to the doctor. The photo provided to police is of the child at 2.

Gee...ya think this is going to have a happy ending? People and their indifference to children makes me so sick.

I'm ill over this!

Just me again.
I feel a lot better now, well as better as i can feel anyway. I went and bought a bunch of impatiens and planted them over where Sassy's grave is. I also bought some Zinnia's and but them in this huge kitty cat plant stand I have, surrounded the whole thing with bricks and filled it in with mulch. It looks very pretty. She would like it, she loved flowers she was always sniffing flowers when I was planting them and rubbing up against them. I think the dog is beginning to wonder where she is because she usually hides behind the table whenever Sassy comes in, and everytime I open the front door she runs to hide behind the table to jump out at her. By the way, animal control showed up at my house today saying they had a complaint that my dog was running loose. I said I don't think so, someone reported the dog that was running loose in the neighborhood last night, the one that chased my cat into the road. She said Well you're cat should not have been loose. Their is an ordinance in Rocky Mount about loose cats. I said well I guess you don't have to worry about that cause when the dog that was loose which wasn't mine, chased her into the road she got hit by a car. She said well, there is a law that clearly states that loose cats are forbidden. I said well geez, didn't know that. Thanks for your time. What a b.......
I think my home is being invaded by frogs. I went out to the pond today to feed the fish, and there was a frog sitting on a lily pad. How cute I said, let me get my camera. I took a picture and then noticed it was not one frog, but two...........I began to look around the pond and there were six frogs in there. FROG ORGIE! Does that make me a pervert? Ha :D Then, later, a frog got into the house and my dog was chasing it around the livingroom. We finally got it out. It's Pam's Wild Kingdom around here.
Thanks Robyn, Sassy was my baby, and the sweetest thing.
Ok, I'm done blabbing. Talk to you later!
Pam

My this was a depressing read today!

Pam, I am so sorry about your cat. Animals are so much like children when you have had them that long it is like losing a child. Then to have animal control be such a jerk. I would have been tempted to box her ears (as my aunt would say) around a bit!

Robyn, any news on the lost boy. I hate hearing about children who have been abused and neglected. I don't know how anyone could do that to a child. Hopefully he just ran away and when found they will find him a good loving home.

Summer, when you live in a small town like I do you see your students everywhere. My friends can't believe that I won't by alcohol at the local grocery store but believe me students notice that kind of stuff! I stopped going to the local beach a few years ago because students were commenting on seeing me there in my bathing suit (although I usually had my shorts over it). So did you discover if the margaritas were the problem? I'll tell you a great lowfat cheesecake recipe. Just mix a 16 oz container of fat free sourcream with a small box of sugar free fat free white chocolate pudding mix (not made, just the powder) put it in a reduced fat graham cracker crust and put 1/2 can of lite cherry pie filling on top. It is delicious and quick!

Every ad we received this week dealt with back to school. I am not even ready to think about that yet. I don't even know what I am teaching yet. We still have almost two months of summer. There should be a law of no back to school ads until August!

My DD is spending the night at a friends house tonight. This is only the second time she has stayed with a non-family member. I teach with the stepdad (jock/coach) but otherwise don't know the family at all. I am a bit nervous as they have a swimming pool. I know I tend to be a little over protective but I think too many parents don't watch their children well enough.

Sue

Pam- my most sincere sympathies on the loss of your kitty.....ours are like family members.....sweet little souls who smile,comfort and stabilize like really no human can. All for some pets, some food and a litter box change. That animal control person was crass and insensitive.....perhaps fools like her should not be allowed to run loose either.

Robyn- how did that little lost boy story end????They ever find him- and hopefully alive? Some parents should be shot....or put in jail....or made to pay for the horror they cause the rest of society. Dd is working as a bus monitor this summer ($12/hour.....) and one student who is totally unable to leave her wheelchair- cannot support her head (which is supported at somewhat of an angle by a brace on the chair) and cannot speak has puked for the past 2 days. Not just on the bus... but at school also- and each time she does so must be evaluated by 2 RN's for fear that she has aspirated vomit. She lives in a HUGE house...... Big $$$$$$$$ area- house probably worth close to a million.....yet momma sends her to school to make the rest of the county work for her. Some people should not be parents........hope that 5 yr old is ok. (anyone figure out the diaper thing?)

Mouse- is the voucher dated? Can you get in to the mall before you go in????
(sometimes food establishments open early- or what about calling your order in to a where you want food- or asking someone else to pick up your food during lunch?)

