Happy Labor Day!

Beautiful today in the Emerald City. A bit nippy, but should be a high of 71. I have the ipod loaded with another 400 songs, my running shoes are on, my peets card is ready to go and I'm going to skip the gym and go around green lake. I'm not sure i'm up to running, I may just walk.

Plans for the day?

I have currently ripped out the upstairs closets and purged my stuff. I have a pile for dress for sucess, one for the shelter and going to vacuum and swiffer the floors in the closet before anything goes back. We have all wood floors, it is easier. I think.

Finish canning.

Melissa -- I picked another 10 lbs of tomatoes last night. These are all plum tomatoes, so there are many. I think i'm going to try roasting a few and adding them to the canned tomatoes for a deeper flavor.

Tried a new variation on the cold thai noodle salad. Wish the dog was here to eat it. I'm not crazy about it.

Other than that, just trying to enjoy my day my way -- organizing and puttering and reading.

Hope everyone else is doing okay... I just bought a pair of jeans. Yoikes. Must get back to the grindstone eating wise or need to start running 5 miles a day.

happy monday everyone!

lala

Hi, lala. Thanks for getting the thread started. I'm glad you're out there exercising, good for you. I ran on Sunday and it was not good--got pooped right away. This morning I ran and did much better. As DH says, "some days you got it and some days you don't." Yesterday was a wash-out weatherwise--rain all day. DH had to work, so I just putzed around the house, straightening this and that, doing laundry (yawn). Oh well, it was nice to just veg out a little.

The play opened this weekend and folks seemed to enjoy it. I had some costume malfunctions (no, not like Janet Jackson), but my earring broke on stage, my pantyhose ripped, things like that.

TOM started too--so much fun. When is it going to go away??

What did everyone else do?

Good morning! It's a cool 66 here this morning with temps forecasted in the high 70's today.

It was a crazy weekend with the festival--my feet/legs were still sore last evening. I got a lot of walking done and did well in terms of eating--had only 1 bratwurst and enjoyed a wheat beer with lemon on Saturday; Sunday I had smoked turkey--it's one of my favorites! Anyway, the festival had fantastic weather with temps in the low 70's (way better than last year's 90!).

Yesterday I spent doing laundry, washed the car, and general house type stuff. I need to purge my closet--it's a matter of just setting aside the time and doing it!

Lala: I haven't canned any tomatoes yet! I think that'll be on the agenda for this weekend.

Lisa: Some days I feel great with walking and other days it seems like I have all I can do to move! I'm right behind on you TOM...I'm tired of it. Hopefully you won't have any other costume malfunctions for the rest of your shows

Hi to Pam, Susan, Austin! Hope you had a nice holiday weekend!

Lisa -- a wardrobe malfunction! oy vay.

Glad that play opened and was successful. Can the earring be fixed?

Its going to be 75 today. Yipee. That means the rest of the toms may ripen.

Did I tell you all my beloved old volvo was hit in the parking lot at work? Yup. The guy who did it left a note, but with our respective travel schedules, today is the only day I can get it into a few body shops to get estimates. I'm hoping to call smack dab at 7:30 to get in. It won't get fixed until september 19th. It will remain in the driveway until further notice where nothing will happen to it.

At least he was honest and very remorseful.

Well, should probably do one 5 min sweep through the house and try and get into the body shop.

talk to you all later, i'm exhausted from the weekend, I hope everyone else's was more restful.

Well, we have Tropical Storm Ophelia sitting about 100 miles off our coast. It has been very rainy. It may become a hurricane, but hopefully it will go way north into the Atlantic.

Our director was nice enough to have stills shot of the play. I tried to attach a photo from the play, but it was too large. I can't figure out how to make it smaller. Any ideas, lala?

lala, yes I fixed the earring with some wire. I had searched for these red dangle earrings for the show and I was upset when it broke. Sorry about your Volvo. At least the guy left a note; most folks would just take off.

lala and Melissa, your canned tomatoes sound so good. I think most tomatoes we get in the stores are tasteless.

Melissa, your festival sounded like fun.

Hello Pam, Susan and Austin.

Hi everyone,

Lisa - if you still have my email, then send it to me and i'll try and link it. PM me if you need to.

Busy day here. Must dash in hopes of moving large ocean observation structures around the western pacific for the last time.


BBL.

lala

Lala: At least the person who hit your car had the decency to leave his name. When our car got hit we weren't so lucky!

Lisa: I imagine you are pretty much water-logged down there. We, on the other hand, haven't had very much rain at all. I think we're supposed to get some tomorrow/Friday but I think it's just a chance.

I'm going to have my 1-minute whine here--I went to my meeting today and I'm up 1.4#...now mind you I wouldn't be so frustrated if I had indulged in the funnel cakes, french fries, beer, and all the other goodies that were available at the festival this weekend--I also did a lot of walking, way more than I would have had I been at home. On top of that I actually made healthy choices other than the pizza I had on Saturday evening and I had points for that. Grrrr.

Back to regularly scheduled programming...

DH bought some nice thin stalks of asparagus yesterday so I'm thinking of sauteing and then mixing in with some fresh tomatoes from the garden and toss with some pasta. Anyone have any other ideas on what to use the asparagus with?

I'm up to my elbows in freshman grades, break letters, and reports *sigh*

Hi to Pam, Susan, Austin!

lala, sorry I don't have your email anymore.

Melissa, sorry about the gain. That is so frustrating when you have denied yourself stuff and then hope that you have a loss. Grrr. I would love to send you some of this rain. Sorry, asparagus is one of my unfavs.

