LOL @ McPeg's post! Thanks for that one.
****************************************************

ahem, ahem (don't know if I'm up to twice in a week, but I will try) Maddie, where are you?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU............
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU............
HAPPY BIIIIRRRRTTTHHHHDDDAY DEAR, SWEET, ENERGENIC, SISTER-TO-ALL, ALWAYS-WILLING-TO-KICK-YOUR-BUTT-IN-A-NICE-WAY BEEEEEEEEEEEEEJAAAAAAAA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

BJ, you are one of the originals around here and I will always remember the day I got an e:mail from you (when I was really down) saying "where ya been?". It inspired me to return and never, never give up!

Have a great day!
Love ya
Dee

My dear sweet, generous, understanding, full of wisdom and good advice, non-judgemental, selfless, inspiring, energetic, proud to call my sistah, unbirthday pal. Have the best birthday ever - I hope you have a lifetime filled with only the best. I hope you received my package. I still have not found the perfect BJ gift, so the search continues, in the meantime I wanted you to know that I was thinking of you.

BJ - I used cloth diapers on my kids too, but not sure if it made sense environmentally.

Donna - my fingers are crossed.

McPeg - that is so funny - I hope it's true too.

Still piled under at work, so I have to get back to it. Enjoy your day!

BJ, my birthday greeting pales in comparison to Dee and Raeanne! The only other thing that I can add is that you are an amazing person!!

In response to your diaper query and impact on the environment. This only about the environment and not the convenience of disposable diapers!

There has been much debate over the impact of disposable diapers and cloth diapers on the environment. The pro-disposable diaper advocates say that the extra water used to wash cloth diapers is just as much of an abuse to the environment as the production and disposal of disposable diapers. But taking into consideration the following estimates you will probably agree that disposable diapers are much more harmful to the environment than cloth diapers.

It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.

The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy, and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.

Finally, when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill.

I bet you ALL will be happy when I get off this rant!!

Good Morning & May I wish you the Happiest of Birthdays, BJ! Truly~are you the fox or the chicken? LOL WTG on being able to keep sane while staying away from home for 2 days with 2 little ones. Does the new one go back today? It seems like I remember you saying you kept 'em until Wednesday. Thanks for the idea about the milk. I'll write it down. I used cloth diapers on DS#1 & disposable on DS#2. If I remember correctly, it was more a matter of I had a clothes line with DS#1 & not one with DS#2. Have a great birthday!

Hi to all! Patti 8-)

Good morning from sunny SE Texas! It's already 76 degrees and humid (of course!). We're due for a hard rain later today, so our new grass will love it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BJ!!! I hope it's a wonderful day for you, one filled with smiles and laughter and a bite of cake and ice cream!

I've been up for a couple of hours, but I've been enjoying my coffee and kind of enjoying the oatmeal and reading on the internet. I'm going to go work out in a few minutes. I normally get there around 11, after the rush in there, but today I'm going in 30 minutes early to see who all is there. LOL

Patti, congrats on the 50# weight loss. That is incredibly awesome, and I can't wait to be able to say that, too. You are an inspiration to me!

I made Mexican stuffed peppers for dinner last night, and they were well received by hubby. Tonight's dinner will be white chicken chili (notice the Mexican food theme? I've been craving it lately!). No running around after working out today, so I'll come home and do housework. Yesterday, to AVOID doing the cleaning, I cooked enough meals for 8 dinners and froze them.

Suzanne, when my boys (30 and 29 now)were babies, I used mostly cloth diapers and plastic pants over them. I only used disposables when we'd be out somewhere that wasn't conducive to hauling soiled diapers around.

I do lots of things to help with conservation that I didn't even think about until reading y'all's lists yesterday.
I've laundered with cold water for years. My mom taught me that. I run the dryer in the evenings and set my kitchen timer so that I don't ignore when the time is up. I have to run the vent in our laundry room because of the high humidity down here, so I don't want to run it any longer than necessary. I can easily forget the dryer, but it's the vent that I want to turn off.