Summer- I used to be a HUGE Chicago fan.......how was the concert? How is your stomach? Hope you are feeling better.

Kerry- hope the rain stopped.....and those TOM cravings too (I am suffering from that at the moment, myself).

Sue- I hate this 90 degree stuff too........feel like a soggy sponge. Hope your weather breaks soon too.....

Well, you guessed it, they caught up with me again. Drove this am....at least I got to drive, which I would rather do than monitor. And all the special ed buses (except for one) have A/C. So at least I was comfortable. I did turn down working this afternoon......had to take Ds to his bball game in this miserable heat....team won......
I have been bad with my eating.....TOM is due any moment. Did get up at 5 am to sneak in a wet in this awful tropical air. Where is a nice Canadian cold front when you need one?
Gotta go catch up with a gazillion things that I should be doing....see ya later.
Ginny

Hi...
Pam: I'm so sorry. Imp (my kitty) and I are thinking about you and yours. I wince everytime I see an animal on the side of the road. Imp stays inside for the most part, mostly because he won't wear his collar. He takes it off everytime I try to put it on him.
Robyn: Isn't it FUNNNN? ;) And, yes... I hate stories like that so much that I've almost stopped watching the local news except in the morning before work. The local evening news is on for 3 hours here, so they go into great detail about that sort of thing, for days. I can't handle it, especially since I know that those kids will eventually wind up in my classroom... Most of the kids at my last school were in foster care or adopted, many lived in group homes and their parents were dysfunctional. Those that lived at home frequently had a less than stellar life as well.
Ginny: Thanks for the ideas; I have considered going in the morning since Panera is open early enough, but I looked up the salads at Panera's website, and the only one that doesn't have chicken which I could eat was 600 calories... I have better things I can use 600 calories on! :) The other place doesn't open until 7:30, and we have to be there at 8. I'm afraid to cut it that close. But after what happened yesterday, our trainer said he'd get me a salad at the place he goes to... One of the other teachers got a sandwich for me today, so its working out so far. I do hate having to ask though... I know I shouldn't but I do. Especially since so many people assume things based on how I look.
We are working tomorrow so we can get done. We finished 1/4 of the assignment today, just before lunch. I wish I could tell you guys about the prompts, so you'd understand better, but I can't...
I can tell you that one of the prompts I scored today had a heck of a typo... the poor candidate was clearly trying to talk about agricultural crops, and the sexual properties of plants... and instead of crops, he typed 'agricultural crap'. I lost it... I laughed so hard I was in TEARS. And you're not supposed to do that.
I'm going to run... My Harry Potter book is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Its being held at the UPS shipping office here in Baltimore. And, I wont be home! I'm working from 9-2 tomorrow, and then figured I'd go to the mall and get lunch with my voucher... and then go to the gym since we have swimming lessons tomorrow night! I wont' be home till after 9!
:mouse:

Hey!
First, let me thank everyone for your kind words. It's a beautiful day here. I am going to try to get all my housework done this morning and then just lay by the pool for the remainder of the day with a good book. I think it is going to be 94 here today.
They are already advertising back to school stuff here too. I think I will go out and buy the ninety folders I use when i catch them for 7 cents a piece. I think I am going to have to switch rooms this year. It really sucks. This guy I worked with called me yesterday morning and was telling me about all the latest gossip from Southern Nash Middle School. In the process he asked me where room 605 was. I said that's my room why? He got really quiet and said I was just wondering. Hmmmm.......
Ok, gotta run, so I'll talk to you later!
Pam

Morning Ladies,
I told have time for much of a personal post this morning. Have to get ready to leave to go to a baseball game for a couple of our friends little boys. But I did want to pop in and say hi. I hope you all have a wonderful day today! Pam I am so sorry to hear about your kitty! Hugs go out to you and your family.
I am a little bit ticked off at my dh. He knew that I wanted to take a weekend trip just him and I sometime before our summer vacation was over. Everytime I tried talking to him about it he just blew me off. The other night one of friends asked him to go to the Ohio State/Texas football in Columbus the second weekend in Sept. He jumped all over it. That is all he has talked about for the last few days. When I tried to talk about where we could go he was like I thought you decided not to go anywhere now, because you having to go to school this summer. I am tempted to just make plans for myself and go away for the weekend. Maybe I should do that and call my best friend and invite her along. Well I have been summons to take my shower. Talk to you all later.
Have a wonderful Saturday!
Kerry

Mouse - Did you get your book yet? I actually ran to Meijers at midnight to grab one! I came home and read a chapter but then I needed to sleep. I was hoping for rain today so I would have a good excuse to curl up and read all day!

