I will post to get this one back on top. Thanks Patti & Milkdud for starting us off. I am always afraid of that happening.

Patti - I thought of some questions afterwards too. Like what type of movies you enjoy. Yes it was me that went to drum circles. I haven't been to one in a few years, but I still have my drum. We are up to 32 degrees and the sun makes it feel like 33 LOL. It actually is a beautiful day here today, but that should all end by tonight when the snow move's in for the 100th time this season....

Magazines- Real Simple, Food and Wine, Art in America.
Guilty Pleasure Food - Lindt chocolates, homebaked cookies. I have had a craving for popcorn lately and if it doesn't go away soon, I am going to have some and get it over with LOL.
Movies - I normally love romantic comedies - something light, funny and heartwarming. I also love old movies. I am not one for action packed, violent or sad movies - but I do watch them when I have heard very good reviews. I loved Crash and that was a pretty heavy movie. I think I will watch some of the dark movies that were nominated for an Oscar, especially Sweeney Todd.

Milkdud - glad you are still trying out new recipes. I hope DH comes around and starts to enjoy some of them LOL.
I'm also glad you had a great visit with your sons and family.

Add pizza to my guilty pleasures - thanks Dee - now I am craving popcorn and pizza LOL.

Anytime I can add something to your guilty pleasures, count me in, Raeanne. LOL!

I'm with Raeanne on the movies. I love the light comedies. The older I get, the further away I stay from the dark stuff where there is violence, sickness, and overall sadness. Give me a laugh or a song!

Pizza and dark chocolate are my guilty pleasure foods, for sure!

I only have 2 subscriptions right now: Woman's World (the throw-away at the check-out stand), and Weight Watcher's magazine. I'll pick up a copy of Real Simple from time to time, too.

Raeanne, one of the most fun things about doing WW Core is getting to eat popcorn, daily if I want to!

And, lastly, I don't play any musical instruments. But, I can punch radio station buttons quickly to find music I like!

Movies? I'm the "musical" type, I think. I listed my top 50 faves earlier today & thought old movies to begin with but then decided that was too broad & changed it to musical. I like it to be "light", too. Also, like you, the older I get, the more I steer away from dark & violent movies. Patti :)

Hello all,

We have had three days of glorious spring-like weather. I have really enjoyed it but it's coming to an end with yet another snow storm tomorrow! We just got 6" on Friday.....

QOD: I subscribe to Martha Stewart Living, Body & Soul, Equine Journal and Poultry magazine. Only one horse pub! Can you believe it?

Patti, what is olive oil dip?? Do tell.

I live light and lively movies and no action stuff (except Mission Impossible and The Bourne trilogy was great) I love Jane Austen movies and period movies. I really love the historic aspect, the costumes and the carriages and horses! I think that Crash was one of the best movies I have ever seen. The Black Stallion is one of the best horse movies I have ever seen. The message was very powerful and it's a message that everyone needs to get SOON. I hate graphic violence or to see someone/something in pain in the movies.

Now food......I have way to many guilty pleasures but I have to say that homemade cookies, especially shortbreads are my all time favorite. I simply cannot leave them alone so I can't make them! I don't think of popcorn as being bad. I dress mine in olive oil and it's healthy. Sometimes I make a meal of it! Anything that's fattening and not good for me is basically my guilty pleasure!! Oh yeah, I forgot bacon!!

That reminds me.........I love Newman's Own organic popcorn and I cannot find it anywhere right now! It's like it has disapppered. My local health food store doesn't have any organic popcorn either!

Hi Everyone!

I feel like I have been away forever and really need to read and catch up. Last week was rough, my mom's birthday but we are coming out of the tunnel (at least I am)! I started seeing a therapist on Saturday and really like her very much. I need someone to help me sort things out and not lose me in this process of life and grieving. I really liked her and think she's just the person! We also had Lacey with a sprained paw over the weekend..thank goodness she's doing better. I will definitely try and check in more, you guys are an unbelievable anchor to me.

Let's see.....I also love light romantic comedy movies but I also love those old black and white ones regardless of what they're about..murder, career girls in the 40's, I don't care. I love the old Thin Man movies and just about anything with Susan Hayward in it.

I subscribe to Weight Watchers Magazine. Sometimes I will pick up Woman's World or some type of decorating magazine at the check out counter. I do like Coastal Living though I don't subscribe to it. I catch up on People in the doc's offices. I used to get Good Housekeeping but let that one go.

My guilty food pleasures...hmmmmm....most definitely chocolate and I cannot say no to home made chocolate chip cookies. I still love peanut butter and jelly on white bread with chocolate milk! I rarely indulge but still love it. I love just about anything with cheese. No wonder I have a weight problem!

I also joined a fitness club last week that will open on Saturday and with my enrollment I get 2 free personal training sessions. I am cleaning up the inside and the outside!

Gotta run....talk later!

