Biggest Loser--Fall 2011 Challenge for Losers & Maintainers!!

[pjlla]

Guess who's robotics team took home the FIRST WINNER CHAMPIONS trophy today?? Can't guess??

MY TEAM!!!!!!!!


Yup, we DID IT.... a "three-peat".... three times Overall Champions at our Regional event! And now we are ON TO STATES!

I am so SUPER proud of the kids. I'm not embarrassed to admit I shed a few tears. I just wasn't feeling that positive about things this year and I was feeling sad that we were going to not end our middle school robotics years on a high note, but I am happy to say I was wrong about that!!! When they announced us as overall champions, I cried.

We took home the same trophies as last year... 1st place overall robot performance and 1st place Champions overall!

THank you to ALL of you for your pixie dust, prayers, and well wishes for today!! We felt every bit of that positive energy at that school today!

I hear you about the holiday season. I actually took an extra day off this week to get ready. I already have cookie dough, dinner rolls, lasagna in the freezer ready for Christmas dinner. We host and have 25 for dinner. We have ham/roasted beef tenderloin/turkey. Then we have people stopping in latter for dessert/coffee. I am cutting myself some slack this year and plan on buying a lot of desserts at the local bakery. We are driving to NH this weekend to start stocking up on beer and booze. From Thanksgiving on, there seems to be a family obligation every weekend.

Impressive that you have so much baking/cooking done already! Everyone knows I HATE to cook, so my T.giving and Christmas responsibilities are usually limited to soda, beer and salad!


I make lists too!!! I have a Flylady Holiday binder. In it I have all the recipes I use for the holidays with a master shopping list, my card list from last year, a list of things I need, which I write down the previous year. (bows, paper, buffalo snow, etc). I start my Christmas shopping in July, and I am happy to say - I finished last night. Just a few odds and ends left to do.

OOooo..... I must say I would probably LOVE that binder!! And you finished shopping already??? I used to shop way ahead when the kids were little and before that when I worked retail and was super busy at the holiday times, but now, not so much.



Spent the day with my favorite Veteran - my Dad. He was in the Navy during the Korean war. His older brother died during the war. So my father, and two other brothers (Air Force, Army) were pulled back to the states - it was the way the military insured there were no more Private Ryans. My Dad will laugh about it now - they pulled me back and was training me to be a Navy Diver - they considered that safe!!!! All the boys were in the military due to the fact that their Dad died when my father was 12 youngest was 2, and it was a good income to send home to their mother. They were a family of 10.

Belated Veteran's day THANKS to your dad for his service.

Been cooking and deep cleaning the house for the holidays. We went out to dinner for DS birthday which was last Monday. His greed got the better of him and he spent all the money that would have went to bringing 4 friends to the movies this weekend. He bought a video game. A lot easier for me,. For those in my area - we went to Felicia's of the North End in Stoneham. I had a $25 GC from restaurants.com when they were 80% off. It was awesome. I was not counting calories, since we only eat out for birthdays, or on vacations. I had shrimp and scallop Grand Marnier on a bed of Angel Hair pasta. I should say a pound of angel hair. DH and I ate the rest for dinner tonight. Dh had a stuffed chicken breast - the WHOLE breast - with prosciutto and mozzarella, with a sun dried tomato sauce and asparagus. He ate the whole thing. DS had chicken ziti and broccoli in a creamy garlic sauce. My DS looked at me and told me that he now understood why I hate the Olive Garden. He is finally expanding his palate and apreciating the flavors of foods.

I wish my family would expect their taste buds away from chain restaurants like Olive Garden..... I am pretty sure that DS will NEVER be any kind of gourmet. His special dinner tonight after our big win??.....FIVE GUYS! Admittedly it was my suggestion, but he had been asking for it recently, so I figured he'd be up for it and he was SUPER excited! I even took a picture of him at the restaurant with his fries, his burger, and his trophy!

Good Saturday morning

Just woke up feeling achy. Walking on concrete for 5 hours can really get to you. I am off in a few minutes to go get some blood work done. I want to do it first thing this morning since it a fasting one. I could never imagine getting it done latter in the day. I know I would slip up and not be able to get the blood work done.