We have a 30% chance of rain today and we could REALLY use some. Still the next 8 days looks like high 80's to low 90's. Atleast the humidity is suppose to drop on Wednesday, which just happens to be our next camping trip. This trip is with my family. Everyone goes but my brother's family. His wife is a bit prissy and doesn't like their girls to get dirty. They do sometimes come for a day but we are going up to Higgen's Lake this time. That is a bit to far for a day trip. I always love the family camping trip because each adult does what they like the best and the children can choose which one to go to. I have always been the beach person so hopefully it won't be too hot. I may have to switch to the "stay in the air conditioned camper and read" person! I am going to try to be good with the smores this time. I should just avoid them all together but if I could stick to one, that wouldn't be bad. I actually do well with real food as I have never been much of a grease/fat lover. Maybe I'll throw in some Skinny Cow icecream sandwiches. They are the same number of points but I would be less likely to binge on them.

I was up 3 3/4 lbs when I weighed in Wednesday. I am hoping that some of that was the fact that it was that TOM. I also had had a lot of salty foods for several days prior. I'll need to weigh in early this week due to vacation. I hate Monday weigh ins because the weekends tend to involve pizza and movie popcorn.

Speaking of movie popcorn. My DD was at a friend's house, so we were able to see a PG13 movie! We saw the War of the Worlds. I was disappointed but glad it wasn't scarier. I was a bit worried that my DS would have nightmares forever but he wasn't frightened at all. The acting was good though. Of course I plan on marrying Tom Cruise some day. I have been in love with him since I saw him in his underware in Risky Buisiness!

I guess I should go. I am debating whether I should go golf before it gets too hot or just curl up with Harry and the gang. Such decisions! Don't you just love summers?!

Sue

Morning!!!!
Just a short hello.......

Mouse- forgive me for not remembering what your food restrictions are- Panera also has a really nice vegetable soup (comes with some bread too of course) that I checked out the points on and the whole meal was 4 points. With the Panera salad gosh, that must be the dressing.....or something that they could hold to reduce the calories on,perhaps??? Just an idea.

Kerry- hope your baseball game daygoes well. Sorry about Dh.....he must be related to mine.....hugs to you.

Sue- brother you hit it right.....the one thing I hate about the Tuesday WW meeting I go to is that it is so close to the weekend...and lots of times it takes 2 days for the salt to exit my body. Hope this weeks WI goes better for you!

Pam- hope you enjoy the nice (???? 94 is miserable in my book!) weather.....get some pool time in and relax. You have had a rough time recently.

Not much new here.......need a nap, doubt I will get one.....have a great day!
Ginny

Pam, I'm so sorry about your kitty. I'm amazed by some people's attitude about animals and lack of care for them. That van driver should be ashamed of him/herself. Sorry you have to switch rooms. That involves so much work before the start of school.

Kerry, I like your attitude about taking some time away. If DH isn't into going away for the weekend, then you should do it for yourself. You go girl!

Sue, YES I LOVE SUMMERS...I LIVE FOR THEM!!! I'm really glad I can live my life only concerned with my reputation in the eyes of my DD and her friends rather than my students (although, I do miss them, and wouldn't mind running into them once in a while).

Ginny, what do you mean "used to be a HUGE Chicago fan?!" Did they do something to offend? Or did you just lose interest, and if so, why?! Only kidding with ya :lol: . We had such fun...

Mouse, the cheesecake was DELICIOUS, but I think it may have been part of the diarrhea episode because of HIGH FAT. I didn't eat much of the creamy cauliflower because it was SOOOO CREAMY, and I know how badly I respond to whole cream. Silly me, I thought that foods put on a menu precisely for people trying to lose weight would be not only sugar-free but at least low-fat as well. That apparently WAS NOT the case. The Baja Bob's margarita was not the cause which I am very happy about.