Once I can check out the recyling bins around this area (read: an 18-mile area), I will start recycling my cans and glass items. I can justify making a once-a-week trip somewhere.
We use the energy-efficient twisty lightbulbs, but lights are off when not in use.
I run fans instead of using the a/c except in extreme heat.
We have the fast-flush toilets which use less water.
I intend to start marathon-cooking so that I only use the oven once in a great while instead of daily.
I use my microwave for heating just about everything.
My appliances are all new and have high energy-efficient ratings.
I now have cloth bags - probably not enough, but it's a start!
I have a Brita water pitcher and fill my mug and carry it everywhere with me. I've never been big into the disposable water bottles anyway.
I use the earth-friendly green cleaners I buy at Walmart.
I consolidate my trips so that I'm only going further than the fitness center twice a week.
I read the newspapers online the other 3 days of the week when I don't receive the newspaper at home. (In order to receive the Sunday Houston Chronicle, we had to subscribe to a 4-day deal.)
All our landscaping (minus the grass) is drought-resistant because as humid as it is here, it still gets so hot that things burn and die.

My little town doesn't offer recycling like we had at our other home, and that's frustrating for me - especially when I was unpacking and having to toss tons of wrapping paper and boxes. That really hurt my feelings to have to trash that stuff.

Well, I'm going to be arriving at the center at my regular old time since I wrote this novel! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

How about a plain, ol' silly QOD in honor of BJ's birthday? One that doesn't mean anything in the scheme of things? LOL

QOD: If you were a CHICKEN, why would you cross the road?

QOD: I would probably see something very interesting over there that I needed to check out. Then, there is no telling which direction I would go from there. ;-)

Happy Birthday BJ!!!

QOD: After watching sales falling off for three straight months at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Colonel calls up the Pope and asks for a favor.

The Pope says, "What can I do?"

The Colonel says, "I need you to change the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken'. If you do it, I'll donate 10 Million Dollars to the Vatican."

The Pope replies, "I am sorry. That is the Lord's prayer and I can not change the words. "So the Colonel hangs up. After another month of dismal sales, the Colonel panics, and calls again. "Listen your Excellency. I really need your help. I'll give you $50 million dollars if you change the words of the daily prayer from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken.'"

And the Pope responds, "It is very tempting, Colonel Sanders. The church could do a lot of good with that much money. It would help us support many charities. But, again, I must decline. It is the Lord's prayer, and I can't change the words."

So the Colonel gives up again. After two more months of terrible sales. the Colonel gets desperate. "This is my final offer, your Excellency. If you change the words of the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken' I will donate $100 million to the Vatican."

The Pope replies, "Let me get back to you."

So the next day, the Pope calls together all of his bishops and he says, "I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is that KFC is going to donate $100 million to the Vatican."

The bishops rejoice at the news. Then one asks about the bad news.

The Pope replies, "The bad news is that we lost the Wonder Bread account."

Hi Guys!

Some VERY humorous people here today!

Thank you for all the b-day wishes! All I can say is W-O-W! Raeanne, I got your package! I'll open it in teh afternoon at naptime. The flooring guys put it "away" for me and I found it last night! My floors are done and I like them a lot. Now---to keep them this way until I sell my house!

It's "V"'s one year check up today at the doc! And, in answer to Patti's question about Baby J, the state called last night and said they messed up hispaperwork and so he's staying with us until they get it straightened out. Fine with me, as he is a gift from heaven, as far as I'm concerned!

Anyway, after the doc, DD#2 has dentist appt. Nothing different here today!!!!

QOD: I think my chicken crossed the road to get to the airport! Or maybe he was stapled to the pilot! (arg!)

On a different note, I had a strange eye openig experience. My landscaper was just picked up as an illegal alien. I had no idea. He has a biz card that says "licensed and bonded." He has accounts at all the nurseries and a state license. I guess you can get all of these things even if you are not in the country legally. Anyway, I am not a big fan of illegal aliens, since they really stress out the systems in place for legal citizens, but I feel bad for him and his small family. Apparently his daughter (in high school) came here when she was 2. And I feel weird at the same time that I actually hired a person that is not legally in the country. Has anyone had this experience? I am sort of in the "don't ask, don't tell" category now, I guess, after this experience. But I believe everyone needs to go through the same process to be here legally and you shouldn't take illegal shortcuts. Anyway, maybe too political for this board, but still, I just wanted to share.