I agree about walking on concrete. It is really tough! I decided to be a swim official about DD's 3rd swim season.... and I passed the test and all, but after one season I said NO MORE! Not my idea of a fun day, standing on a concrete and tile pool deck for HOURS, sweating and getting splashed with chlorine, soggy feet all day, sore back, and BORING! I work the computer for the timing system now and that is much more my speed.


Question of the Day

It is Saturday When do you do your grocery shopping? Do you plan your meals including breakfast and lunch?

Have a happy and healthy day.

I don't have a "regular" shopping day. I shop when I need food. And that can really vary. Lately I"ve been trying to use up some of our freezer and pantry overstock, so I've just been hitting the market for fresh produce, milk, eggs. But depending on our schedule and whether DH is here or out of town, etc, sometimes I need to shop every week, but sometimes I can go two weeks or more without a major shop.

I do plan my dinners (most of the time.... lately it's been a little more scattered, with DH away), but I don't plan my other meals unless we have company. THat said, I do think ahead a bit to be sure we have what we need when things are crazy. Like today I had to be sure I had enough eggs to make everyone an egg and cheese sandwich to go this morning, as we were heading out early for the tournament.

You stole the words right out of my mouth, except I do stress a lot. I am a list freak. People at work laugh because I go through post-its so fast. I also clean to destress. When my house is in order, I feel like my life is in order.

AMEN to that last statement, although I would also add "when my eating and exercise is in order....."



I really need to spend this weekend cleaning and organizing around my house. A cluttered house makes me crazy!

ME TOO! And no one else here seems to understand! I can't THINK STRAIGHT when the house is a mess!!

DSs and I were in a Veteran's Day parade last night with Cub Scouts. We have 5 communities that combine for the parade and our town held it this year so we were closer to the beginning. It took us about 35 minutes to walk and the parade was at least an hour or an hour and a half long. It was really nice. We layered well, but it was still chilly (around 40). It's times like those that I wish my dad and grandpa were still around to see my boys. I know they would be so proud of them. They both died before DSs were born. And, my dad would have loved to take them to WDW with his touring plan in hand and go, go, go from opening until close lol. So, I salute my dad and grandpa-both veterans.

Thanks to both of your loved ones for their service. You must be so proud of them. I'm sure they are looking down on your boys, just like my grampa is looking down on my kids (especially DS.... he is so much like my grampa!).

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Jill

Pamela, good luck to your robotics guys today!

Thanks!


I was so happy with my weigh in yesterday -- down another 3.5 pounds which makes 18.5 total. I'm almost in new territory for 2011. Thank goodness for the Tinker Bell looming or I could fall off the wagon so darn easily. I really do not want to cover this territory ever again so will be strong!

Have a great day all!

OH MY GOSH! What super news!!! I"m impressed and, admittedly, a bit jealous!!

Good Saturday Morning.

Nothing exciting going on here. All the leaves decided to fall off the trees the last two days so we will be doing some major leaf clean up this weekend. I love trees, but sure hate having to get the leaves up.

DD11 had her friend spend the night last night. I really love it when my girls have friends over. For some reason they just don't invite people over often and usually when they do it is at my suggestion. If it were up to me we would have kids over all the time, but I think they just like having their own space and peace at home after all that they do at school. They don't usually get bored and enjoy doing things together or with me so they don't need friends over to keep them busy. My kids are weird!

I know my kids enjoy having friends over but I stress SO MUCH about getting the house clean and feeding the friends properly, etc. But I do like it when they are enjoying time with good friends.

pjlla: GOOD LUCK TODAY I will be sending your way all day.

Thanks.... the pixie dust definitely reached us!!

I am absolute AWE of everyone that has their Christmas shopping done or nearly done. My DD's 16th birthday is a week from today and I haven't even THOUGHT about what I am going to get her, I usually don't start Christmas Shopping until after Thanksgiving. In fact I picked up a few makeup kits on clearance yesterday at Rite Aid and as I was giving them to the girls the thought crossed my mind that they would have made great stocking stuffers, but I am just not in that Christmas shopping mode yet so didn't think of it until it was too late.