Robyn, I'm glad your prof. dev. is done. I can understand not wanting to do it in the first weeks of August either. When do you go back? For some unknown reason, we go back on 8/29. Last year we were back in school an entire week earlier. So, this year summer is 10 weeks long. Last year's was 8 weeks long. I don't know why they don't make every summer the same length. I technically have 6 weeks left, but I will be back in my room in 5 weeks to assess the damage and prepare for the new year. My good custodian was supposed to be transferred because she could no longer stand working with the Nimrod. This summer Nimrod is in the building by himself except for the principal. Who knows what he will do without anyone really watching him. The early childhood department ordered me tons of new stuff, and I'm really concerned that the boxes will end up "lost." He will need to assemble a bunch of stuff which he just can't do. My good custodian had to do everything like that for him, and with her gone, who knows what will happen. Part of me wants to go to school and check things out, but I'm afraid if I do, my summer will be over. So, I'm going to restrain myself and stay away until the week before school starts.

Yesterday, DD had a play date with my teacher friend's DD. The girl is really competitive, too outspoken, and demanding. At first, she seemed really sweet, but now that she is comfortable with us she can be pretty obnoxious. She and DD were bickering over everything. It is too bad because my friendship with the girl's mom has been growing, and it would be nice if her DD was nicer. When kids play at my house and misbehave, the teacher in me lays down the law. With this child, I've been hesitant about being too "mean" because I don't want her to tell her mother that I wasn't nice to her. I know I should treat all DD's friends the same, but with my friendship being so new, I don't want to "rock the boat." Next time this kid is over without her mom, I think I will just be my normal self because otherwise I will end up blowing up and screaming at her...which I try to avoid with all kids. My friend is a special ed teacher and knows everything about behavior management, but her own kids are so spoiled!

Last night, the tricklets (triplets) and their parents came over for a BBQ. We had BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, and salad. The kids had s'mores for dessert. I drank my Baja Bob margaritas and ENJOYED myself. It was fun getting to know the parents a lot better, and the kids behaved so well. The boy and one of the girls who is a tomboy can be challenging sometimes, but not last night. The girls slept over and are still here now. They spent the morning doing karaoke and will be leaving this afternoon. They have been very low-maintenance which is good since I'm a bit hungover!

:mad: I need to blow off some steam. :mad:

This afternoon, DH and I took DD to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." When I wasn't being disturbed by the high-pitched screaming and crying of a toddler in the theater, the movie was quite magical and entertaining. But you see, this baby would not stop crying hysterically except for a few intermittent moments. After about the first 15 minutes a guy shouted out, "Take the baby outside!" The baby continued to cry, and the parent didn't budge. Then there was a small quiet break for us to get involved in the movie. Too quickly it began again. Nobody spoke up. After the first hour of more crying than quiet, I could no longer restrain myself and said, "Please take the baby out of the theater!" Again, no response. I was tempted to get an usher, but was seated in the center of the last row in stadium seating. In order to do so I would have to disturb at least 20 people. I was unwilling to do that...you see, I was brought up with manners and concern for others' feelings. At the end of the movie I was fuming :mad: . When I suggested that I ask for a refund, DH said, "Oh what's the big deal? It wasn't so loud that we couldn't hear the movie over the crying." He acted like I was just overreacting. That only made me more pissed off. :mad:

I realize that a lot of people have low standards of behavior. But you see, I was raised to behave and to expect it of others. DD didn't see her first movie till she was old enough to sit through the entire movie. The couple of times she got either crabby or chatty and wouldn't be quiet, we left so that we wouldn't continue to disturb others. Just because you are watching a child's movie doesn't mean you have to accept a miserable viewing experience. When I was a kid, ushers would be monitoring the goings on in the theater and would ask people who were disturbing others to leave. Now you can't find an usher at all. Maybe I am overreacting. If so, I don't care. I don't appreciate paying almost $20 for 3 matinee tickets only to have the movie ruined by a squealing baby and it's thoughtless parent. :mad:

Summer- well, it sure does sound as though you are having a pleasurable summer!!!
Between the BBQ last nite and the movie today.....some nice fun times and socialization too. Too bad about the not to perfect play date....and then the screaming kid in the movie. I did the same with my own- would not take them until they would sit during the entire movie. But then I made sure my kids could sit.... and they did.....so either I was a nasty witch for a mother or was blessed with kids who could sit. Big mouthed me would have said something to the usher or front desk of the theater, I feel it is up to the theater to control their patrons or make sure that they are not disrupting the entire theater. Glad the movie was good- Dd and I would like to see it.

