Good morning everyone!

Woke up this morning to ice & snow...winter came back and smacked us again...ugh! Can I say how much I hate chipping ice off of my car?

The weekend was busy...we had a bowling get together on Saturday and had some fun with that. My older son competed in a tournament and finished 6th on Sunday in another tournament. There's always something going on it seems.

On top of this I'm having trouble with my sinuses again...this weather changing from 50's down to the 30's, etc. wreaks havoc on me. Thank goodness I have a doctor's appointment for today. Hopefully I'll be able to get a prescription to get rid of this.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Gee, just lost a nice long post. Let's try that again.

Thanks Melissa for getting us started.

Trip to Ottawa was great. We got out on the canal three times, including a 15km skate yesterday morning before flight time. Marvelous!

We arrived home to a forecast of heavy rain and had to scramble to remove excess snow from the roof and deck to ensure we weren't flooded. The rain will turn to snow this afternoon before temps fall to minus 18 and everything turns to ice overnight. Ain't winter fun?

Thanks to everyone for asking about the fish. Good news - most of them are eating, so we have our fingers crossed.

My weight is out of control. Looks like about 150 on my home scale, which puts me over the 2-lb limit. If I don't shape up this week, I'll be paying at weigh-in on Friday. At least I'm home and in control of things a bit more this week. I'm feeling confident that I can get back on program - scales have a way of giving you that incentive.

What's shaking with everyone?

Hi everyone from sunny and chilly Seattle.

Not much shaking here (getting close to the anniv. of earthquake ). Went to San Diego on Saturday, got a nice dose of sun, spent the weekend thinking about homework, ate too much, but enjoyed myself anyways.

This week looks crazy- meetings, out of town guests, some after work functions and valentine's day.

I watched my points and banking carefully and have been religious about exercise- the scale has me up 3.5 lbs. I am not amused.

Anyways, anyone have plans for valentine's day?

lala

Good day from warm Winnipeg - I think that's an oxymoron! It's above zero, the sun is shining and the snow is melting. Is it possible to have a chinook in the middle of the Canadian Prairies? Oh well, no arguement here..........

I've been fighting a bit of cold all weekend but it hasn't hit me too hard. The weather has been good so I walked home from work 4 days last week and hope to do the same this week.

la la - Don't worry about the scale - it will be just fine - no plans for Valentines - the hubby works that night

Seasaw - Welcome home, sounds like you had fun in Ottawa. Another storm - the East Coast has had a couple of brutal winters the past two years. Glad to hear about the fish....

Melissa - Sorry to hear about the snow but I'm just glad it's not me for a change!

I'm off to a lunch meeting - ugh - eating out is soooo stressful.

Kena

Hi all!

Nothing planned for V-Day...DH and I have an agreement that we don't worry about this one...I'd much rather receive flowers, etc. on other days and after 20 years of marriage he still surprises me with flowers "just because". Can't complain there!

I've got a stupid sinus infection that's giving me problems. It's draining and making my throat sore, I just wish I'd feel better. I went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up and my blood pressure was on the high side (150/100)..to make a long story short she wants me to get it checked here at our health center and we'll talk more when I see her in 2 weeks. I'll be toting along my bp readings. Hopefully it's just from the sinus infection and stress of going to the dr that put it up. This kind of reminds me of the commercial for the cholesterol that's been airing lately...perfect people (so to speak) and their cholesterol is way up.

More snow on the horizon for us; they're calling for 3-5" tonight. Winter here seems to drag on and the sun is scarce.

hi all-

melissa- a sinus infection sounds awful. I'm glad you went to see the doctor. I would think your bp would go down too.

kena- I'm glad you are getting some outdoor exercise in the freezing prairie. I'm shivering just thinking about it.

seesaw- outdoor skating on a river. I must see this. I love outdoor skating . Glad to hear the fish are eating.

patch, kt and laurel - whazzup?

So, all my funding has vanished - just like Enron. Well, lets put it this way, my funding source left, budgets were to be transferred, they were transferred to the evil boss, boss will make money disappear and lala may have no funding. However, there are deliverables that have to be delivered and I'll get most of my money back to get the work done. It made for some pretty crabby afternoon and evening discussions and memo writing. I'm thinking its time to figure out what my strengths are and start strategizing my job search for late 2002 or early 2003. Its never too late to start.

Other than that, like melissa- We have no plans for VD. I have a massage scheduled for my nagging neck pain and I was planning on making a heart shaped pizza.

Okay, enough griping. Off to get something delivered.

lala

Hey there guys -

Thanks Lala for getting me to post... I've been in a lurking mood lately.

Changes are in the offing will post more next week as it unfolds. So, I'm under a good deal of internal stress.

However, can't just let it get to me... DH got free tickets to the Nelly Furtado Concert - last night - some of you may have heard her on the radio, Kena - she's Canadian from Brazilian parentage. It was much fun! I never was a concert goer when I was young, so this was new territory. My ears are ringing a bit today! I indulged in food (yummy appetizers ) and drank (apple martini) a bit - all in all we had a great time.

melissa- hope your sinus infection gets better fast.

kena- but you get major points for getting some outdoor exercise in the freezing cold!