I"m with you on that.... just can't think about it right now, with everything else going on!!

I plan dinners, but breakfast is just one of a few choices so I go with what I am in the mood for. Lunch also, depends on how hungry I am and if there are leftovers. I put my dinners in an order that I think we will use them but usually things end up getting switched around. So it is more of a weekly plan so I have the ingredients in the house to make something from the list. And we always have fall back options. Like last night I had planned on Goulash made in the crock pot and had it mostly made but then my daughters friends ended up staying for dinner and there wasn't enough for all of us so I pulled some pizza crusts out of the freezer and the girls all made their own pizzas. DH grilled a frozen hamburger for himself, and I ended up making myself a small pizza after everyone else was done. The crock pot went into the refrigerator and we will have that tonight.

DH usually does the grocery shopping on his way home from work and usually once every week I have a big list for him. Then he or I usually have to stop to pick up a few things like fresh bread or veggies, or the stuff I forgot once or twice. We are going to Costco this weekend to get meat because we are almost out.

I do like the meat prices at Costco... their organic chicken thighs are an excellent price.... but I'm disappointed in their produce lately. Do you buy produce there??

Just a quick hello this morning. We're enjoying our long weekend off, and ds and I started yesterday off on the right foot with a 3 mile run/walk. We're heading to friends soon and I'll run with my friend, while ds plays with his. I've been trying to clean out all the drawers of stuff we have, and purge. I bought some shelves for the basement and we're going to organize down there, and put all the stuff we want to keep on the shelves around the perimeter of the basement, and make a play area in the center. We got some handmedown foam flooring which will be great because we do get water in some parts of the baement. Our goal is to have it ready for Christmas eve and we'll put the air hockey table down and have some games set out for the kids. Our house is small, and we have 21 of us on Xmas eve, so it will be nice to be able to spread out more.

Have a great day everyone!!

Oh my gosh... how great to create a new play space! My basement has become such a dumping ground and pit. I'm absolutely horrified and embarrased about it, but can't seem to find the time to get down there for a thorough cleaning. It is definitely on my list for this winter though.

Do you have an air hockey table already or are you buying one for Christmas? We bought one for the kids several years ago when we added the playroom.... but don't use it much any more, but they really loved it for years. But we bought a HUGE one and THANK HEAVENS DBIL was spending Christmas eve here with us or "Santa" would have had to leave the table in the garage, unassembled! "Mrs. Claus" would not have been able to help get that up to the room and assembled!

BTW, got your phone number and will call you in the morning! DD and I will leave home about 4:45 am to be parked and at the Y by 7 am for a 7:25 warm-up time. I PROMISE I won't call that early!! Yes, Sterling Y, on Route 22/Essex Street.

Happy Saturday everyone! DH decided to pay a visit to his parents and took DS with him. I am the bad DIL who stayed at home and did not visit. I am really enjoying my alone time today!!! It seems like I am saying that a lot these days. Hope I am not turning into a hermit!
As we have been unpacking boxes, we have set aside stuff to take to my FIL, he buys and sells stuff as a hobby. We sent him some of MY childhood board games and even a board game from my Mom's childhood, as well as a set of 1946 encyclopedias. Along with a bunch of other odds and ends that we thought he might be able to sell. It feels SO good to get that junk out of here! I have another load to take to Goodwill today too.

I love to purge too.... it feels so good! I took a huge bag to the local thrift store this week. Some of the stuff was brand new and I probably could have sold it on Craig's List or Ebay, but I knew I would NEVER get around to it, so into the bag it went!!

I started thinking about losing weight when we moved to Europe. At first I just thought the weight would fall off because I was more active and I was eating differently. After a few months passed, I realized I had lost a grand total of 4 pounds and was going to have to start working harder to actually lose some I also saw how thin most Europeans are and I saw how much trouble I had keeping up with my family as we toured places or went hiking. I just knew I could not continue to live in this condition. Then I met a bunch of DISers online going on my cruise and we all started C25K together. I was shocked to discover I could run a 5K! After the cruise I found this board and the support has just been so great. I'm not the world's fastest loser but I am continuing to plug along and I am determined to reach my goal one day!