THANKS once again for the b-day wishes! I think DH forgot my b-day again this year, so it was nice to come here where people remember, even if I'm not a HUGE "my b-day" fan....

I'll check back later with the un-b-day package NEWS!

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

Plato: For the greater good.

Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability.

Machiavelli: So that its subjects will view it with admiration as a chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road, but also with fear, for whom among them has the strength to contend with such a paragon of avian virtue? such a manner is princely chicken's dominion maintained.

Timothy Leary: Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take.

Oliver North: National Security was at stake.

Carl Jung: The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences into being.

Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Aristotle: To actualize its potential.

Buddha: If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken-nature.

Howard Cosell: It may very well have been one of the most astonishing events to grace the annals of history. An historic, unprecedented avian biped with the temerity to attempt such an herculean achievement formerly relegated to homo sapien pedestrians is truly a remarkable
occurence.

Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down
from the trees.

Emily Dickinson: Because it could not stop for death.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: It didn't cross the road; it transcended it.

Ernest Hemingway: To die. In the rain.

Jack Nicholson: 'Cause it (censored) wanted to. That's the(censored) reason.

Mark Twain: The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated.

The Godfather: I didn't want its mother to see it like that.

Hamlet: That is not the question.

QOD: If I were a chicken, I would naturally cross the road to get a nice thin-crust 'slice' (pizza in New Jerseyeze!)

I am glad someone lightened up around here!! The chickens stuff is funny! Dee, LOL

I had homegrown eggs salad today for lunch.....obviously in honor of the birthday girl!

Raeanne, loved the analogies.

QOD: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Suzanne, do NOT get me started on your question. A friend of mine just sent me a naughty joke about that! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

Dee - does that have anything to do with 2 eggs laying in bed and smoking???

Happy B-day BJ!!!!!!!!!!!

May all your wishes come true.

Why did the chicken cross the road? to get laid of course :P

John

Well, things have definitely not died out since I was here last, lol.

I just got a surprise phone call from Patti - thank you Patti for thinking of me. It was fun catching up. :) and I'm glad we are both still hanging in there.

Happy Birthday (belated) to Donna and Happy Birthday to BJ. I don't know Donna as well as I know BJ. Sounds like you had a great day, though, and I know you add a lot to the group here. :) BJ, your energy and determination to make a positive difference for people still amazes me. Bless you and stay well and strong. (hug)

For cake, hmmm, well I haven't had cake for a few years, but I can fantasize :D. Let's see...vanilla cake with raspberry filling; black forest cake; coconut cream; the chocolate with marshmallow frosting sound pretty good, lol. As a child I loved it when we got a special treat of toast with marshmallow cream. I haven't had peanut butter pie, but I like pecan pie, lemon chiffon, rheubarb, strawberry, banana cream. Here the McDonald's have lilikoi pie, which I'd never heard of before I came here. I think my favorite cookies are homemade peanut-butter oatmeal chocolate-chip. And my great grandmother used to make a mean giant sugar cookie, but I never got the recipe for it. It was awesome with milk.

As to why I'd cross the road if I were a chicken - probably because I looked across and saw a chick of mine about to fly off a cliff or jump on a cat or something. the reasons above had me laughing.

Things are pretty much the same for me overall as they have been. Remember when I first moved here from Wisconsin?It's been six years now.

I'll try to get back later and read more. thanks again, Patti, for making contact, and I wish everyone a good night and good week.

Amy

Nooooooooooooooooo, John, Raeanne's chicken crossed the road because they were giving away shoes and wine over there!