Well, Dh took Ds to both of his games.......this has been a much needed day off. I did not think I could stand more baseball and tomorrow I know that I will have to go to whatever games there are. Tonite, if the thunder storms hold off, Dd and I are going to a concert downtown- some world renowned fiddler- plays all kinds of music from traditional to jazz. The concert is free -fits my budget just fine!- and in a park with a great jungle gym set up (actually 2 of them) so Dd can run around and have fun while mom listens. Would be nice if Dh came with us but he is in baseball mode.......c'est la vie.
Better go get a quick dinner on and check the weather. See ya!
Ginny

Evening Ladies,
Well we got rained on at the games. In fact, dumb me wore a white t-shirt and was soaked to the bone. My dh took me to lunch at Burger King looking like a drowned rat. He was like you don't seem to be happy with the choice I made for lunch. I said no I am not since I don't eat Whoppers anymore and all I can have here is a salad. I said I told you I was really hungry and that fast food was not going to cut. After lunch we came home and took naps. Than we went out to the local steakhouse for dinner. I got a salad, two chicken breast and green beans. Plus I tried a piece of their sugar-free apple pie. Now I am home by myself. Yeah! I can do something I want to do. My dh went back over to the fairgrounds to watch the horse racing. I figured we went last night and I didn't need to see it again tonight. So I think I will read for a little bit, maybe ride my excerise bike and watch a little tv this evening.
Summer, sorry your movie today was not an enjoyable outing. I can't stand parents who don't care about others feelings while listening to their child cry. I hope your evening is better. Sounds like you had fun getting drunk last night.
Ginny, hope you have a wonderful time at your concert. That sounds like a lot of fun.
Hello to Robyn, Sue, Pam and Mouse.
Take care,
Kerry

Hello all...
Watch out...I'm on a roll!

I will spare you the gory details of the local news...but the missing child was murdered by the "babysitting" boyfriend of his aunt. There is a bunch more depressing stuff... and they aren't releasing much....I think that this one is going to be a huge tragic story when it is all said and done. The child was in a diaper as punishment for wetting his pants; however, he never wandered off...he was murdered instead. Bleech. Yes, this happens way too often.... I had much first hand knowledge of similar stuff when at my old school.... BUT this one for some reason really, really, really, REALLY got to me! I'll stop with this topic.

That animal control officer was so sweet. Such indifference and coldness. You did good not to be more verbal regarding her reaction...I'm afraid that I would have been a tad bit more, um, "ROBYN" about it all!

My oldest and I visited Walmart last evening at 11:15. We were 7th in line for THE book of the summer! The time went by quickly watching the comings of the line that eventually stretched well beyond and around the corner of our line of vision! We arrived home and dutifully turned the book over to the 1st one to read it....my dh! :)
He read late into the night and has been reading off and on all day! I ended up so jealous that I visited the library to get something new for myself! Has anyone read the "Bubbles" books? They are similar to Evanovitch...not as good...but they work while I'm waiting for my reserve to come in on the 11th Stephanie Plum book! It was cool hanging out last night with the oldest kid. I'm not accustomed to looking up at him. And I did remind him that no matter how tall he gets that he is to be respectful and to "act right"!

Summer, I'm with you regarding behavior. I don't expect excellence; however, I do expect civilized behavior and attitudes! Movie theaters, restraunts (with kids hanging over booths or running around or under tables), stores (digging into stuff, leaving stuff all over the store).......There is just a way to act and expect your children to act... I particularly "luv" foul mouthed adults. Don't get me wrong...as you might imagine, I can roll with the best of the sailor mouths (have you seen THAT episode of Sponge Bob?! My very most favorite SBSP episode! LOL ); however, there is a time, a place ...AND...a volume for it. ARGGGH!