And we are SO GLAD you found us here! And you WILL reach your goal!!


I have the unusual situation of not having a very stressful holiday. My family only buys gifts for the children. We only have 2 children and 1 of them is mine so that leaves only 1 gift for that side of the family. We all bring a dish or 2 so that's not very hard. DH's family goes all out and buys us lots and lots of presents. We have asked them many times to stop but they just enjoy it. I make DH buy their presents since it's his family but this year we have already replaced their TV for them and made it known that was the Cmas gift for the whole family. MIL does all the cooking and baking so nothing for me to do there. DS is getting a Mac Air and that's so expensive it will be his only present. I don't participate in the gift exchange at work, don't send cards any more and make a few holiday goodies to give out to friends. The only thing I sort of dread is getting out all of my decorations and putting them up but that's not really stressful. Hope I don't sound like a complete Scrooge!! I do give DH & DS a small present in their stocking every day from Dec 1- Dec 24 but that's a lot of fun for me. I keep hoping to find something in my stocking one of these days

What exactly is Mac Air?? (And from one "Scrooge" to another.... I"m with you on dreading getting out the decorations!)

PAMELA Good luck with your robotics event!


THANKS!!


CC Glad you finally have your power back. Has anyone heard from Deb?

I got a PM from Deb late last week. She wasn't feeling well (stomach bug), but no news other than that. I continue to keep her and the family in my prayers. SHe didn't say anything about being without power.

Laura I think I will make the soup too! I need a little bit more broccoli and the half and half but I have everything else on hand!

It was SO GOOD! I shared the recipe with my Mom yesterday too. I think she was going to make it today. Haven't heard how it came out.

Hello to everyone else. I am way up this week, very bloated and crampy and all that fun stuff. I PM'ed my weight to Sue and got it out of the way. Thurs & Fri were my really bad days and today it's getting better so hopefully I will have a good week. I did 45 mins on my elliptical here at home this morning. I'm going to straighten around the house, work on my stitching and run a few errands which includes dropping some things at the Goodwill. Wow, it's already 3:00, the day has gotten away from me. I better get going!

Put that bad news aside and MOVE ON! Yes, you WILL have a good week!!

Feeling better than last night but still stuffy. Did a fair today that went really well. I had a lot of books that were slightly used or out of print that I sold for half price which people loved. My other books sold pretty well too. A very nice lady helped me pack up the car. I'm exhausted and it was reallllly cold in the hall we were in. The person ins charge doesn't like to give us much heat for this event! Oh well! I had two bowls of Italian Wedding Soup that was AMAZING! I also had a hot dog! I brought home KFC for supper as I didn't have anything here for supper and I am too tired to cook.

GLad the fair went well. Lugging boxes of books must be great exercise!

Watching more Harry Potter now. Going to church in the morning and then Ash to basketball. Also going to try and get my family room and storage room back in shape so I can start working out downstairs again.

Almost had to go into work tomorrow. My boss called and said that it was crazy today and I got a few more new clients.

YEAH for new clients!!

Ash and Brian won their last soccer game of the season! They ended up 6-2 and Ash scored a goal today. She had 7 points for the season! Brian said the team played amazingly today. Time to go through receipts from today and get some cleaning done while we watch tv!

TTFN

NIce job on the soccer game!! Guess it was a good day for the children!

************

Well friends.... other than my big robotics news, I guess I don't have much to say. Well.... I will say, it was a "winning" day for me too! I was SURROUNDED by junk food (pizza, baked goods, candy) and managed to stick nearly totally OP (I did share a homemade RK treat with DD).... and I got in a good 30 minute really brisk walk outside at lunch time. Considering the stress level today and the proximity to the temptations, I call today a success all around!!