We're having everything go wrong at home week. The stove broke ($140); the pool pump is making a loud noise (that'll be big bucks) and DH needs new glasses. How do ya ever get ahead?

Hi everyone,

You never get ahead, you just hope you never really get behind. Spoken as a person who has a property on the market and is paying a mortgage, fee and tax assessment without any rental income coming in........

deep breath.

Melissa -- whine all you want. It'll be gone soon.

Got one more estimate -- 1560 bucks. It is better and the body shop does great work and specializes in old cars. They had a good vibe, so I'm happy. The guy who hit me is happy. However, it ain't getting fixed until october as I'm gone and he's in the arctic for the rest of the month.

Well, I'm leaving early. I am packed, most everything is watered, I would like to have a moderately mellow evening.

It is our 14th anniversary today. Hopefully we'll have another string of 14 followed by another and then well, we'll see.

As for asparagus -- I have one. smoked chicken, asparagus, red bell pepper sauteed in lightish cream sauce (can use ff half and half or light sour cream) and roasted corn (now available at TJs.)

yum.

hi to everyone.

Lisa - PM me early tomorrow. I may be able to do something for you.

I'll check in from the airport -- seattle,dallas, london, basingstoke, reading, cardiff .. I'm not sure about basingstoke, but i like the name. For once, I'm looking forward to my flight. I can use the rest!

lala

lala, I didn't know you were going on another trip--business or pleasure? Where is Basingstoke? The guy who hit your car is going to the Arctic? What does he do I wonder? Congrats on the 14 years.

Ophelia has decided to park just northeast of us and we are getting rain and rain and more rain. We need something to just push it away from here. The problem is that it is intensifying.

Hi Ladies,

A beautiful late summer/early fall like day here. I love waking up in the morning with the air cool and crisp. Wish we could skip winter and go from fall to spring.
The weekend was nice, especially having Monday off. Didn't do too much. On Tuesday Lauren passed her driving test and is now a licensed driver. Next weekend I'm taking her and a couple of friends to Cape Cod for her 17th birthday. My sister was kind enough to offer to come along so we'll have a girls weekend. It should be a lot of fun.
Last week I mentioned to you that my assistant had pleurisy. I did send her home and she went back to the doctor, who ran more tests and they unfortunately discovered she is developing emphysema. She is a smoker and was told to stop ASAP. I hope she can do it.

Lisa I don't think it's possible to get ahead...just seems like something always comes up. I often wonder if I didn't own a house and have 2 children how much more money I would have in savings. Those seem to be the two biggest drains on my funds. Hope the fair Ophelia stays far away from you.

Lala you were very fortunate an honest person hit your car. Happy Anniversary, wishing you many more. Enjoy your flight.

Melissa it makes me crazy when I'm good and have a gain. There's no justice in that! Hope you're enjoying the cooler temps. Sure makes for nice walking weather.

Hi to Susan and Austin.

Well ladies should try and get some work done here. Must head to the insurance company later today to add our newest driver to the policy. Talk about $$$ drains. Talk to you later.

Pam, good to hear from you. You had better take out a loan to pay your new car insurance rates. The weekend at the Cape sounds like great fun.

Yes, Ophelia is not being fair. The latest is that she will go northeast and then circle back and hit Florida as a hurricane. What a mess.

It's a cool 65 here this morning and the weekend looks promising--I actually might be able to get some painting done! It's perfect weather for walking, although I haven't been able to get out the past few days. Yesterday we had rain so I ended up reading my book at lunch time. I'm in a bit of a funk and need to find my way out and get focused. I know I need to get my meals planned out.

Lala: Happy Anniversary!! DH and I will be celebrating 23 years next Saturday. Hope you had a nice, relaxing flight!

Lisa: I've been watching the storms down your way and you have been pelted with a lot of rain. I'd be going stir crazy! I hope your weather breaks soon.

Pam: Congrats to your daughter! Hopefully your insurance won't jump too much. State Farm has a "good student" discount and DS #1 has been able to take advantage of it. I could use a "girls" weekend away to regroup. The gain is frustrating--and the last couple of days I've let things get out of control. I really need to get a grip.

No major plans for the weekend--tonight after work we have our orientation banquet and that shouldn't be bad--menu consists of grilled chicken, green beans, salad, and twice baked potato (1/2). I may just take dessert home with me but we'll see. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get some things done around the house. In the evening our Philharmonic is performing on the bayfront and they're going to coordinate the music with our Flagship Niagara and do the 1812 overture complete with firing the canons off of the ship. Should be good and I'd like to go and see it. Sunday I'm working at WW; other than that there isn't much going on. I may get some tomatoes for canning but we'll see how motivated I am.

Hi to Susan, Austin!

Melissa, your weather is really cooling off. It's been so hot here that I forget about the rest of the country. Well, Ophelia strengthened yesterday to a hurricane, but the good news is that today she is a Tropical Storm again and is moving away from Florida. We still have to watch it because it is a very unpredictable storm. Yes, we have had beaucoup rain and I'm sick of it. The sun peeked out at lunch today and it was something pleasant to see.

I've been doing well eating-wise, but I have great motivation with my play because as I've said I appear in skimpy clothes (keeps you honest). That's what I'll be doing this weekend--3 play performances and 1 musical concert for the Connecticut Club on Saturday (lunchtime thing). The rest of the time I'll be doing the household chores.

Remember I said earlier that things were falling apart at the house? Well, the stove cost $140!! Today we found out the pool pump will cost $300 and DH needs new glasses and not just any old glasses (progressives--$$$). When it rains, it pours.

Hello, lala, Pam, Susan and Austin