Seasaw - good to hear about the fishies! Now about you're weight... When you say your weight is out of control, and then your say you're just over the 2-lb limit. I think we really need to pause. You're not 20 lbs over or 200 lbs over --- you're 2 lbs over!!! This is a doable thing. You're already focusing more and I know are getting back on track. hang in there!

KT and Laurel we miss ya!

Hey Patch - good to hear from you.

Nelly is great - I've only seen her once but she's very fun. I heard an American TV announcer at the Olympics say that great American talent is performing at the Olympics such as Nelly Furtado and some other group (who also happened to be Canadian). Anyway, it cracked me up. Next thing you know someone will try and say Neil Young is American - sorry, just ranting.........ah heck, nothing wrong with being a proud Canadian, right Seasaw!

Weather here is still great - snow is slowly melting - could it be an early spring!? Perhaps that old groundhog was right for the first time ever.

Smiles everyone Smiles!

Kena

Hi guys. It's minus 13 this morning after a plus 3 day yesterday. Winter in Halifax is a hoot!!

Kena: What, Neil Young is Canadian??? Just kidding - he's my all-time fave..saw him in Toronto 2 years ago with C, S and N. Marvelous performance. I believe Nelly Furtado is playing in this part of the country sometime soon.

Hi Patch. I guess you're right, it's not 20 lbs. It's just that the way I was eating, I had real concerns that I wouldn't be able to straighten out. My last official weigh-in in January had me at 145 or so, so 150 was quite a leap in a few short weeks. I've had a better week so far, thankfully, so I'm hopeful that whatever evil tapeworm I had picked up is now gone. Thanks for injecting a bit of reality into the situation.

Lala: Sorry to hear of your work woes. Maybe that's why your neck is sore?? Anyway, I hope you get your funding back and quickly; it must be difficult to work in that kind of situation. How was the valentine pizza? You are so creative!

Melissa: It seems to me you had a similar problem last year about this time. Sinus infections are no fun; I hope you're feeling better. Now the bp - that's another story. You're wise to stay on top of that one.

Where are the alphabet twins - lm and kt??

I'm taking part in some sort of heart/brain study for our local health sciences centre. The interviewer was over last nite for over an hour - recording weight (ugh), height, bp, pulse, motor ability and with a lengthy questionnaire including a cognitive section which was kinda hilarious. I'll also be going for blood tests for, among other things, cholesterol count. I asked about results - should be well over two years before the study is completed, so anyone with memory difficulty will have forgotten all about it by then

Bonne journee a tous.

okay, okay, I'm here, I'm here
Just haven't felt like posting - been bummed out about the lackluster job search. Doesn't seem to be much out there to even apply for, so it's a little disheartening (no pun intended even tho it's Valentine's Day ).

Not much going on here for VD. We're not much into gifts - just gave a card to DH & DD. No plans that I'm aware of.

Weather is gorgeous & unusually warm - sunny with highs around 48 degrees - the few inches of snow we received will be just about gone. Very strange winter.

I've been watching some of the Olympics - a former co-worker of mine is on the women's curling team, so there is quite a bit of news about her in the paper & on TV. I've never seen the sport of curling until now, so it's been pretty interesting. A lot of strategy involved. They've been doing okay, only one loss to those darned Canadians!!

Not much else to report - I'll try & check in again. Thanks for thinking of me.

Later,

Hiya everyone.
Happy VD and what not.

I'm glad to hear from patch, seesaw and miss kt...

Sunny here today and tomorrow with rain expected all weekend. I switch Friday for Monday off so that I can do the garden chores such as raspberry pruning, dead heading and general garden cleanup on a sunny day.

Nothing else really going on. I am forever on the phone with my beloved father and mother planning our family trip to Rome in May. I think I should have been a travel agent instead of a scientist.

seesaw- I have a friend who works in the nursing school and is forever working at night drawing blood from subjects in
sleep studies. How you could sleep while having blood drawn is beyond me.

My neck pain is due to stress, bad ergonomics and a new foam pad put on bed by DP. Its off my side now and my neck is remarkedly better. We just have a very lopsided bed.

So, enjoy your day ladies. I am prissed off that DP bought gooey desserts that I really don't want and she still does it.

oh well, can't win every battle.

lala

Hi everyone! It's been an incredibly crazy week. Very stressful with everything coming due at one time. It's all done and I'm actually able to see the top of my desk once again. It's a good feeling.

On the upside I actually feel "human" again...my head isn't all plugged up and I'm not feeling "fuzzy" as I call it. Thank goodness! My eating has been way off and I'm back to getting on track. I didn't veer off too much just enough though. I went to my meeting on Wednesday and was up 2# but that I'm sure is due in part to my TOM starting and the lack of energy. Next week will be better My youngest son had some sort of virus and was sick Wednesday night (throwing up) but insisted on going to school for his Valentine's Day party...he's much better now although it seems like he's got a bit of a cold. I'm just hoping what he had doesn't run through the whole house.

Anyway, I'm off this afternoon and am looking forward to heading home early. We're actually able to make a short trip up to the Buffalo NY area to visit my cousin--the forecast is looking really good and there's no snow in the forecast. I'm ready for a weekend away.

Our At Work series begins today as well and I'll be hanging around at lunch to help get it started. It wasn't too bad getting it going but still work to organize. I'm just happy we were able to get enough people.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!