As for the dinner stop at Five Guys??...... DD and I had the men stop at Wendy's drive-thru on the way to 5G and we both got a salad and brought them with us to 5G (although I admit I had about 5 of DS's french fries). Again, I am pleased with myself.

I am SO looking forward to meeting Kathy tomorrow. I truly think of so many of you as "close friends" and I find it kind of funny that the only ones I have ever met in person are Deb and Buffy!! Next up I gotta meet Maria.... and if Rose wasn't all the way in KY, I'd have her in my sights too!!

Gretchen.... I got a chance to tell DD you big news today! She is super excited for you! BTW, she wants to know if you have a Tumblr?? She likes to lurk on the DCP tag.

Off to a swim meet all day tomorrow. I may or may not have Wi-Fi there (I know it's in the building, but not sure about where I will be sitting), but if I can get online, I'll be here to chat. Otherwise I'll see you all on MOnday!................P

 

[bellebookworm9]

Congrats Gretchen! You will make a great Disney employee! When will you move down?

Not sure yet, I expect to know for certain by Tuesday. Sometime in January or very early February. Move in dates are every Monday and Wednesday from January 9th-February 6th, but it will depend on which dates are still open.

Guess who's robotics team took home the FIRST WINNER CHAMPIONS trophy today?? Can't guess??

MY TEAM!!!!!!!!

Gretchen.... I got a chance to tell DD you big news today! She is super excited for you! BTW, she wants to know if you have a Tumblr?? She likes to lurk on the DCP tag.

Congratulations!

I don't have a Tumblr, just the blog that I started-link is in my signature.

**********
I just completely cleaned the downstairs and rearranged the furniture. The living room was just feeling too cluttered, so I moved everything around in there and the dining area. Then I moved into the kitchen, and washed everyone's dirty dishes and scrubbed down the counters. Onto the pantry, did some organizing in there.

Upstairs, I put away all my clean laundry, straightened up my room, and started packing away some clothes to take home after Thanksgiving. I still have to do the bathroom, but will work on that later or tomorrow.

Mom said I can't leave anything for my housemates to use because she isn't going to come get it in May (I won't be back by the time they have to move out). I feel bad because I provided so much stuff for the house and now I have to take it away...and figure out how to get it home. I think I'm going to rent the Jeep here at school to take a majority of it home on study day, and then Mom can come down with our Jeep when I actually have to move out to pick up me and the rest of the stuff.

Our house Thanksgiving is tomorrow: I'm in charge of mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, and butterbeer. We're also having turkey and stuffing (of course!), cranberry sauce, salad, creamed corn, glazed carrots, fruit cocktail, "diabetic" cookies, and pecan pie. None of us are too worried about counting calories or points, and I plan to have a bit of everything. I don't think my family is going to have a "Real" thanksgiving (Mom is working from 9-5), so we'll probably just get something from Boston Market.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

CONGRATS to the Robotics team!!!!!!

Busy day again today. Went to Trader Joes and Williams Sonoma. Did some preliminary Xmas shopping research with the kids. Gotta get with Mr. Claus and see what he's getting for my crew this year.

Today was the first day I didn't crave soda and the first day since we started this bet that I didn't have a migraine.
We've decided that Thanksgiving to Xmas is no fast food, now I just need to designate which places are considered fast food. I'm not sure if I should lump Panera into that category. What do you guys think?

 

[donac]

Good Sunday morning everyone

Congrats Pam on the Robotic win. Isn't it amazing how the kids can surprise you. Just when you things won't go your way they do.

Question of the Day

Is there any special thing that you personally do to celebrate the holidays? Not with the family.

Several years ago I was in Barnes and Noble and started seeing these books with Christmas themes. each year I would pick up one or two. I now have a collection some regular and now some in my nook. I love to read them at the end of a crazy day.

Off to get ready for the day. I have to go to church but I don't have to go grocery shopping. I will making a chicken for dinner. Then it is some letters to finish up and some sewing.

Off to get some yoga in.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[mikamah]

Good morning, everyone,

We had a very productive day yesterday, and I made chicken with roasted vegies last night, so I actually stayed within my daily points for once. I also ran/walked 3.4 miles with a friend, and made a big dent in the basment cleanout project. Today we need to finish raking the leaves.

