Hi Everybody! I can't believe how this week has flown by. Tomorrow is weigh-in day again! Other than more demolition on the kitchen, I haven't been getting my exercise. Actually, I should be doing my step aerobics right now, but here I am instead. The days are getting noticeably shorter, but the temperatures here are still warm. I guess we will be getting remnants of Ivan in the form of rain, rain, rain for the weekend. But I can't complain. My heart goes out to those affected more directly by the recent string of hurricanes. Well, I wore a pair of jeans today that I had not worn for a looong time. They fit, and were not tight. I know that the changes in my diet are really working. Yellowhair--I wonder if we will see Bunny Tracks here. I really love the Skinny Cow fudge bars. My DH is now eating them, too. You know, I have never had problems with my feet. But awhile back when I was trying to take long walks, I started having a problem with my big toe. It felt like it was sprained or something. It was very odd, but it just went away. DH has lots of trouble with his feet. I am sure it is just that we are getting older. Anyway, he has heel spurs, which are bony growths that kinda jab you from the inside. he has other things going on too, and has even been through physical therapy. He says they told him that whenever he is getting pain to quit whatever activity he is doing for awhile. In other words, if it hurts when you do that, don't do that! Kathy--When I first got into gardening and landscaping someone, who was a seasoned gardener, told me that a garden wasn't really yours until you had re-invented it about a million times. Well, they didn't say it quite like that, but that was the general meaning I took from it. I was fretting because the year before I had planted a shrub that I now thought would be in much better spot if I moved it just 4 feet. I wasn't sure it was worth it to go to the trouble. The advice I got was to go for it. I did, and I am still glad I did. And that is still my approach to gardening now. I am always seeing something that needs to be improved and gardening is all about the process. So it sounds like a change will be coming to your garden soon! DeeMarie--Talking about your commute reminded me of when I was doing that. Several years ago, I drove 50 miles one way to work. It took an hour and a half on most days with traffic and all. DH says I used to come home in the worst mood. It is interesting how we get ourselves into these things. I mean the trade-off for a job that you love vs. having more time for activities at home vs a nice paycheck vs whatever. I try not to regret the decisions that I make, but it sure seems that life is all about the trade-offs sometimes. On that note, I will wrap up this longwinded post. Eat healthy!!

Hello all. Life keeps getting in the way but I'm still here. Here's a cut and paste from another forum for starters. This was 2 nights ago. Well my day has started with a bang and I haven't been to bed yet. Around 2:30 am the dogs went crazy in the neighborhood. Our Rottie went absolutely nuts and I couldn't see what was going on so I called her back in. Our Lab who has a touch of Coonhound went out and joined in but not like the Rottie. Shasta (the Rot) became extremely stressed when I tried to keep her in so after distracting her with play for a bit I let her go out in the backyard again around 4:30. Both dogs started going at the rear side fence and then I heard a splash, a crash and a lot of hissing, high pitched barking. Got DH up and we saw the dogs had crashed through the fence and they and a large racoon were all in the neighbors in ground pool. DH goes around to the neighbors yard and I stay on our side. He's in the neighbors yard trying to corral 2 large dogs who are jumping in and out of the pool trying to get at the coon swimming in circles and the neighbors are nowhere to be seen. Finally the neighbors turn on an upstairs light and call out their bedroom window to ask what is going on and DH tells them they have a coon in their pool. They don't say anything and turn out the light. DH finally get both dogs back thru the fence. We get them in the house. He gets hammer and nails and repairs the fence. It is still dark and still no sign of neighbors in spite of all the commotion going on in their yard. So now I'm sitting here waiting for 2 wet dogs to dry and the Rotti is strutting around so proud of herself for taking care of the" intruder" and our Lab/Coonhound acts like he just had a fantastic playdate at a pool party. See life in the suburbs isn't always all that dull either. DH had our anniversary dinner on Tues. Tonite I have a Red Hat dinner and on Sat. I have a Red Hat picnic. FOOD and more FOOD. I'm not losing but I'm not gaining either. This is good ;) but I really need to get back on the program and go for he next ten pounds. Jen, WW is great because unless you do their CORE program there are no bad foods. Lots of peeps have great success with the Points System. I don't so I do an old style food exchange plan from the 80's. Great going Trekaren. Welcome Jen and Mooner. Waving at ya LL. Come and post Ruthie.

You did a great job polly929. It's funny how kids of different personalities/ages take in and process information. My own DD was starting middle school that year, and the school was opening later in the month due to renovation construction on our middle school building. I was at work that day, so DD was with my MIL and my nephew at SIL's house. After seeing just the first few minutes of network coverage (we had all conference room tvs on in the office), the first thing I did was call my MIL to ask her not to tune in at all. I didn't want my DD watching wall to wall coverage. Just didn't think it was a good thing. It was hard enough as an adult to watch. Long story short, I guess curiousity got the best of MIL, and she turned and kept the television tuned in... The issue for me with DD watching was more of the fact that there wasn't any filter. Coverage that day contained none of the warnings when that coverage is now replayed. No warnings that material may not be suitable for children, or is of a sensitive nature for some. We watched real time coverage of some horrible things. People who chose to jump from windows of the buildings rather than face burning to death. These people knew they were going to die, but thought jumping was a better way to go. Those images are forever burned in my memory. A beautiful fall day, I can even remember which suit I was wearing, every single detail of that day is still with me. By the time I could get to SIL's to pick up my DD, which wasn't all that long after my call. Our local office closed around 11 a.m., and by 1 p.m. I was answering DD's questions. Never in my wildest dreams would have imagined those questions that I would have to answer. Sure, DD was going to be a 6th grader, but it was too much to watch. DD's good friend lost her father that day, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee. We talked alot about that in particular. Why? was the biggest question from my DD. It is hard to explain "why?" to a child. The oddest thing of all IMHO, is that our school district did NOTHING, no moment of silence, no acknowledgment at all on the 9/11 anniversaries, despite the fact we had kids in attendance throughout the district lost loved ones. Go figure? I once asked DD's middle school history teacher, who happened to also be her guidance counselor, why this was. He explained that the district felt it was up to the parents to handle telling their own children about the event. Apparently, they didn't want to say anything about the event, for fear of a backlash from parents who totally shield their children. I don't agree that we shouldn't tell our kids when bad things happen. I think we should share an age appropriate amount of information, welcome all questions, and deal with those questions on an ad hoc basis. Polly, I will be thinking of you and your friend & her family on Sunday. It is comforting to have your closest friends to lean on, especially on a day that marks...

I suggest doing your research on fantasy brown if you are considering it. It sounds to me like a marble. (Super white is another that is often billed as quartzite but is is actually usually marble.). Not that there is anything wrong with marble--I chose it for the ktichen in our last house, but I did so knowing what I was getting. Those countertop geology threads are really informative.