Today the kids and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Movie tickets (discounted for the early show), 2 small drinks, 1 popcorn, (and not including the candy for oldest in braces...which if you have seen the movie will make you giggle at the thought! ;) ..and brought into the theater in my purse..) totaled $38.50 I love babies, toddlers EVEN more...but.... THERE is a time and a place and a volume for everything...I do understand wanting to get out of the house with your family and wanting to see a movie. BUT...some folks don't have the high tolerance of the family that lives with a baby or screaming toddler AND has gotten over wanting to attend to the needs of the child...AND I'm paying $38 to sit in the place, I shouldn't have to listen to a poor tired baby being ignored so his/her parent can see the newest flick!
(I won't go into the behavior of teenagers goofing off....I've got one of those and try desperately to keep his behavior in check AND him out of the theaters with no adult supervision! At this point, I go to the same movie with him... with the threat of "doing something that will totally embarrass him" IF I see or hear behavior that is rude, disrespectful and / or disturbing to others. At this point this is working...but who knows how long it will work...so I will only rant about babies! ;) ) Actually, around here, children that are under 7 are not allowed into anything other than G rated movies after 7........... due to the "Stupid Parent Factor"...enough said. Summer I agree! ...and the dh's indifference would have also had steam coming out of my ears; however, I bet you a zillion lettuce leaves that your complaining after the movie wouldn't have produced any results! Enough on this subject too! ...except to say that Tim Burton's version of Charlie (IMHO) is WONDERFUL ...in a TimBurton sort of way! Johnny Depp is JOHNNY Depp; however, I am concerned that M.Jackson may sue over the similarities! ROTFLOL!

Gotta run...and besides, I'm sure you are tired of my mouth!
take care,
meeee

Wow! You guys were BUUUUSY!!!!!
Okay, so was I... let's see...
I went to the gym this morning to swim ... got a whole 25 minutes in before I had to run to work. Got egg and bacon at the one place before I went over (it was a sandwich, but I took the bread off the second sandwich and only ate 1 piece). We scored from 9-2, then I went back over to the mall... I bought a salad at this place called Bistro Sensations. They start you off with a base salad, and you can add your own toppings to it. I bought the seafood salad, and was disappointed: the menu claimed it was real crab, but only about half of it was real. I had to pick the surimi out because of the carbs! And it comes with pasta, too... so that was out, and the tomatoes and carrots. But it was good anyway: I got shrimp, black olives, lettuce, cucumbers, etc. Walked around a bit, and bought a car charger for the iPod, which doesn't seem to work, so I'll have to take it back to Radio Shack. Lucky I saved the package!
Then I went back to the gym, where I lifted weights and then swam for an hour. Then we had swimming lessons, and the kid I had last time came back. His mom registered him for a private lesson, and I didn't know becuase I missed last week (because of my car). She was real happy to see me, because her son has multiple special needs, and is hyper to boot! I can't turn my back on him for a minute!
Then I came home, after a quick stop at whole foods for fruit and veggies (strawberries, raspberries, lettuce, cucumbers). I did fall prey to the bakery section: they had whole wheat chocolate chip scones. Buy one get one free. I figure if I burn 5600 calories in one day (yes, that was the total per FitDay, because of all the swimming!!), I can have a scone, right???
And YES!!!! I have my Harry Potter book. UPS doesn't deliver on Saturdays, so Barnes and Noble shipped it UPS to Baltimore, who delivered it to the US Postal Service, who delivered it today. I feel sorry for all those post workers: these books weigh 2.5 pounds each!
I'm going to go eat my dinner (soup, from whole foods, roast beef and cheese, and maybe a scone???). Oh, yea, and READ!!!!!

A busy day here.....

Mouse- hope your evening was good......enjoying Harry????That whole wheat chocolate chip scone sounds wonderful......I love scones.....hope you enjoyed it! (think you burned off enough calories!)

Robyn- how awfully sad about that little boy. What TRASH the mother must be- what total trash the aunt and the bf.....these kind of people make me so ill. I hear ya with how odd it feels with a kid of your own who is taller than you. Gotta admit, when Ds became taller than me (I am a most towering 5'4"!) it was wierd. Dd (19) is basically my height. But you are so right, no matter how tall, there must still be respect. I will never forget a former Bf, whose mother barely made it to 5' tall- her youngest son was 6'4"l and she put the fear of god in him......and all her kids...pretty funny to see someone so tall cower to a really tiny woman.

Kerry -I hope you enjoyed your evening!!!!! What did you do? Just some quality "Kerry" time I hope!!!!!! (I sort of had some time off today- Dd, Ds and Dh were at the ball park and Dd had a buddy over.....so it was sort of quiet) I got a bit of cleaning done, which felt good not to have to clean around others. Hopefully you were able to recharge a bit, and relax too.

