mdrai

Oh that's right! Pam & S get the keys to their new home today!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Excited for you, Pam!!! :eek:

Second time's the charm, right? Just as I started to type last time, my whole Internet connection went Kablooey! A cosmic hint, maybe? :eek: Yay it's Friday! I hope the day goes by quickly & before we know it -- voila! -- it's the weekend! Enjoy!

Yes you CAN, Judy! We love the GWL! Haven't been in about 4 years, though. What fun! I love to float on the lazy river. Watch out for kids like my ds who's fav activity there is squirting unsuspecting adults who meander by the tree fort w/their latte & newspaper -- soooooo funny to watch that! Uh, hello? You're inside a water park, what do you expect?? I rarely as in never cook butternut squash, but you're making it sound good, Judy! I'd imagine that cooking it how you said in the pot would work well.

Lol! Good Morn, Vi's~~ Another busy day on tap -- aren't they all? -- but with a visit to the dermatologist thrown in for good measure... gotta do the annual skin check, especially when I fried myself like a fish back in the teen years... with baby oil & reflectors in the "prime tanning hours" (now known as the "danger" hours) of 10am - 2pm!! Today is day #4 for good eating, etc.! Amazing. I just have a plan, and don't fight it... I go with the flow. Thanks for the input on the WDW decision... where the "I couldn't possibly go w/out them" was my knee-jerk emotional reaction, I am now using more rational decision-making strategies and have moved from a "oh no!" to a "maybe" -- progress! Everyone make it a great day!!

Finally finished for the day. Just have to go check the soup in the crocker & then go to bed. Sweet dreams, Vi's!

It's 10:15pm... do you know where your Violet is? Why look -- she is still at her desk working! 12 hours after she started! Ay yai yai!! This is giving me a headache! Just short breaks to drive a kid somewhere or cook something for the crew... then back to work!

YAY YAY YAY Pam & Susanne!!! So so so happy & excited for you gals!!!

Gosh, you'd do that for lil' ol' me, Judy? It's not true what they say about you -- you're the best! :wink:

But then I think about my whole "Life is Short -- Live Now!" philosophy and I think I should go! Brain pinball!

So now my sis is e-mailing me and saying that she & Mom will pay what they'd spend on me for my b'day & Xmas toward the Disney trip if I'll go with them! Ack! She's killing me! Although that is very kind of them, and it does get it into a more do-able $ range... when I shut my eyes and imagine myself there w/them... something's missing -- my kids! I don't think I can go without them! If they were going pretty much anywhere else... to the Grand Canyon or a beach or the moon... then I'd go, too... but Disney? It's OUR place, the kids & mine. I think it'd be to mean to them, to know I was there and they weren't. But maybe I'm just being overemotional? I know that my sis & Mom are offering a wonderful gift... but it's also an inexplicably heartwrenching one, too. I don't think I can do it!

Think of it as weight lifting! Work those arms!

ME!!! So so sad.

Good Weds Morn, Vi's~~ Regular day here today, work, laundry, house stuff, & kids to activities. DD's best barn friend's mom (I'd guess my age-ish) had a mild heart attack on Monday! She's supposed to come home from the hospital today. I'm making a pot of veggie-beef soup, cheese drop bisquits, and something for dessert, I'm thinking apple cobbler or something fruity & light like that to take to them tomorrow. So scary. My sis & Mom are planning a Disney trip for the end of April & I can't go! :eek: I just can't swing it financially, no matter how I try to finagle the numbers, drat it all! So, contrary to popular belief, I do *not* always get my way or get to go wherever I want whenever I want to. But, I'm having fun helping them plan! It's all good when it comes to Disney! (The joke around here is that I can duct-tape one of those Mickey antenna boppers to Mo's tail, and shave a "hidden Mickey" into his backside, to remind me where all my $$ has gone! hardy har har, my family is soooo funny! :wink:) Am doing well w/food... last night I had a few meat tortellini in red sauce, salad, and homemade from scratch focaccia bread w/caramalized onions, parm cheese, and italian herbs blended in -- yes, I made this on a Tuesday night, yeast dough & rising & all! I had the recipe for the focaccia, I totally improvised on the mix-ins... & it worked! Mm! Ok, off to work. Everyone make it a great day!

Now THAT's tired! Hope you can rest this eve!