Donna

Patti - you are making us put our thinking caps on! LOL

Guilty pleasures - Hill Bros. SV French Vanilla Cappuccino
I have a cup every morning and I look forward to it. I was still able to lose my weight while drinking it, so even though I shouldn't feel guilty drinking, it tastes so good that I still feel like I am "cheating". I got lots of Starbucks gift cards for Christmas and about every other week, I get a Vanilla Latte and a Biscotti as a special treat.

Movies - I love "feel-good" movies. While watching the Oscars last night, there were very few movies I actually wanted to see because they all seemed too dark, too violent and just too sad. I will make an exception for Sweeney Todd though, as I want to see Johnny Depp sing. I can't wait to see Juno and I think I am going to watch La Vie En Rose.

Magazines - I don't read near as many as I used to. I only get Good Housekeeping and I pass that on to my Mother when I am done. I am doing a lot more reading of books in general and trying to broaden my reading styles. I have been alternating fiction and non-fiction. My last two favorites were Marley & Me by John Grogan and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Now I am reading The Know-It-All, One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J.Jacobs. I like it so far, but then again I have only read the Introduction! LOL It could be all downhill from here.

I don't play a muscial instrument, but I just got an MP3 player for Christmas, so I am plugged in!! (Although I use it for audio books more than music, DS did load some great music for me and I can catch a few good tunes while I am cleaning, cooking or just chilling.)

It has been fun reading everyone's answers. Keep the questions coming Patti!

Milkdud - I added the picture of Aubrie and her Uncle to the album.

And speaking of the album, I am going to delete the original album due to space constrictions. I mentioned this before but I never got around to deleting it. But I will probably get to it in the next week or so. So take a look now and let me know if there are pictures anyone wants saved.

Marci

Happy Tuesday!

Don't have much time today, as our assistant called in sick.

Donna, I'm so glad to see you posting. Was looking frantically this morning for your phone number because I was going to give you a gentle reminder to come back. Great minds think alike. Good luck with your therapist. I still see one once every 3 weeks. She has given me wonderful insight, especially the day she said: "If anyone else treated you the way that you treat yourself, they would have restraining order against them." I was shocked to say the least. I still don't always treat myself as well as I should, but I also rarely kick myself for everything that is wrong with the world either!

Marci, I'm really going to try to download music and some video to my new Nano this weekend. If I have problems, I call in the young reinforcements. lol!

OK, really have to run.

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

PS: Counting WW points has been a slap in the face to me lately....boy, was I overeating!!!!!

Good morning!

It's sunny and cool here this morning, 52 degrees, and very windy. A nice change from yesterday's humidity.

Donna, it's nice to see you posting! Congratulations on joining the new health club. And, it's good that you've found a therapist you're comfortable talking to.

Marci, thanks for posting that picture in the photo album. I feel like an official part of this group now with a photo in there!

Dee, have you ever done the Core plan on WW? I did the flex points last year, but I didn't do well on it which is why I tried Core this time. I'm doing well on it so far, 3 weeks now. Does your husband do the plan with you? Just curious.

Suzanne, I'm glad that you got a 3-day reprieve with your weather. You certainly deserve it! I'll look around for the Newman's popcorn, but our little stores don't carry as much as regular stores do.

I forgot to add info about my movie tastes. I love comedies, and old black & white comedies. Lately, I've watched some Agatha Christie b&w ones with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, and "Thin Man" movies. They're light-hearted mysteries. It's amazing how they managed to entertain without profanity and sex scenes back then.

Wel, I've finally broken down and found a doctor fairly locally (8 miles away). It's my first step toward admitting that I'm really living here for good, I guess. LOL It's been hard letting go of living in the Dallas area. I've just felt so temporary the whole 6 months we've been here. Once I switch to a new dentist and find a church, I'll know I'm really here, if that makes sense.

Hope everyone has a successful and peaceful day.

Hi! I had to laugh when I saw that Milkdud had posted last. She & I get the same ideas. :)

Milkdud~Let me know what the dr. has to say. I think I see mine next week.

DeeMarie~It is funny (in a sad sort of way) that I'm not as in tune with what is happening so much around here but I know that TX is dealing with a lot of illness right now. Dave has stayed sick but we haven't been around many people so I'm not real sure where he is picking it up. It is 79 here & he is freezing & under a blanket.

Marci~I'm enjoying reading the answers too. I don't know if I have anymore questions but I'm going to think on it. I am that "wondering" type of gal! LOL

Donna~I was glad to see you post too. I miss you around here when you don't post. I have a wonderful therapist but I'm learning that a group of caring women can share so much more.

NHS~The dip is made with 8 oz. of cream cheese (we use the one w/chives & onion), a cup of ricotta cheese, & a cup of chopped olives. (You can use the low fat of everything if you want, except olives, of course.) We saw this, I think, on Rachel Ray. We changed the cream cheese to the one w/chives & onion & wow! what a difference! It just gave it that extra something that it needed. Then we use our favorite crackers but it can also be used as a great veggie dip.