The concert was wonderful. We saw Eileen Ivers (sp?) a fiddler from Riverdance and her band. Phenominal (sp)......and pretty decent weather for an outdoor concert too. Dd and I had a great time. SO glad I went.....finally something I wanted to do. :)
Gotta go......have a great nite.Ginny

Well it sounds like everyone had a good day today. I went and rode my excerise bike for a half hour. Than was reading for a little bit when my friend called at 10 pm and asked if I would like to take a walk with her. So we took a short walk since it started to rain again. Sorry I didn't want to be in another wet tshirt contest today. LOL Came home to still yet an empty house. My dh finally came home about 10:45 to ask me if I wanted to go watch more baseball games tomorrow with him. I haven't made my decision yet. But it pisses me off that he never asks me anymore what I would like to do on our weekends together. I really think I will try to get a hold of my best friend tomorrow and plan a weekend trip somewhere. Well I better go and get ready for bed. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Take care,
Kerry

Kerry- sounds as though you had a nice day also. Think I would have skipped the wet tee shirt thing also......having been thru that earlier in the day. Hope that today turns out great for you,whatever you decide to do.
Ginny

I am so envious of you who got some alone time. I love my children to death but just one day I would love to be home alone! It just doesn't happen.

Our theatre actually has a statement that flashes before the movie (along with the buy popcorn, turn off cell phones, don't talk etc..) that says to remove crying babies and recieve a free refund of your money. I can't imagine sitting through a movie knowing your child was making it so others couldn't enjoy themselves. With the price of movies now, you definately want to be able to relax and enjoy it.

I am glad to hear people are enjoying Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have been afraid to go to it since we have the original and would hate to see it done poorly.

I didn't golf yesterday because every time I thought about it, the weather looked like it was going to storm any minute. Of course it didn't and I could have gone. We need the rain so badly. I think there is a chance this afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't get much time with Harry either as I was doing some major baking to take on the camping trip. Robyn - I can't believe you have the book in the house and have to wait! Hopefully your husband is a fast read. Mouse - have you finished the book yet? Don't give anything away but please tell me that it wasn't as depressing as the last book!

Summer - I think Ruby Tuesday is more low carb than low fat. They do have some good things on the menu though. I haven't been there in a while but last time I had some type of fish that was delicious. Isn't it terrible when you lose good support staff? They do actually run the school as we all know. Our support staff has a wierd contract where at the end of the year the all bid and bump to get the job they want. It causes a lot of transfers. This year we lost our head custodian. He was really great. Anytime I asked for something to be done, even when I said it wasn't an emergency, he would come right down and do it. He would go in my office every morning before school and turn on my little heater, so it was all toasty in there when I came. He also would leave cookies for my children, who get on and off the bus at my school. He would leave them for me also but then I told him he was killing me due to being on WW, he started bringing me tossed salads! I'm guessing the new person won't do any of those things, not that I asked for or expected them. Although getting the work done quickly would be nice to continue. I don't have to be back to work until Sept. 6! We had 13 weeks plus this summer! Since our school is made up of several rural communities we are really spread out so it was cost effective to add minutes to the day and reduce the number of days. It works for me since getting out of bed in the morning is the only part I don't like about my job! I think in general teacher's children are worse than most. I'm not sure if it is because we are trained to boost self esteem or if we are too tired at the end of the school day to fight the same battles for control we do at school. I am fortunate that although not perfect, my children are pretty well behaved. Of course they know that I would knock their blocks off if they were disrespectful to someone. Hope you survived your hangover! I swear if I have more than one drink these days I pay for it in the morning. Getting old is a *****!

Mouse - even if you didn't work off as many calories as you do, I think you need to treat yourself to a scone here and there. You can not live on diet food alone for the rest of your life. Since you are so limited in what you can eat anyway, you need a treat now and then to keep you going. I actually try to have some "treat" every day. I find if I don't, I end up going on a crazy out of control binge.

Robyn - Isn't it crazy to have a child taller than you. My ds had one heck of a growth spurt this past school year and is now taller than me. He calls me shortie! His voice is also changing and he is sprouting hair everywhere! My dd just started wearing a bra! I am not ready for this. I want my babies back! It is terrible what happened to that boy. I hope they lock those people up for a long time. Did it appear that the mother was abusive too or was it just the aunt's bf who was watching him that weekend?

Kerry - I think you should definately plan a weekend with your friend. If your DH can't be bothered, why should you be punished. My DH is similar. He won't give up his weekend golf. Now I just plan camping trips and he comes for "visits" around his golf games. He will only stay the night if he takes the day off from work. It is fine with me though as he snores something terrible and I actually get a good nights sleep with him not there! My girlfriends are hoping to get a girls weekend some time this summer. It is just so hard to find a weekend that all three of us are free.

Sue