WHOA! I just opened the package from Raeanne. WowSa! First, a wonderfully card: with Raeanne on the front (just kidding)-no, a "mature" woman in a pink feather boa with about a thousand candles on the cake. Inside, it says, "Maybe it's just the birthday candles, but I think we're looking hotter than ever!" I don't think it's the candles, honey! I love the personal message inside-thank you...so sweet. Onto a package of Green Mountain coffee, decaf hazelnut---and it smells HEAVENLY!I'm brewing some up TONIGHT! A toddler play book of activities--I AM GOING TO USE THIS! A note pad of Lake George--should have moved there when I had the chance! A jigsaw of an Adirondack Panaramic photo. I will open this when my MIL comes. We love to eat angel food cake, talk, and put together jigsaws! AND...a book called "Make the Most of Your Time on Earth-A Rough Guide to the World" This is going to be SO much fun to read and go through!!!!!!! But that's not all. She included a wine glass that reads, "Mommy's Little Helper" on it---HILARIOUS! I'm sure everyone who sees it will want one! And the most special part: a card that Raeanne herself painted...a BEAUTIFUL lakescape! I'm mightily impressed with your talent! THANKS SO MUCH! Like I said...WOW! You are amazing! As I'm sitting here, my office is filling with aroma of hazelnut coffee...

Last year, DH felt really bad about missing my b-day, so when he hadn't called by noon, I called his assistant and told her that when he got back from court, to say, "Don't forget it's your wife's birthday today." I told her not to tell him I called... At 3:30pm today, flowers were delivered...from him. Sweet! Oh, well, the gesture was incredible!

Hope everyone is having a great day! The state called. They got the paperwork figured out, so Baby J is leaving my place at 8:30 am tomorrow. It was so nice having him here. Who's next? Time will tell...

Happy Birthday BJ! Hope it was fabulous sistah!

As far as Saratoga, the other party in my office is sick and didn't come in today - may not be back till Friday but I still think it looks good. Just in case it's not do we have an alternate date?? Sorry to be a pia but I really want to do this. I still think the 9th will work but want to be safer than sorry.

QOD: The chicken crossed the road cause she saw some beautiful shoes..yes, my chicken wears shoes!

Got to run, check in later.

Donna

QOD - To prove to the possum it could actually be done!! LOL (I borrowed this from one of my friends.)

BJ - My DH isn't big on birthdays either, and there have been years he hasn't even said Happy Birthday until 11/pm! But at least your DH came through with some flowers.
Sounds like you got a wonderful package from Raeanne! I would love to see the handpainted card. Picture??

Now I am going to finish watching Idol results and go to bed. I was up WAY too early this morning.

Marci

Good morning everyone!
I've decided to maintain my weight for a few weeks..you know when you are well underway to lifestyle changes when, without logging my food (been lazy this week!!! but still mindful of my choices for food)I've managed to lose 1/2 pound. I am not by any means starving myself. Very much aware of eating what I enjoy but my tastes have changed. I want healthy choices with treats to remain just that - a treat. I have new treats now like sugar free ice tea, 0.5% fake beer - inches are moving extremely slowly but the key is my proper eating habits are returning. I say returning because I was brought up with proper portions, balanced meals. It wasn't until I hit my late 20's and living a 'wild' youthful lifestyle that bad habits crept in. It's funny, even when you think you are doing well, the residual effect can last because some of those wilder days meant irregular eating schedules, different portions and poor choices. I guess now at 45 I'm looking ahead to enjoying a healthier lifestyle as I get older. The only way I can achieve that is to finally rid myself of those residual effects. Never really noticed them until I returned to WW and started paying more attention to MYSELF instead of totally looking after others. I do want to pick up the journaling this week - healthy habit and I still have another 10 pounds to go. It took over a decade to pile on all that weight, it is coming off in good time as far as I'm concerned.

Have you had any serious talks with yourself lately? Do you still know why you are doing this? Really? It's spring. Time for a self spring cleaning. Even if it's just one small habit - that's one small step towards a healthier lifestyle.

And don't forget to pat yourself on the back. Just by popping back in here - give yourself a pat on the back!

Pat pat pat!

Cheers everyone - let's make today count!
McPeg

QOD: What little reward do you give to yourself for accomplishing your goals/or what do you allow as something special for yourself?