Raeanne~I hope that you are tempted to pick up the drum again. I remember how much you enjoyed it.

I use to play the piano & the oboe. LOL I know~I picked the oboe b/c I wanted to be different & of course, I was. There was one other girl who played it too b/c I did. We both just played one year. I love to sing. I won't say that I'm good~just that I love to make a joyful noice! Ha! Ha!

I wanted to ask if anyone has seen "Hats"? The Red Hats here are supposed to go & I've signed up to go. I think it will be real cute. Just thought maybe someone knew something about it. We did see something about it on tv but it seems like it has been a while.

May your hearts not be heavy today! Patti :)

Good Tuesday all,

Spring is definitely in the air today even though we are expecting a foot or more of snow!! I heard Mr. Cardinal singing his love song while I was doing barn chores this morning, the Chickadees have changed their tune and Tom is in love with my hens as well as his own. Here he is hanging out at my chicken run!!

Is he not just the most handsome thing?

Suzanne - that is one fantastic photo and he is so handsome. I have had 3 toms hanging around my bird feeder but none of them have been strutting their stuff. It has been snowing here since 6:30 this morning and we are in for over a foot by tomorrow.

Patti - There just aren't enough hours in the day to do all I want to do. I have been dedicating more of my "free" time to painting - so drumming is low on my priority. Does Dave have a Dr. appointment?

Donna - glad you checked in and glad you are seeing a therapist. I am sure she will help you sort through things.

Dee - I am glad you got back on track with WW - it is so easy to slide. We gave ipods to our friends as wedding gifts this past fall and I have to download all their music for them - they are so technically challenged it is too funny.

Marci - I hardly read the few magazines I get - my daughter has more fun going through them when she comes home.

Patti/Milkdud - I also love the Thin Man and most any of the old black and white movies - except westerns and army themed.

Milkdud - glad you found a Dr. It took me nearly a year to find a Dr, dentist, and most importantly hairdresser LOL. I have not found a church that makes me feel connected.

Enjoy your day!

Hi Guys!

I'm back, but haven't read any of the threads yet. I'll print and read later and be back tomorrow.

Laundry, workmen, packing, and house cleaning are calling.

Hope all is well. Vay-cay was enlightening and fun, but it is good to be back home and remotivated to get stuff done.

Tra-la-la-la-la. :-)

Good morning! It's sunny and 51 degrees here today. Gorgeous day.

Suzanne, you take the best pictures! What a handsome tom he is.

Patti, I hope Dave's better today. Have you been fixing him chicken soup? ;)

Forgot to add that I had lost 2.4 lbs. when I weighed in at my WW meeting Monday evening. That's only 5 pounds in 3 weeks. Guess it's better than nothing. I still need to work on portion control as the foods I'm eating are right and healthy.

BJ, nice to see you popping in. Once you get all your rat-killing out of the way, come back and update us on your life.

I need to make a grocery store run as we're out of milk and bananas. I love having cereal with banana slices for breakfast - hence the motivation to go shopping. LOL

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Dave asked me to tell all that he is feeling better today & thanks for the concern & asking about him. (He has been up & down so I'm not certain how long him feeling better will last but we'll see.)

Milkdud~Congrats on the weight loss.

BJ~You sound so relaxed! I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip. I'm sure that you'll read that John has been threatened that you'll get him if he doesn't post & he didn't. LOL

Raeanne~Do you still have a place where you are posting your paintings? I know that you have to make priorities & that something has to get pushed aside sometimes--it just seemed like drumming made you so happy. I'm not saying that you don't seem happy now b/c you do. :)

NH Suzanne~He's beautiful. We have one that pokes his head up daily & gobbles in at our bedroom window. Dave swears that the tom is enamored by Dave's voice. Hmm...could be? We have so many around here & I enjoy them. However they won't let us feed them even though we want to so badly.

Hello to everyone else. Spring is coming. Patti :)

Welcome home, BJ (and God Bless America, eh?)

Holding steady on my points and not suffering. I did, however, eye up DH's slice of blueberry poundcake after our visit to the accountant last night. I even got up and took a look at my log of food and decided to make a cup of herbal tea and go up to the master bedroom to watch TV. End of urge THAT time....we shall see how strong I am when the urge involves pizza or lasagna. LOL!!!

I'm heading off for an early session at the fitness center here.

Hope everyone has a great night!

[[[[[[[hugs to Dave]]]]]]]]] JUST BECAUSE!! lol!

DeeMarie

BJ - welcome home! We missed you. Sounds like you may need another vacation after this week of catching up LOL. It felt good to me to be home as well, but with all this snow, I am reconsidering.

Milkdud - slow and steady won the race LOL. You are doing great. Our temp was about 1/2 of your's LOL.

Patti - tell Dave thanks for the update and PLEASE take care of himself. I think I enjoyed the community of people from so many different walks of life getting together and enjoying a common bond. I get that from art as well - I love the people I take classes with. I caved yesterday and took care of my popcorn craving - now that is behind me (literally LOL).

