Marci~I hope that you are enjoying time with your DS. DeeMarie~Congrats on the 11 pounds. Also, congrats on the salary increase & bonus. Raeanne~I swear I thought about you all day on your birthday but I haven't been on the computer. I'm so excited that you are going to get to see Bette Middler. That would be something I would like to do! NH Suzanne~WTG on meeting your goal. And, since when have you ever bored us with a story about your riding adventures? Jen~I'm saying prayers for the girls. Congrats on losing the 7 pounds. Amy~My parents are planning a trip to the big island soon. I don't know when it is going to be yet. Maddie~[[[[ H U G S ]]]] Congratulations on selling your jewelry. BJ~Please listen & take it easy. Everyone here means well but I know that you already know that. Hi to John, Besh, Susie_que, Kathy, Joanne, Gretchen, & KY Susie. Also anyone else that I missed. Dave's surgery went well. They didn't clean it at all though & did not put a bandage on it. Now you can see how the Veterans are treated! Anyway, we have laughed about it being a face lift. It hurt him to laugh or smile & I tried so hard to be good but he ended up laughing & smiling until it didn't hurt him anymore. He says that he was trying to clean it & a stitch came out. Hmmm... We have 2 weeks from today until his papers have to be in to the VA. (I'm hoping that we make the deadline. If not, let's just say that we have lost the past 4 years of work.) Well, I'm off to eat some salmon. BJ~I wish that I lived near you where we could go to the market & get it fresh. Yum. Patti :)

Hi Everyone! I'm glad to report I stuck to my plan last night - only had one light beer and one fake beer and 2 med slices of pizza. Drank a huge glass of water too. Ending this week I'm still ahead having 20 bonus point left for the week. I've almost recovered on the scales from last weekend - tomorrow is my weigh day. Planning ahead is worth it. No, I did not get all of the snow moved. I can now see out 1/2 the window. With the temps warming this week, I will be throwing more snow on the drive to melt and will continue to do so until I can get through my patio gate to the back door and clear the front window snow bank. I can only do so much and have to wait for the snow to melt before I can toss some more. It's good exercise and fresh air - so I don't mind. Waiting for my swimsuits to arrive in the post (ebay) - going to start playing in the pool at the nearby sports center. Planning on walking there one way and probably busing back now that the sidewalks have been clear. Any water activity really has helped me in the past tone up and get rid of flab. It's also a treat for me. Dodi, I've only been through your area once on our holiday driving down to Boston area - beautiful is an understatement! I can understand why you drive to town to do your walking! Raeanne what were you working on? I'm going to check out August Rush on the internet. We watch movies at home so I may have to wait. Where is Lake George? Besh do you have any other children? They grow up so fast. Marci what is on the agenda for next week - any time for yourself in there? Milkdud would you please send some of your heat my way? I wanna garden so bad it's driving me nuts. I can smell the snow melting. Yes, it has a particular smell. How is Aubrey today? Hey John it's great to have a man's perspective on all of this journey. What do you do to relax after work? NhSuzanne - what neck of the woods are you in to have as much snow? Let's go visit Milkdud! DeeMarie - what type of work do you do? Are you still feeling refreshed from your holiday? I loved working on projects in my career - I'm an administrative junkie at heart. Patti congrats on your weight loss too - trying to find your post on it but I keep getting lost! Can you update me please! After rereading the posts - I think my crock pot is getting hauled out today. I can't believe I see so many of them in charity shops all the time. There was a smaller one available last week and a bunch of tall mason jars which I'm thinking of returning on Monday to pick up. I have a craving for lima beans and crock pots do them justice. QOD: What was your first childhood toy that you claimed as your 'buddy? Mine was a stuffed, butt ugly monkey. I traded a toy tractor with my foster brother for it. We were moving from Ontario to Manitoba. My foster brother needed special care that was not available in the military camp we moved to. It broke our hearts to part with Brian. I was so creative I called him Monkey. Monkey had many surgeries in his life, many baths and finally disintegrated in my late 20's to the point of no return - may Monkey rest in peace. Let's make today count! It's sunny -3' and going to a balmy +2'C (34'F). Might have to do some snow tossing! Cheers, Peggy

Good morning goils-- Yes, I am among the living, and have missed you all like crazy!!! I have finally gotten a computer for me at home (I can't log on at work, and trying to get to the library is close to impossible!)So, I get to check my emails, and play on here to my heart's content-- Life is good, but so swamped. The company that I work for is a division of a larger corp, and the women that started it are wanting to separate from the main company and run it themselves. Since I am the financial guru, I've been putting in 80 hours weeks since January, and there is no end in sight. I am in the interviewing process for software vendors/tech support, and I am in over my head on this, as I am so not good with computers. However, since the accounting/HR software will make or break my working life, I want to be in on the discussions. One of the CPAs is giving me a fit, but apparently she was like this to my predecessor (which was a big factor in her leaving), but I just won't take it and roll over. We spent an hour on the phone yesterday day about something she screwed up with our AP, which resulted in us almost getting a utility cut-off in one of our group homes. My boss told me to put the bills on the company credit card because we didn't have much choice, and I did (I paid the bill through our weekly AP; corp screwed up the payment; we don't know where the check actually went to; and the utility was due to be shut off on this past Monday. I never heard a peep from corp until yesterday morning (Thursday) when she called b!tching that she has spent all of this time (?? wtf?)working on this issue, and then found out that I had put it on a CC. Alrighy, the the games begin....) I'll be glad to get rid of that insufferable cow. I'm still auctioning; we have one tomorrow. It's huge, but I'm tired, and not looking forward to it. Well, kinda--I just know it's going to be a loooong day. Well, I've lost 15 pounds since the beginning of February, and I am down about 25 pounds from my highest known weight. I bought a pair of jeans last fall that fit a bit loose, but now I can pull them down over my hips without unzipping 'em. My BIL is getting married on Memorial Day weekend (well, the last I heard), and I want to be down about 15 more pounds. (I'm trying to be realistic here). Let's see--I am trying to buy a car. Good Grief. What happened to car prices? I haven't bought one since '96 (Rog got the truck in '01), but geeze louise--10 years car loans? Why?! I'm looking at a used Camry because I want to pay cash (I hate car payments wit ha passion), but I just laugh at some of the prices. (No, I don't want to buy the real estate that the lot is on, I just want to buy a car.) I may have found one, but it's white (which is the one color I specifically did not want), and with this work schedule, I can't get up to the dealer to see it. Rog's cousin owns a dealership (yep--more $$$ than above, and a nice guy to boot), but for some inane, really stupid reason, hubster doesn't want to go to him. (It was OK to see cousin when *he* wanted the truck, but ohhhhnooooo, we can't go when *I* want a car. Go figure.) Hope this finds everyone well--happy birthday Patti! (Dee--lovely job; I couldn't have sang better myself! LOL) Love and hugs, Maddie

Bloomsbury Women: Distinct Figures in Life and Art, Jan Marsh