Pamela-Congratulations to the Robotics team!!!! What a wonderful way for them to finish their middle school years. I would have cried too. Such a proud mama moment. We do have an air hockey table, a small one. My sister works at Kmart and it was one of her end of season major deals. I think she paid 5 dollars for it. Every now and then she comes home with amazing bargains, 10 cent books, clothes for a dollar. She is the one who if you mention a hard to get toy, she'll keep her eye out. When ds wanted Bakugan, he ended up with about 9 sets of them that Christmas. I'm so looking forward to meeting you today. See you soon.

Buffy-I don't count Panera as fast food. I think they have a lot of healthier choices than any fast food, granted the sodium content can be high, but I don't think it compares to any fast food, like mcd, bk, and wendys.

Sunday QOTD-Since i had ds, I don't really do much without him, and he does enjoy all the christmas movies now too, and but I always loved just sitting alone with a cup of tea watching the old movies. I do like to buy a few christmas magazines as a treat. One Christmas day before I had ds, I was supposed to work til 7pm, but I got out early at 3, so I went home alone, had a cup of tea, and watched it's a Wonderful Life before I went over to the family. It was so peaceful.

Saturday qotd- I usually shop sunday morning while ds is in ccd, unless monday is my short day, and then I might go after work instead. Depends on what's left for food, today I just need bananas, but have leftovers for dinner and lunch, so I'm not sure if I'll go this morning, or wait til tomorrow.

Shawn-You don't sound like a scrooge, just a relaxed holiday gal. I like your idea of a gift a day in dec. We used to have a little wooden countdown that you put little gifts in for each day, but it got broken. Cute idea to use the stockings.

Have a great sunday everyone!!

 

[pjlla]

Not sure yet, I expect to know for certain by Tuesday. Sometime in January or very early February. Move in dates are every Monday and Wednesday from January 9th-February 6th, but it will depend on which dates are still open.



Congratulations!

THANKS!!

I don't have a Tumblr, just the blog that I started-link is in my signature.

I'll tell her.

**********
I just completely cleaned the downstairs and rearranged the furniture. The living room was just feeling too cluttered, so I moved everything around in there and the dining area. Then I moved into the kitchen, and washed everyone's dirty dishes and scrubbed down the counters. Onto the pantry, did some organizing in there.

Upstairs, I put away all my clean laundry, straightened up my room, and started packing away some clothes to take home after Thanksgiving. I still have to do the bathroom, but will work on that later or tomorrow.

Mom said I can't leave anything for my housemates to use because she isn't going to come get it in May (I won't be back by the time they have to move out). I feel bad because I provided so much stuff for the house and now I have to take it away...and figure out how to get it home. I think I'm going to rent the Jeep here at school to take a majority of it home on study day, and then Mom can come down with our Jeep when I actually have to move out to pick up me and the rest of the stuff.

Sounds like a plan. And good job on all of the cleaning! You're housemates will adjust I suppose.

Our house Thanksgiving is tomorrow: I'm in charge of mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, and butterbeer. We're also having turkey and stuffing (of course!), cranberry sauce, salad, creamed corn, glazed carrots, fruit cocktail, "diabetic" cookies, and pecan pie. None of us are too worried about counting calories or points, and I plan to have a bit of everything. I don't think my family is going to have a "Real" thanksgiving (Mom is working from 9-5), so we'll probably just get something from Boston Market.

It's okay to have a day once in a while that is without points or calories or whatever, as long as the next day is BACK ON PLAN! Unfortunately (or fortunately) we celebrate T.giving twice (Thursday with inlaws, Friday with my family), and then of course have the entire weekend at my Mom's with my DBrother and his family. So it isn't just ONE day of off-plan eating.... it can turn into FIVE days off-plan if I'm not careful!!

Good Sunday morning everyone

Congrats Pam on the Robotic win. Isn't it amazing how the kids can surprise you. Just when you things won't go your way they do.