Dee - your willpower is inspiring to me.

I have some more quotes to share. I just sat down and took another look at the book Donna gave me for Christmas, "I Hope You Dance".

"And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance"

"Loving may be a mistake, but it's worth making"

This one reminded me of BJ "Never settle for the path of least resistance"

Thanks Donna - it was fun revisiting that book.

Suzanne - that reminds me, I have been meaning to thank you for the eye pillow you sent me last year. I have used it several times and the lavender scent is so soothing. No, I don't use it the morning after using the enormous wine glass you gave me LOL.

Dee, I guess you kind of answered my question to you yesterday about your dh doing WW with you. Good for you for resisiting the blueberry poundcake!

Raeanne, I like this quote: "Never settle for
the path of least resistance"!

I am loving the WW Core plan way of eating! Tonight, I'm fixing stuffed green peppers. I used 93/7 lean ground beef, spices, and real ketchup, so even hubby should like it. If he doesn't, well...............................
Oh, and I made plenty of the green peppers if you want to stop by for dinner!

Milkdud~Your din din does sound good. I like it when Dave uses turkey in ours. He puts in whatever spices & it comes out pretty good. Sorry that DH isn't on the WW WOE with you.

Raeanne~The comraderie does make a big difference doesn't it? I think I mentioned that Dave is encouraging me to get back into "One Stroke"? I need to find a teacher. I do enjoy it. Glad you got the popcorn. LOL

DeeMarie~The Strawberry Festival is beginning here tomorrow, I think. I have not been eating sugar/sugar substitutes since Oct. but strawberry shortcake does sound good. The blueberries sounded pretty awesome too.

BJ~I should have welcomed you home!

I don't know if anyone was interested in the olive dip or not but I didn't explain it very good. The olives are the green ones w/pimentos & you drain them before chopping them up. (The recipe doesn't call for the black ones although they are Dave's fave & I think he'd like it that way.) We stumbled on an improvement accidentally tonight. We had a late lunch but I had a low blood sugar headache so Dave started making the dip. He had the 1st couple of ingredients together & discovered that he didn't have any olives. However, we did have some green olive tampenade. Voile', a star was born. The green olive tampenade is harder to find & I haven't seen it since we bought the one jar but we will definitely be looking for more to make the dip with.

It is 50 here & supposed to get down in the 30s. The wind is supposed to make it feel much cooler. It will be 60 tomorrow & in the 80s by the weekend. Can't complain about that.

NH Suzanne~Has your weather changed yet? I noticed that it was snowing in Atlanta but didn't see that it was snowing up that far north...is it?

Have a great evening. Oh, yeah, I wanted to make calendars for the kids but they were so expensive. I picked some up for $1 each @ JoAnn's. Well, I decided today to get started on them. They are 25 month calendars. (I have 5 kids!) Can you say busy? LOL Patti :)

Good Thursday,

We only got 13" of snow through Tuesday night and Wednesday! LOL I finished cleaning that storm up last night and now Friday night through Saturday we are expecting another storm. The weatherman says he's being conservative at 3-7"! Give me strength, literally, My bones are starting to ache! DH ( who is on the road to Las Vegas) left a message on the answering machine yesterday morning while I was out doing chores - "I know you hate me right now but call and let me know you are alright" LOL

There coming to take me away, ha,ha. There coming to take me away, hee, hee. To the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time......... God, I hope it's warm there! LOL

((NHSuzanne)) - Whenever I feel like complaining about the little bit of snow and ice we have been getting, I picture your mounds of snow and you heading to the barn tied to a rope! "And then I don't feel so bad!" Isn't that a Julie's Andrew's song??? Anyway - I wish we could just blink and it would be April and springtime!

Not much new here, just wanted to check in. I will try to catch up later today. Gotta get ready for school now.

Marci

Happy THURSDAY!

OK Suzanne, NOW are you ready to demand that Al Gore give back his prize? lol!!! Seriously, I feel so badly for you. I was complaining that we still have 4 inches on snow in the backyard and we are expecting more Friday night into Saturday. I'll make a promise to keep as much as we can down here to give you guys a break up North. Whew!!!!!!!!

Slow and steady wins the race. My skirt feels a bit looser today. I've decided not to try the CORE WW plan yet, because I'm afraid that my portion controls ran away from me. Once I see some results with this way, we shall see.

Marci, I thought I might have to go to a meeting in Pittsburgh, but it was planned for here. Would have liked to get together; maybe someday.

OK, I promise to check in later. Got a phone conference with my director (in the UK) at 10 this morning to discuss 2008 goals and objectives. perhaps after that, I'll run out to buy some lottery tickets! LOL!!

Make today count!
DeeMarie

I forgot to mention that I put a slide show illustrating the snow here. If you want to see it email me privately and I will send it to you.

Dee, you are showing amazing restraint and self control!!

BJ, welcome home. Tell us about your trip.