Good afternoon, gals... A busy start to the day... slowing down a bit now. Am about to dig into another chapter of work... am burning a "Tea & Honey" Yankee Candle at my desk, and it smells soooo good -- EXACTLY like a cup of tea w/honey! How do they do that? A very relaxing scent. I've got Cafe Mocha in the kitchen... hmm, hadn't noticed, but I'm doing the whole "warm winter drinks" theme w/my candles! I did very well w/eating, moving yesterday. Am doing pretty good today, too. So far: B = vanilla chai flaxseed pro shake S = grande nonfat chai latte @ SB S = 100 cal choc choc chip vitatop muffin top L = strawberry/banana, van greek yogurt, skim milk, flaxseed, vanilla pro powder shake -- very thick and very tasty... *almost* milk-shakey! Keep enjoying the day!

This makes me feel like we're some kind of "ooh la la" site!! :tongue_smilie:

Man, you're FAST for a lil' ol' preacher's wife from Alpena, Michigan!! :cool2: Yes, I figured out it was mammoth... good thing I'm a genius, huh? & that the second time I noticed the "Preview Post" button at the bottom of this little boxy-thing I type in. What's the phone number for Mensa?? :tongue_smilie:

She got a new one... Savannah... much better behaved! DD earned Reserve Champion (2nd place) in her division for the Winter (Oct - Feb) jumper shows @ her barn! So proud of her!! Here they are:

Hi from the barn!!

National Margarita Day: It's Never Too Cold for Tequila! From Entertainment Weekly Online... Image Credit: Photographer's Choice/Getty Images So today, Feb. 22, is National Margarita Day. That it falls on a Monday, the worst day of the week to get drunk (though the most in need of a holiday providing an excuse to do so) is just an unfortunate result of the 2010 calendar. However, it’s a wonder that a cold, fruity, summery drink such as the margarita is commemorated in February — ya know, the dead of winter. Personally, I’d be more likely to celebrate if it were June. But maybe that’s because I live in New York, where the sidewalks are currently covered in dog-soiled snow that sort of resembles a foul frozen cocktail. Maybe it doesn’t matter, though. Americans on average drink 185,000 margaritas per hour, making it almost our patriotic duty to imbibe. And the truth is, in the time it took me to bang out this post, I planned my evening commute around a stop at the store for a bag of limes so I can head home and whip up a batch of traditional margaritas, on-the-rocks with salt (frozen mango/pomegranate-type margaritas are only okay on cruise ships and/or from slushie machines). Yes, my apartment is drafty and cold, but tequila is fun and there are no good hot drinks. So to hell with it. Happy holidays…

I called my Dad Daddy when I was a girl... then switched to Dad when I got older... don't know why, just did. But if my sisters and I are remembering something from our youth, we might say something like, "Remember that time when Daddy threw us in the pool w/our clothes on?!" I guess cuz' he was Daddy in the memory? When I think of adults (well, women... it'd be odder if it was a man) calling their Dad Daddy, I think of it as a southern thing, or that they just really love him. Not odd, per se. Guess context is important, too.

YAY! YAY! YAY! This is huge! Fantastic job, Janie!!! :frown:

Ack, me again. One more thought to share w/the group... I'm trying to have a "Thy will be done" attitude w/ all these issues... in the hopes that will help w/my mood. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I believe that to say that AND MEAN IT is one of the hardest things for me. I'm such a control freak (Really? Really??) So accepting what I can & can't affect is important, or else I just drive myself -- & everyone around me -- crazy! I'm also trying to not fight the food... make a plan, move a bit, and do my best... Can you hear my inner "Ohm" from here? :frown:

Oh, thanks for asking about Mo & MIL (I'm not sure that's the right order, lol, but...)... Mo is oh-kay (I'm saying it slowly)... still keeping an eagle eye on him... the mobile vet came today & said he's ok, so... we'll see! MIL has a different doc app't or test each day this week, Tues - Fri. I asked her what she was doing today, and she said, "Getting my nails done!" Priorities! We're hoping that there will be more concrete answers to what's wrong & what needs to be done to fix it after this week.

Yeah, once they're mobile, life gets interesting real fast! Wait 'til he can walk AND talk! :sad: This is my lunchtime check-in. I've been such a good girl today and have been work work working like a fiend. + doing laundry. I even went on a 15ish minute walk outside! :frown: Do not faint! I walked as far up the hill as I could, 'til the sidewalk got blocked by snow, then came back. It felt so good... nice & brisk! And I saw 3 white-tailed deer bounding through the snowy woods... I love it when I see them. If I'd stayed cooped up, I would've missed them! Off to make my mid-day pro/greek yog/fruit smoothie... then back to work!