QOD: I honestly find joy in doing things for others. The crafts I've been doing have allowed me to have a creative outlet.

I loved, loved, loved the answers to the QOD yesterday. Thanks everybody! I got a few great laughs.

Happy THURSDAY!

Patting myself on the back today just because I'm ME!!

QOD: I reward myself throughout the year with vacations. DH and I do without certain extras so that we always have the funds to go away at least twice a year (4x is more like it).

Besh, I think I will be in your neighborhood on July 10th. Send me an e:mail!

I think that often DH would forget my birthday except that it's 4 days after Valentine's Day (which he would have to be an absolute moron to ignore!) LOL!!!

My back is feeling a bit better today. Went to the fitness center and worked on stretching for 30 minutes yesterday; this morning I spent about 20 minutes on stretching before I walked down the stairs. Also been taking ibuprofen around the clock to get the inflammation down. Driving is very very painful.

Got to do a thousand things in work.

TAKE CARE, EAT HEALTHFULLY, AND NEVER NEVER GIVE UP!
DeeMarie

BJ - glad you were happy with the gifts. I thought you could get so vacation ideas with the Rough Guide - I know you are the adventurous one. Thank you for your kind words - I am still shy about my paintings. Enjoy!

McPeg - I talk to myself way too much LOL - kidding aside you are full of wisdom, thanks for sharing it with us.

QOD - I always thought that I LOVED doing things for everyone else and I do, but not all the time. I reward myself with my art classes, personal trainer, the occassional facial, and lots of laughs with good friends.

I got to run. I am off to Lake Placid for the day!

Good afternoon.

QOD for Wednesday: I truly believe that chicken crossed the road to get to the Cici's pizza buffet! (I know, I know, but I'm craving it and can't have it!)

QOD: What little reward do you give to yourself for accomplishing your goals/or what do you allow as something special for yourself? My reward for working out 6 out of 7 days this past week was a 6" healthy Subway sandwich and a bag of baked Lay's. I intend to do that every other week so that I won't overdo but will have something special to work toward.

I actually found recycling bins at each of the elementary schools around here. They're not on my regular drive to the fitness center, but just a block over in 2 different spots. We have 2 schools here and one about 5 miles down the road. I recycled all the newspapers from this last week. Seems that our 4-days-a-week subscription was automatically upped to a 7-days-a-week one since we're brand new here. It's fun to read the paper daily, but I could have done without it. The woman who delivers out here said that it's "easier for her" to do it this way, and it didn't cost any more. Oh well!

Dinner is WW chili tonight, already prepared.

I bought a pair of workout shorts today in the regular Misses section, and it brought a big smile to my face!

I'm going to go sneak in a nap before doing a few things around here.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Milkdud~I am so happy for you. Wish you were still in Big D & we could go shopping together. :-) I am not a big shopper but would enjoy spending the time with you. And, I know that we would eat right.

BJ~I read your post to me again & I think you might think that I am doing WW. I'm not. I am trying to keep some recipes around tho that will be WW "friendly" since so many here are doing that WOE. ;-) I think that I found a great mix that will suit my needs & from all that I've read, WW are lovin' it too.

Also, with one of the mixes, there is a chocolate pomegranate muffin recipe. Yummers!! Actually, Heavenly is the first word in the recipe.

Raeanne~Your trip sounds like fun. Will you get to do some boating or kayaking? I pictured myself on one of the sailboats last weekend in Clearwater. Awesome...

DeeMarie~That is about like Dave & I getting married 3 days before Valentine's. LOL He has forgotten how many years but he hasn't forgotten the date.

I hope everyone is enjoying their day. I cleaned on the kitchen & took a quick nap & read & worked on crafts & now I'm bored. LOL

Marci~In TX & FL the chicken has to cross the road to show the ARMADILLO how it is done! LOL

I keep forgetting to post what animal Dave wants to be: Leona Helmsley's dog, "Precious". ROFL Now, I'm surprised that we didn't think of that.

