Happy Friday!
 

Hello, Friends,

I'm so glad it's Friday and I don't have to work this weekend! YEAH! I have WI tonight and my DH already told me not to get discouraged and quit (he knows me pretty well) if I don't do as well this week. I'm fired up again for a new week OP!

Terri, Bucky's story makes me want to cry. I rescued our Ellie from a park -- she was mange, skin and bones, dirty and dull eyed -- just a pup and now she's happy, healthy and sweet as pie. Our Charlie was so shy when we got him that he wouldn't eat in front of us and didn't want to look directly at us. He's still a little shy, but he is a loving caretaker for Ellie, the cats, the birds, DH and me! Tanner is lucky to have found a home with you! BTW, at agility class Charlie was shy and baffled, but I think he'll enjoy it when he gets comfortable.

ES, Your points lady would drive me crazy too, especially if she does not need to lose weight. Maybe you should try giving her a dose of her own medicine and go on and on and on and on about your diet when she over does it again? Maybe she'll start avoiding the topic!

Jen, Congrats on your high exam score! What, may I ask, are you studying? Are you getting a degree? Keep up the good work with your exercise. I've done a little more this week and it always feels so good!

Sandy, What play are y'all going to see? I love theater but don't get to go as often as I'd like. We're going for a long weekend in Chicago week after next and will see if we can get tickets to anything while we are there.

HollyGirl, You are doing great! Cake is OP as long as you count it. I agree that hormonal changes can do a real number on your emotions during your forties. I'm thankfully past it now, but had problems with mood swings and anger flashes, besides all the rest. What worked for me, and still does when it comes up, is to just take a breath and then tell DH what I am feeling: "I'm feeling really angry/upset/sad right now and I don't know why. I need for you to ...." My DH has always been responsive to this and does whatever it is (hugs, make dinner, feed the animals...) Hope your fell better soon.

Everybody else, hello and have a good weekend!

Mel

Mel,
I "retired" from my retail job of 24 yrs. in Aug. 2000. I've always regretted not having gone to college (was married at 18!); now that I have the time I'm taking classes that interest me. I've completed some computer and bookkeeping classes. This semester I'm taking Accounting 101. While I originally didn't think I'd pursue a degree at this stage in my life, I'm starting to give it some thought now. Thanks for asking. And hey, no matter what happens at WI this evening....don't quit! You have us here to help you....along with what sounds like a very supportive husband.

Sandy,
Have fun tonight at the play. Good job on planning and banking in advance. Let us know what you see.

Terri,
Who are you picking as the winner on Survivor? I'd love to see Vecepia win it. Looks like we all have the same favorites on Thursday evenings. Did they make mention of Sept. 11 on the show? How do you know that?

Zoe,
Enjoy your trip! 5 days of R & R......have fun!

Es,
We've got about 7 weeks left in our SPRING CHALLENGE, which means I've still got time to redeem myself!:o I weighed in today, am at 222, down from 227.3 for a loss of 5.3 since we began. I've got 17 to go to reach my 10%. Obviously have my work cut out for me!

HI to Dianne, Myra, Janie, Pogo, Ruth, HollyGirl :wave:

~Jen

Mel,
Those two pups of yours sound so cute! I love to hear of compassion when it comes to animals.
Here is a pet loss piece I wrote the night after we had to put him to sleep. A friend sent me the addy and I had to do it. It is supposed to play "I'll Always Love You" . It really helped me.
http://mem.in-memory-of-pets.org/Tri..._26/T01994.htm

Jen,
I'd like to see her or Paschal to win. Ilea got on my nerves yesterday. I am so glad they are getting rid of the "cocky 4" I couldn't stand Rob, Sarah or Sean but now I like Sean again.
I like Kathy too. Here is the order I want then to win.
Vesepia, Paschal, Kathy, Sean and Ilea. I still can't bekieve Ilea offered that partially sucked on mint.

Es, Good luck with miss skinny point girl. I can see how it would get on the nerves. :lol:

Have a great weekend everybody.
Terri

Hi gals ~ just a quick note before I'm outta here. I am going to miss you all and will be really trying hard to be good and have fun without eating myself into a blimp. :lol: I'll talk to you's guys on Thursday of next week.

See ya ~

Zoe <><

Hi Buds:wave:

Terri, I remember when you had to put Bucky down as if it were yesterday. I felt for you & your family. Tanner is such a cutie! He has a great family:) How's Brittany our birthday girl? Did she ask for anything special for the Big 16?