Raeanne, glad you are using and enjoying the eye pillow. LOL If you ever use that wine glass I want a picture!

Patti, thanks for the recipe. Your turkeys probably don't need any food with no snow they can forage just fine.

Milkdud, I love cereal and bananas too.

Donna, good for you! Taking care of yourself is the one thing you can actually change! Keep it up. XXXOOO

Suzanne - I would love to see the slide slow. We only got 9 inches, but they were predicting up to 16 inches at one point - glad they got that one wrong. We are expecting more Friday night as well. My drive is getting very narrow and the banks around it are very high. I know DH must feel a bit guilty leaving you back north LOL. I do use the wine glass for water. Next time I have company over I will fill it up for a few good laughs.

Patti - I don't have a place to show my artwork on the web. I am playing with a "myspace" page for it. If it comes together I will let you know.

BJ - we are waiting for details of your vay-cay.

Worked out with my trainer this morning, got my teeth cleaned, did my banking, gassed the car, did a little grocery shopping, now it's time to tackle this house.

Enjoy!

Where oh where is Milkdud? She must be posting now too. LOL

Raeanne~I hope that you do get a site up & going.

NH Suzanne~I would love to see your slide show. You might have to tell me why I cannot see green grass. tee hee It has been so long since I've seen the white stuff except for some dirty stuff on the runway at O'Hare airport last spring that I could get confused.

DeeMarie~Congrats on having a loser skirt. It feels so great, doesn't it? I have a hard time keeping my shorts up but I don't want to buy more just yet as I'm still losing, I certainly hope anyway. :)

Marci~I was so glad to see a post from you. It is nice even if you can just pop in for a sec & say hi. We all love hearing from you.

It actually got down to about 35 last night. (Dave, poor guy, turned on the heater!) It is supposed to get to 60 & I think that it is trying but may not make it all of the way. Enjoy your day. Tomorrow is Friday! Yippee! Patti :)

Soooo Suzanne, are you really having "a hard time keeping (your) shorts up..."? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, if that's a benefit of losing some weight, DH will be happy. LOL! Sorry, but I could not resist.

Well, there are massive amounts of meetings around here with many, many attendees and lots and lots and lots of catering. There is food all over the building and I've had to pass up, danish, bagels, sandwiches, potatoe salad and chips (my fave) bags of corn chips, candy, popcorn, soda, cake, cookies..... I walked by and said "what would Marci do with all this stuff around"? Guess what? I passed it up and went back to my office to eat my apple.

OK, that's it for today. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Have a great evening everyone!
DeeMarie

Good afternoon, peeps! I've been gone from home since 7:50 this morning. Feels good to pull up a chair and ottoman and play on the computer now.

Dee, way to go on passing up all the goodies at work. I always think of Marci when I'm standing in the grocery check-out line smelling the candy bars. LOL And that's great about your clothes getting looser.

Raeanne, you put in quite the busy morning, didn't you? I don't know anything about this wine glass you're talking about. Could I please have more details? It must be an interesting item!

Patti, I got here as fast as I could today! I drove all over this part of the county and even into another one getting things done. I'd much rather have been playing on the computer.

Suzanne, more snow??? Bless your heart. But, think about the incredible muscles you're building this winter. Stay safe and warm!

I saw a new dr. today because I was out of my meds from my other dr. I'm not sure I'll go back to him as it was rather far away, but he was able to highly recommend a local doctor for me to use instead of him next time. I'm glad to finally learn about this since the price of gas is getting beyond ridiculous. I also got a dentist's name in the next town that I will go to in April. Slowly, but surely, I'm settling in here.

Good news this morning was that I have lost 2 more pounds from Monday's WW weigh-in. Also, dh loved the stuffed bell peppers last night, so that recipe is definitely a keeper, and I'm so glad. I'm going to continue trying new recipes until I have a good selection that we'll both like.

Hope y'all have a good evening! Patti, keep your shorts up!

OK - I am losing track of who is walking around without their shorts on, but you had better get dressed right now!! LOL Although all this talk about shorts falling down might bring John out of the woodwork.

And I am honored that my name is being mentioned as an incentive on how to say NO! As long as you are not swearing under your breath while you are thinking of me! LOL

I am going to be putting my will power to the test this weekend. I am making Lemon cupcakes for a bake sale. It is a recipe from Paula Deen that I have been wanting to try. But I figure I will taste a few (they are the mini ones) and package up the rest as soon as they are cooled and take them into work on Monday to give to the volunteer. Out of sight, out of mind.

Has anyone been watching Idol this season? I am loving the young David Archeletta (sp?). I don't have a favorite girl right now although I do like Brooke and Syesha so far, but they still have a lot to prove in the weeks to come. It will be interesting to see who goes home tonight.

Well, I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen. I would much rather cook than clean up, so I always put that off for at least a little while after dinner. It doesn't make the task any more pleasant, but somehow I feel better waiting a little bit.

Later,
Marci

Good Friday!