Good Friday Morning Everyone! I'm down another #1.5 & happy about it!! I'm about ready to move into a realm of new numbers. Yippee. I can tell that my legs are feeling tighter & that my tummy is better. If someone has the magic to get rid of that thing~PLEASE, let me know! It has got to go!!

Let's do a goofy QOD, how about it? The only thing that I can think of off the top of my head is:

If you could name your own amusement park ride, what would its name be?

QOD answer: I have to think about it & get back. I am feeling good & that usually means goofy but I want a good answer. LOL

Have a wonderful, terrific, kick-buck@ss day! Patti 8-)

QOD: Ride Name:
"SS Daily Spin Cycle",
in honor of all my gal pals (AND JOHN!) and the "laundry" that gets done on a daily basis around here. The ride would be a little off kilter, causing a constant underground vibration throughout the amusement park...

Good morning all,

BJ, you are so clever!!

QOD: I don't know what I would name it but it would definitely be a carousel and it would not be exclusively horses. I would have all kinds of animals and birds!

Dee/Raeanne/Donna - I am sorry May 9th is not going to work for me. There is a conflict in my office and the other person's circumstances are pretty important and not negotiable. Could another date work for you all?? If not, I will have to go another time but I don't want to. Let me know.

IT'S FRIDAY!!! YIPEE!!!

Suzanne, I won't leave you behind. How do Monday's work; like May 19th? [Once we get into May, I don't want Donna to have to drive home on a Friday evening after our meeting. Traffic is horrific going 'down the shore'.]

Dee,

That would work for me.

Raeanne/Donna -- how is Monday, May 19 for you?

QOD: Tramp-O-Lean -- ladies only get to jump on a magical trip to leaner bodies. Once off the ride, you can eat funnel cakes and frozen custards without gaining an ounce. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the carousel idea...sooooo NHSuzanne!

And Dee: As far as The TRAMP-0-Lean is concerned, I think Raeanne and I have the TRAMP part covered, we just have to master the LEAN!!!!! (Gad, I'm JUST kidding!) TGIF!

LOL Good answers MY Friends!!

Dave had to help me think. We are thinking, "Hang on--It's Gonna Be A Bumpy Ride!" LOL We were thinking that just described my life in general.

NH Suzanne~I want to send you an E-mail of some Western art but I'm not certain which E-mail addy to use. Would you let me know please?? Thanks.

Love to all! Have a good weekend! P

You are all so clever!! I have really tried to think of a name for mine and I am at a loss!!

The Kharma Carousel: what comes around, goes around.

Donna/Dee/Suzanne - 5/19 sounds fine to me - let's make it happen! I am actually heading to Saratoga tomorrow for the day for an art class - I will see if there are any new places we need to check out.

BJ - TRAMP - speak for yourself ROFLMAO. I am definitely more tramp than lean LOL.

QOD - my ride would be BORING - I really don't like rides and that is from a girl that vacationed every summer at Asbury Park LOL. However, I do love ziplining - so maybe a Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da. Or what about "It's A Spa World Afterall" where you get pampered until you can't take it anymore.

Marci - the card I gave BJ was just a print of one of my paintings - I didn't handpaint the card.

Patti - no boating or kayaking yesterday. We just took a ride, did a little antiquing and looked at rustic Adirondack furniture with friends. We found a nice little wine bar and then had dinner.

I attached a link to show you where we were yesterday, up in the tallest ski jump tower. The day was so clear we could see forever.

Gotta run, I am going to a clambake on the beach and I am bringing the Sangria.

That's good BJ. I was looking for "Ring Around The Collar" to stay with your theme. ROFL

I've come up with a game show for our group, "The Spice Is Right!" How about it?

Marci~Did you leave yesterday or is it next Thursday that you leave? I have something that I'd like for you to post for me if you will have the time. Thanks a lot!

Well, it has been quiet around here today. Was Raeanne going to be gone for longer than just yesterday afternoon?

Milkdud~Are you out shopping?

Jen~What are you up to?

John~Where are you fella?

Maddie~Hey, we miss ya!

Gretchen~Did we scare you off?

McPeg~What's the weather doing?

Besh~How is that job going?