Jen, are you done redecorating yet?:lol: Kidding, kidding.
I stayed the same. 7 more weeks! 181.8/175.8 :rolleyes:

Mel, your DH sounds like a real sweetie. I went thru mood swings but my Dr. believe it or not thought it was job related. STRESS!!
Like Janie said, I work with too many wacky women!:lol:

I have an appt. so I gotta run. I'll be back later. I have my niece's birthday party this evening. She's 8 yrs. old. I'll check in before I leave.

Hi Janie, Sandy, Ruth, HollyGirl:)

Later
Es

Es, Your niece is half Brittany's age. How cute.
Have a good time. Brittany wants a DVD player. I am just glad she does not want to drive yet and ask for a car. :lol:
We are getting her some small gifts (DVD's and CD's) too. The realatives gave her money so she is pretty happy.
Thanks for remembering my baby. He was so cute and now Tanner is getting to me just like Bucky. He is my pal during the day. How is Suzie?
Terri

Hi:wave:

I am so tired. I took Pete with me to rearrange my office at work, then we went to the Red Lobster, then to buy my niece's gift, drop it off & finally I'm home. :yawn:

Terri, my little butterball Susie is just as cute as can be. Thanks for asking. Is Brittany liking boys yet?:eek: She sounds like such a good girl. My 14 yr. old niece/goddaughter has changed so much she seems like a stranger these days. She wears tons of makeup. My brother is never around so I guess he doesn't know what's going on. I bite my tongue cause I know it's none of my business. I still can't get useto my DVD player. I like my VCR better. It's much easier to figure out.:lol: David makes fun of me.

I'm too pooped to stay online.

Hi to the rest of the gang.

Hugs,
Es

:hb: Happy Birthday to Brittany! 16 is such a great age. I love our dvd player; plus the dvds are much smaller/easier to store than vhs tapes.

Es, yes, we FINALLY finished painting, cleaned the carpet yesterday. Glad that's over with....now on to the yard work :eek: The month of May is my favorite....planting the new garden, Mother's Day, my bday. Yesterday was gorgeous, sunny and almost 70. I love it like this!

Joe unlocked the pool's winter cover and we took a peek yesterday....the water is sparkling blue and now I'm dying for HOT weather! We'll open the pool on Memorial Day weekend. :D

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
luv,
~Jen

Goodmorning:)

How are my girls feeling today? I'm going to be all alone today. Pete, David, my nephew Louie & Dave's friend are going to a baseball game. I have a couple of things I need to do anyway.

Jen, it must be so nice to have your own pool. My sister & my brother have one. I live in a apt. complex that has a outdoor & indoor pool with steam rooms, a gym & I never use it. Silly me:o

Terri, what DVD's does Brittany have? I only have a couple. I have, Men of Honor, Family Man, City Slickers & Arlington Road. I have to build up!

Well, ladies, have a wonderful Sunday. I'll be back this evening.

Love,
Es

Hi All my buds,

We have had a really busy weekend. The play was interesting, but not really uplifting. It was "The Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme". It was about the camraderie and support soldiers give each other, amidst the horrors of war. It is a little too real nowadays where we can identify with some of it only too easily.

I had a successful WW dinner out on Friday, and I thought I would make it through Saturday too. BUT, that church dinner got to me. It was our annual canvass dinner, and our minister had just came back from sabbatical. Everyone pulled out all the stops, and my downfall was the dessert buffet. It was only one event though, and I am feeling really good about dusting myself off and eating my Kashi for breakfast.

Es, We have a pool too. I never expected to own one, but this house, we bought just 3 years ago, came with an old inground pool. (lots of maintenance, but so far it is worth the effort) You have access to pools all year round, you lucky lady! Don't resist! Someday, I know you will have to take advantage of it.
Teri, I don't have animals, too many allergies here, but I love them so much, I love hearing your stories.
:hb: Happy Birthday to Brittany, what a wonderful time of year to have a birthday.
Jen, Congrats on getting the painting done!
I will be joining you in the gardening efforts this week, it is one of my favorite places and a great distraction from my other main interests, studying cookbooks, cooking, and of course eating.
:wave:
Hi to the rest of the gang, hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Sandy

HI!!!!