-10 here this morning and another big storm on the way tonight through most of tomorrow. Yea!

Dee,I guess I am dense but I don't get the shorts thing? Did I miss something.........besides my mind? LOL

Marci, my how you tempt yourself with baking! I could never do that! Especially lemon desserts.

Raeanne, I sent you my slide show let me know if you don't get it. After this storm I should have another!

Good morning Suzanne!

Clarification: You mentioned that you were having a hard time keeping your shorts up.....I turned that around to an erotic situation...that you are so fit, you are feeling sexy; therefore the shorts are 'down'. Oh well, maybe I just have a very naughty mind. (I'll bet Maddie and Raeanne were LOL!)

We are now expecting 6-11 inches of snow--that's up from 3 inches, so I think I've kept my promise of trying to keep the totals lower in New England this weekend. Let's hope so.

Looking forward to hearing from BJ, Besh, Donna, Jen, Maddie, John, and lots and lots of MIA's. Joanne, Gretchen, Amy, When, magickitty,

Gotta run and get some work started.

Make this a good Friday!
DeeMarie

Let's see how much of the fence and gate we can see after tomorrow's storm! Our weatherman just upped the anty on snow amounts here! Oh joy!!

WOW, Suzanne. I hope you don't get so much snow. How does your mailman get to that box?

Hi Dee,

Believe me I hope we don't but I fear we will!

LOL, when I posted that picture I wondered if anyone would notice the mailbox. That fence goes over 1,000 feet and into the woods - it is the start and finish of all my trail rides and some of my carriage rides. We put the mailbox up to play with the horses going in and out. It's harder than you would imagine to get a horse to walk or drive up to a mailbox so it's a fun practice session. You may ask - why do we want to do this? It's a good exercise in controlling your horse and getting her to yield to my leg or reins in both directions. Also, in a horse show trail class or other obstacle courses you have to ride/drive up to the mail box, stop, open the box,take out a newspaper hold it up for the judge to see, put it back in and put the flag down. It's fun. We haven't gotten any mail lately there!! It's not as easy as it sounds especially in a carriage. Sometimes a friend will pop a note in there to be funny!

Milkdud - Suzanne sent me a wine glass that holds an entire bottle of wine. I have been tempted a few times, but I put water in it instead.

We are suppose to get another 10 inches starting tonight as well.

Dee - the difference with your snow is that it melts shortly afterwards. We still have snow from December around here LOL.

Okay, this entire shorts talk went totally over my head - so Dee my mind isn't as dirty as you would like to believe LOL.

Suzanne - I took a photo of where our sign hangs by the street and sent it to my brother in CA. I will look for the slide show, thanks.

Marci - I love David too - did you see him crying last night. He reminds me so much of my girlfriend's son. I like Michael Johns(?) but he wasn't great the other night. My favorite girls are Brooke and Carly (I think - I still don't know the names).

Happy Leap Year Day!

Sorry to hyjack this thread today, but I received good news from my OB/GYN yesterday regarding the biopsy I had earlier this month. Thanks again for all the good thoughts.

Dee, great news! Now you have to celebrate!

QOD: Weekend plans?

Hi all!

I'm sitting at a deak in the Paris Las Vegas resort, overlooking the Bellagio fountains, and I just had to drop a line--we arrived yesterday, and will leave for the Grand Canyon next Thursday. The weather is in the mid 70s and it's a cloudless sky, and if this flu doesn't kill me, I'm having a good time! :) (Nothing like going on vacation with the flu--I'm mostly over it, but man--I still can't hear, and i have no taste--what a bummer!!!) But I have found Armani, Gucci, Harry Winston's, Chanel & Betsy Johnson's!!!! LOL!!! I'm goig to see Bette Midler tomorrow night at Caesars, and I'm really looking forward to that--we're going to Mystere on Monday night, too--

I haven't caught up with all of the posts, but I will when I get back--

Hope all is well--

Hugs,

Maddie

Dee - I may have to break out that legendary wine glass to toast you. Thanks for sharing the good news.

Suzanne - that slide show is awesome.

Enjoy

I will join you Raeanne, but I will just swig out of the bottle! LOL

Maddie, sounds like you are having a great time!

Yea DeeMarie - Glad to hear the good news!

NHSuzanne - I will never (ok - not never), but hardly ever complain about the snow again! And those goats are beautiful in their winter coats! Thanks for the slide show.

Maddie - Throw a toss of the dice for me. My lucky numbers are 3 and 28. Have fun in the sun. You picked a perfect time to get away.

Patti - I am coming to FL again in the first week of May. We will leave on May 1 and come home on Tuesday, the 6th.

Milkdud - You are doing so well on your WW regime. Congratulations!

((Donna)) - it was good to see you post. Keep coming by and letting us know how you are doing.

Raeanne - After the week I had at school I could use one of those wine glasses. I bought a small bottle of Godiva White Choc. liqueur to add to my coffee. Trouble is, I only drink coffee in the morning. So I will have to brew a pot of decaf soon and try it as an after dinner drink. Tonight might be the night!