I wanted to ask if anyone is a secretary? Did your office do anything special for you this week on BJ's birthday & your designated day? We used to get taken out to eat at some of the jobs that I worked (back in the day.) Ha! Ha! Well, I must be going. Ciao!

Raeanne/Dee/Suzanne: You won't believe this...a girl in my office is taking Monday May 19th off so they won't let me have it as well. She is going out of town for the day also so I know she can't change it or I would ask her.

How does mid week work - Wednesday May 21 or Thursday May 22? Dee, thanks for thinking of me on a Friday night, I hadn't thought of that myself but traffic would be awful. I really want to go but understand if you can't do it another day.

Will check back in later and catch up with everyone!!

Raeanne~Thanks for the look at John Brown's house. LOL Did you know that was John Brown's house? Dave told me all about it when I showed him the pic. He wasn't sure if you would know or not. We posted at about the same time. :-] Glad you had a good time. It sounds like another fun time tonight. Yee haw! I don't like the rides either. I would probably get on NH Suzanne's ride though. And, the bumper cars.

QOD - I can't think of a name for a ride, but how about a carnival game? Whack-A-Mole!! I have always said that teaching preschoolers is like playing Whack-A-Mole. You get one child/situation under control and something else crops up on the other side of the room. My life is never dull at preschool, that is for sure.

Patti - I leave next Thursday. I can post something for you this weekend. Just send me an email.

Off to stir the sauce for dinner.

Marci

Marci~I'll get it to ya. Thanks.

I know, I know, I'm posting 4 times to everyone else's one but I was thinking about NH Suzanne's ride:

How about "Merry Go-Litely"? LOL

duh...I have a recommendation. That chicken & avocado wrap is very delicious everyone. We didn't put the sugar in the marinade. It doesn't need it. I think that the balsamic vinegar has a sweet enough taste in it?? And with the avocado mayo we just thought that it turned out really, really good.

Milkdud~Have you ever been to any of the Rosa's in the Big D area? I know they have a new one in the Lewisville area & they have one around Ft. Worth. We had several in Midland & I know that they have expanded to Abilene & even further now. It is so awesome. Anyway, this was as good if not better.

I do have 10 easy ways to "green" your house that I'll save & post next week. I do more than I realized but have so much further to go. There are things that we have are hands tied behind our backs on by renting & living where we do.

Donna - either of those days works great for me.

Patti - I did know that was John Brown's house and you have to take John Browns Road or Drive or something to get to the ski jump LOL. My daughter went to school with a John Brown and we always cracked up because no one ever called him John, it was always John Brown.

I took today off to go to an all day art class - so I am heading to SARATOGA right now.

Enjoy your day - I hope it's not filled with chores.

I am reading posts and reading about John Brown. John Brown? John Brown? I am thinking why are they talking about my boss, John Brown and his house!! Too funny, John Brown is my boss.

Donna/Raeanne/Dee, I think I can make 21st or 22nd work for me. Prefer the 21st.

I am off to spread loam, fertilizer, lime and good cheer all over my lawn. Supposed to rain tonight so timing is perfect.

Good morning from drizzly, cooler SE Texas!

I just finished my oatmeal and having the last few sips of coffee before getting ready to go work out. This makes 8 days of doing it, with only Sunday off. I've already lost a few 10ths of my BMI! They have this little gizmo there that measures it, and I tried it yesterday, a week after the first time, and was pleased to see that 7 days of exercise made some difference.

Suzanne, I never did try the polenta last weekend because I have 3 rolls of it in the fridge and didn't want to waste it yet. But, I'm definitely going to try it in a few weeks. I'm just not eating that much of it anymore, which is probably good.

I'm no good at naming rides today, but I think that my favorite one I read from y'all has to be BJ's: The Kharma Carousel: what comes around, goes around. :)

Patti, I've never heard of, much less been to a Rosa's. Are y'all going there while you're in Texas? I miss freely dining at a Mexican restaurant now - I always order fajita salads without sour cream and cheese. No chips. :(

I'm not shopping anymore for at least a month because I'm just not losing enough to make a huge difference in what I still have to wear to places other than the fitness center. I am wearing t-shirts I couldn't wear before. When I go to Dallas at the end of May, I will break down and buy a few nicer things, but that's it.