Thanks for Britt's birthday wishes Es.
Susie sounds so cute. I could just squeeze her.
Britt's thinks guys are hot but she isn't interested in going out yet. She has had a few ask her out but she diesn't feel comfortable yet. She wears a little make-up.
We have the DVDs of Remember the Titans, Return to Me, Battlestar Gallactica, Stand By Me, The Godfather trilogy, Matrix,
Shrek, The Mummy and The Mummy 2 and about 10 more. We got our DVD about a year and a half ago but I still love the VCR. I have to tape my shows. LOL


Jen,
Have a great time in that pool. I am so jealous. One day! :D
Thanks for Britt's birthday wish.
The one thing I love about DVDs are the extra stuff you get.

Thanks so much Sandy. Britts loves to read these when it pertains to her. :lol: I am so sorry you are allergic to these wonderful fur balls.
We had a pool in Fl. but it will be a few years before we get one here. We may move to Colorado Springs in a couple years so we may wait. Colorado Springs is the fittest city in the US right now. I just read that in Womans World. I would have to move there. I better stay at goal. :lol:

We are taking her to Bennigans for her b-day dinner. I can then partake in embarrasing her with song from the waiters. I hope there is a cute young guy and that will really embarrass her. :lol:
Then we are coming home to 2 chocolate cream pies. She doesn't like cake so pies it is. I will put her candles in a zinger. She loves those. I am not eating until Bennigans.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Terri

Hi:wave:

Terri, I found the website.:) Thanks anyway. OMG Bennigans!!! We celebrated lots of birthdays there. One year the whole place sang Happy Birthday to David. We had a blast! I hope Brittany has a great time. Cool place to take her;)

Sandy, just the thought on putting on a bathing suit makes me not want to go to the pool. One of these days that will change. Great attitude about dusting yourself off. This is for life & there will be lots of days when we'll slip. As long as we get right back on track. That's why we're called Fabulous 40's ;)

Well, my buddies, I'm going to relax & watch my Lifetime channel.
They have the best movies on Sundays.

Enjoy the rest of the day & Happy Cinco de Mayo:wave:

Big hugs,
Es

I didn't get back on last night Es and I was about to go find it and I decided to check out the Fab 40s first and I am glad I did. :lol:
I loved Bennigans. We had the best waiters. They made it fun. A cute guy did sing to her and she was flustered. :o

I did pretty well yesterday. I went over points a littleand will make up within the next couple of days. I call it charging my points. :lol:

Till later,
Terri

Happy Monday, everyone!

Even though it's cloudy and raining now, the weatherman has promised it'll become sunny this afternoon. I was planning on getting some work done in the yard, but it'll be too muddy.

I got my grandson "fix" yesterday :love: Jess, Michael and the boys were here for the day. Matt is 22 months, has no fears, was mud from head to toe, trying to climb the fence, trying to eat worms. He's a little tornado :lol: Brandon was thrilled to be Gramp's buddy all day, looking up different bugs in nature books, and feeding the turtles (Joe's "pets"....5 of them). We had a great day, barbecued and had some Mexican dishes in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

Terri, glad Britts bday was fun. Be glad she's not interested in dating yet......they're gone way too soon! You must have moved a lot over the years due to Bruce's job? Colorado Springs sounds cool.

Es, I'd give anything for access to a pool, etc.year-round! The only thing that's keeping us from moving to a warmer climate is the grandsons.....I couldn't bear to be away from them.

Sandy, as Dianne says, life has a way of getting in the way of our efforts to stay OP. You've enjoyed the dessert buffet and got right back OP. That's all we can do.

I did fairly well over the weekend in terms of staying OP. Didn't journal :( but was so busy that I only ate at meals, no snacking :) which is a step in the right direction. I've got to concentrate on drinking my water, which I know fills me up so I stay away from munchies.

see you later,
~Jen

Happy Monday!
 

Hello, Friends!:wave:

How's everybody doing on the spring challenge? I lost 1.5 pounds at WI, so I'm still moving in the right direction!

Jen, School sound great! I'd be a perpetual student if I could. You are soooo lucky to have a pool. I'd give anything to be able to cool off with a swim whenever I wanted. We have to drive to the beach or the community pool.

Terri, What a beautiful tribute to Bucky! Thank you for sharing!

Sandy, You made me smile, I eat Kashi most mornings for breakfat, with yogurt. Have you tried their "Go Lean" product? Lots of good sticks and twigs!:D

Hi Zoe, Es, and everyone else!

Mel

264/251.1/237.5 (spring challenge mini 10% goal)