BJ - Are you still unpacking?? Come back soon and fill us in on your trip.

It is snowing (I am not complaining - just stating a fact - lol) and the weather man was so wrong in his forecast. They said we were getting 1" and so far we have about 5" out there. I guess they forgot to look outside when they posted the forecast! LOL
QOD - Running errands, baking for the bake sale, making soup for a friend and visiting my MIL for her birthday. (and probably shoveling snow)

Hi to all the MIAs.
Marci

Good evening!

Dee, I'm breathing a sigh of relief with you about your biopsy results!

Marci, when I'm tempted, I think of you saying "NO!", and I repeat it inside my head and it helps so much. Kudos to you for staying strong while baking lemon cupcakes. That would be so hard for me.

Now I understand the joke about the wine glass. Raeanne, thanks for explaining and here's to you! LOL

Suzanne, -10 is a temperature I can't even imagine. The coldest temp I've ever experienced was 8 degrees one Christmas in Dallas many years ago. I love your pictures, too. But, I'd much rather see them than be in them. LOL

Had workers here today off and on, so my plans for today were put on hold as was my computer time. Luckily, my eating plan is still on target and I'm still enjoying this way of cooking and eating!

QOD: no idea what plans we have for the weekend so far. H has been working long hours and just comes home to eat and nap in his study. The weather is going to be gorgeous, high of 75 and sunny, both days, too.

Have a great evening everyone!

Milkdud, if you want to see the slide show please email me privately and I will send it. It's fun to see...........snow, snow, snow. I might as well embrace it because I can't stop it! This is the 3rd snow storm this week! It's unreal. It's warmed up and in the teens so it's not bad. I cannot imagine a 75 degree day right now!! LOL

Marci, the forum can only stand one of us complaining about the snow at once! LOL I hope that I don't sound whinny! It's just such a focus and daily life for me and I am so tired of it! Calgon, take me AWAY!! Do you find that your bake sales are profitable? I think ( but don't really know) that it could be a great way to make some money for an organization because everyone loves baked goods.

Wow, Suzanne, what beautiful photos! What kind of camera is it? I need a new camera soon. Just ordered a new computer from Dell, though. I'm glad it's on it's way.

I think about you all every day, so I don't know why I don't come by more. I guess I keep intending to write more and end up writing none because I don't take the time to write more, whatever sense that makes.

Dear BJ, thanks so much for thinking of me and sending me a family update and pics! I was happy to hear from you! I even got so far as writing a note back and then I wasn't sure about the address, so here it still sits.

I'm making progress in Second Life, and Myst Online - Uru is ending again. Guess they still couldn't make the finances stretch. Today a couple of Uru refugees came and visited me at my SL island. I was going to wait to post til I could post some pics, but it doesn't seem to be happening, so here I am without pics.

My younger son is getting into virtual world programming and just took a job with a company called Soul Star or Soulstar, not sure which. They have a tool for creating virtual worlds and he is going to help them debug it.

Part of my problem with posting is that I try to do more than I realistically can, and then things don't get done. I guess I've pretty much always been like that.

Still staying as much as I can with low carb. It seems the way for me, and lots of vegies, like spinach, lettuch, parsley, zucchini, etc. Money still is short, especially since I spend it on paints, books, music, second life, etc. instead of clothes and food :) At least I pay rent, utilities, phone and internet, lol.

I hope everyone is doing okay. Dave's been telling me how cold it's been in WI. Strange that isn't a part of my life anymore.

I'll try to come back soon and post pics so y'all will know what I do with my days. I'm exhibiting in SL now and hoping to make enough money to at least cover what I'm spending. That's about what I do in FL, too. Oddly, I tend to stay away from people, even though I like people. I guess we all have some conflicting characteristics in us.

Take care and I'll be back. :)

Amy

Hi Amy - It is always good to see a post from you and catch up on what is going on in your life.

NHSuzanne - The baked goods are for a friend. She volunteers at a retirement home and once a month they have a bake sale for the families and friends who are visiting. When she said they needed bakers, I saw a chance to bake (which I love to do), try new recipes, taste a small sample, and then send the rest out the door. DH doesn't fully understand why I keep baking and it all disappears, but he benefits because I usually give him enough for a lunch or two before I give it away. I never asked my friend if the sales are profitable, but I do know the residents enjoy the goodies.

Marci

Amy~Is that really you? LOL Good to see you GF. Glad that things are going well.

Maddie~Glad that you weren't involved in that Rison junk!

"Rabbit, Rabbit!" :"")

Suzanne~TY for the beautiful pictures! Lovely!!

Marci~Call if you can when you are in FL. Love to talk with you & get together if it works out for all of us.

Milkdud~It sounds like our temp was the same today.

Dee~So happy that your biopsy results were so great. Now if we can get good results for me next week hopefully we will all be doing good. ??

Raeanne~Hey!