It's nice seeing so many posting these days. I was so tired and a little sore yesterday, so I just rested and didn't do anything else. Some days I just don't have anything to say. I'm always glad that y'all do though! LOL

Hi Guys!

Great job on exercising and eating right, everyone! Wish I could get with the program, but I'm not motivated right now. Why? I don't know. The last time I seriously lost weight was when I was meeting an old flame for lunch about 4 years ago or somethng. I didn't want him to think I totally let myself go, so I dieted and exercised down to a Size 5. That was fun. Those days are long gone. Hmmmm. Gotta find a *NEW* reason to lose weight, I guess.

I am packing and sorting again taday. The washer and dryer are running non-stop. How the heckle did we (I) accumulate ALL THIS STUFF????? I am SOOOOOOOOOOO tired of boxing things up. Seems like we use a lot of it though.

Tonight, we're having friends over to eat dinner and look at the photos we and they took on our vacation together. I haven't had time to go through them and delete the ones of me in a bikini, looking horrifyingly fat, so I hope we have a lot of Chianti before we start the slide show!

Ahhh, well just wanted to pop by and say hi. "Hi!"

It's Sunday, so who else is doing laundry? I'm on my 3rd load and just made a pot of vegie soup to get me through a few of these rainy miserable days they are forecasting. I am not complaining as we really do need rain, but it's 48 degrees and I am complaining about that.

Enjoy whatever you are up to today - hopefully it's not too much laundry.

Raeanne/Donna/Suzanne, now YOU will not believe this! I host a scholarship recipient reception at my corporation on the morning of the 21st, and immediately following that, I head off for offsite business meetings until the 23rd. Let me look at my calendar at work tomorrow for the next Wednesday or Thursday. This is hilarious!

QOD: Laundry? I did about 8 loads yesterday because we were away last weekend. My washer and dryer are in the basement so that was 3 flights from my master bedroom. My legs got a workout even though DH had to drag the laundry baskets because of my back.

Hope everyone has a great day. We are off to Boscobel up by West Point for the day.

Make today count!
DeeMarie

More laudry today. I don't even know how many loads I did yesterday. Dinner w/ friends last night was fun. We put the slide show pics on the computer but were having so much fun, no one really paid attention to many of them.

I'm packing again today, then in the afternoon, going to orientaion for college with DD2. Her boyfriend is going to watch "V" in the lobby if he gets hyped up and wiggly. So cool of the BF.

The weather is threatening rain, but that's okay, because we just got the lawn in and lots of the flowers need a drink. If it doesn't rain by this evening, I'll crank up the sprinklers.

Have a great Sunday!

BJ, I think just looking at your weekly planner would be exhausting! I don't know how you do all that you do and maintain your sanity, woman.

Anywhoooo, today was a busy day for a change. I've been wanting a La-Z-Boy recliner for the family room since we moved here and I had to give mine up to hubby for his study. Since they were on sale this weekend, we drove about 45 minutes away to the closest La-Z-Boy gallery, and I got a pretty little one in a nice creamy suede that goes nicely with my red plaid overstuffed sofa and red overstuffed chair and ottoman! We moved the matching loveseat into our bedroom, and I'll go slipcover shopping this week to get something nice to cover it.

We ate lunch at a Jason's Deli, and I did the salad bar, which I assumed would be easy, healthy and WW-friendly. Wrong! More mixed pasta salads and veggie salads with who-knows-what-kind-of ingredients, no FF cheese or dressings, and only regular head iceburg lettuce. I did the best I could, but it seems like every Sunday before weigh-in on Mondays, I'm stuck having to deal with some kind of food that I shouldn't be eating. Guess I'll just work out a little longer in the morning.

We had a heavy rainstorm this afternoon, then the temps dropped about 15 degrees and the sun came back out. It was even too cool to sit out on the front porch when we got home.

Hope everyone's having a nice, relaxing Sunday evening before starting a new week!