QOD~We have a block party today. Sunday, I'm not certain what we'll do. Probably rest b/c we have 2 dr. appts. on Monday on different sides of the state & then another dr. appt. on Wednesday. It looks like it will be a busy week. Also, DDIL's birthday is tomorrow. So, we'll give her a call. Hope that everyone enjoys their weekend. Patti :)

Patti - rabbit, rabbit to you too. I am so jealous to hear of your block party. Unless it involves heavy coats, mittens, hats and scarves, there will be no outdoors parties around here.

While Suzanne embraces the weather I am going to be the whiner! It started snowing last night around 7, just as we had to make the 1+ hour ride to pick DD#2 up at the train station. It was slip and slide on the way back with tons of cars off the road. When I got home I poured myself a nice tall Bailey's - no I didn't use Suzanne's glass. We only got about 5 inches, but it still is a big nuisance. The only good thing is that DD#2 got to come home to some fresh pretty snow and will probably go out to "play" in it. She doesn't get to see much in NYC these days.

Amy - thanks for letting us catch up in your life. Sounds like you have been staying busy. That must be a very interesting job for DS.

Maddie - thanks for checking in with us. Hope you enjoy your shows and the trip to the Grand Canyon. If you haven't been there before - be prepared to have your breath taken away.

Dee - It looked like you may have gotten some of this storm, did you?

Oh good, the plow guy just hit our road. I better get ready for work :*(

QOD - nothing big planned. Will probably go out to dinner with DD tonight.

Amy, it's good to hear from you. My camera is an Olympus C-740. I have had it for about 3 years now. It's a nice little camera and reasonable priced. Has many features that I don't know how to use! LOL I think the real secret to taking good photos is time and patience and lots of shots. It's easy to do digitally because you don't have to pay for expense film processing. I take tons of shots hoping for one! The turkey shot I posted here was taken through the glass of my bay window. I cannot believe the detail. I never thought it was possible but I think all the snow helps..........God knows my windows aren't all that clean!!

Raeanne, wa,wa,wa!! LOL It's snowing really hard right now at least an 1" an hour. It's light and fluffy though so it won't be too hard to shovel and move.

QOD: I am supposed to be at the Driving Forum in Springfield, MA right now!! Because of the storm I have had to postpone my trip to be sure the barn and chicken coop is shoveled and cleared for the horse sitter. Grrrrrr This storm is supposed to be substantially complete by noon so I will get cleaned out and go. I don't think the roads are so hot right now either so I am much better off here. I will miss the entire morning of sessions though which is really too bad. I will be there in time for cocktail hour and dinner plus I will have the whole day tomorrow. Oh well, I would not be comfortable leaving things undone anyway.

My hens are really laying and I wish I could share these great eggs with all of you. For now I will share with you how delicious my mushroom omelet was this morning!!

NH Suzanne~I hope that you are getting some pictures of those beautiful eggs that you get from your hens. I'm hoping that you will have the opportunity to post one. I'm thinking that they would make cute Easter cards. hint hint

Raeanne~I wish that you could have been here for the block party. Most everyone is from NY or MA. There are a few from the Midwest. Of course, I'm the only Texan. This year the wind behaved & our things didn't blow into the canal. There was a breeze so it was nice & it is 73 so it is perfect weather for a picnic & get-together. We are blessed with some really nice neighbors.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their day. I'm sorry that you are all having to deal with so much snow although I'm kind of glad to know that it isn't so hot all over the place. (Sorry!) Global warming does concern me & living here in Florida I think that I'm seeing the effects. We used to have to cover the plants a few days in the winter but not this winter or last (that I remember.)

Take care Friends~Patti :)

Happy SATURDAY Everyone!

Well, I got on the scale this morning (because last Saturday morning I started counting my points), and it was down 8 lbs! Yippeee; that was without my usual amount of exercise because of some minor back problems so I'm really grateful for the kick start. I know it will be way less next week but what a boost!

Patti, I wish you the very best for your results next week. Will be saying some prayers for you both as you go through your appointments.

Marci, did I miss something? Are you going to Florida soon? DH and I are going next Saturday to stay at my sister's timeshare until the 14th. We have almost every minute filled with plans (spring training and all), but you never know when some free time might emerge. Patti & all the Florida peeps, send along your phone numbers to me please..just in case!

OK, I've got to go make a big salad and start to prepare dinner. DH asked DBIL over and told him "6pm". Men! lol

Raeanne/Suzanne, I did my best to keep the snow from you; however we got less than predicted...only about 4 inches on the ground and it melted by early afternoon!

Amy, please keep posting. I love to hear about your virtual adventures. Happy to see you!

Maddie, have fun darling! Please check in when you get back and tell us all about it. Hopefully, we won't see you on the National News! hahahaha

Where is Jen and Besh? Let's hear from everyone.

QOD: Dinner with DBIL tonight here (we've been running errands and I was putting out Spring decorations today!);-) Tomorrow, we have more projects around the house and an early dinner out with friends.

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