Thanks! I hope I didn't sound overly negative, but I really felt like our robot mission could use a few more days of practice, and for some of the kids, that is still true. But our more rehearsed teams are the ones that pulled the higher scores and in the long run that is what we needed. Our project was GREAT and they did a super job presenting that, so I wasn't worried about that part of it. And teamwork can go either way, no matter how great a team you have.

Question of the Day

Is there any special thing that you personally do to celebrate the holidays? Not with the family.

Truly.... nothing special just for me. I hate to sound like Scrooge (again), but the holidays are really nothing but work for me. DH works crazy hours in December (although after 20+ years with the company he finally gets a bit of slack), so it has ALWAYS been ALL ME! The buying, wrapping, planning, decorating, etc, etc, etc. And it gets tiring (although the UN-decorating is even worse!). We've always laughed that DH is just as surprised on Christmas morning as the kids. He never knows what they are getting!


Several years ago I was in Barnes and Noble and started seeing these books with Christmas themes. each year I would pick up one or two. I now have a collection some regular and now some in my nook. I love to read them at the end of a crazy day.

What a great idea!!

Off to get ready for the day. I have to go to church but I don't have to go grocery shopping. I will making a chicken for dinner. Then it is some letters to finish up and some sewing.

Off to get some yoga in.

Have a happy and healthy day.

Have a GREAT Sunday Dona!!

Good morning, everyone,

We had a very productive day yesterday, and I made chicken with roasted vegies last night, so I actually stayed within my daily points for once. I also ran/walked 3.4 miles with a friend, and made a big dent in the basment cleanout project. Today we need to finish raking the leaves.

Pamela-Congratulations to the Robotics team!!!! What a wonderful way for them to finish their middle school years. I would have cried too. Such a proud mama moment.

THANKS!

We do have an air hockey table, a small one. My sister works at Kmart and it was one of her end of season major deals. I think she paid 5 dollars for it. Every now and then she comes home with amazing bargains, 10 cent books, clothes for a dollar. She is the one who if you mention a hard to get toy, she'll keep her eye out. When ds wanted Bakugan, he ended up with about 9 sets of them that Christmas. I'm so looking forward to meeting you today. See you soon.

"Don't you just love a bargain!!"



Have a great sunday everyone!!

Hey! I'm here and settled.... I'll call you in a minute!...................P

 

[dvccruiser76]

Are you talking about going to "Find more posts by" under your user name or from your profile? If so then search has had some hiccups the last few weeks and a lot of things aren't showing up.

Yeah when I go there it says my last post was 10/27, which I know isn't correct

He is doing just fine on the seizure meds. Knocking on wood here. I am so relieved. It was such a worry when I read about all the possible side effects, but he is just fine, and no further seizures. I do hope they pave that path at some point, it would get so much more use if it was paved.
I love having days off. Yesterday afternoon was just insane at work, so I'm very happy to be off now. We are closed the day after T-day too. Noone wants to prep for a colonoscopy on Thanksgiving, so it was always a very quiet day with just a few gastroscopy patients, so our boss decided last year to close, which was very nice for us.

Oh perfect, I know that must have been weighing on you. Obviously you can't forget about it, but at least when you're watching for things you don't have to constantly worry about him Well I guess we do anyway, but you know what I mean

That's a good point about not fasting on Thanksgiving And nice to have the day off when Michael is off too

10 days and an extra hour or so without power, but Tuesday night my mom called me at my grandparents to let me know. My relatives cheered.

10 days I can't imagine

Thanks for your story and the support. I told my mom the same thing about surgery. I don't know if she'd really have surgery, but I hope she does something.

Hang in there Jill

i think its safe to sat say im off the wagon and not feeling great about that. im feeling very stressed with school. because of the power outages i have two tests next week and i dont feel like im prepared, or that i have enough time to prepare. I keep going back and forth on if im im gonna do fine and if im freaking out.

There's always time to jump back on the wagon. Also, doing it during the holidays will be a reminder to no go nuts with all the food we come across. I find that weighing myself during the crazy times kee me aware of what eating bad one day can do to your body the next

THEY ACCEPTED ME FOR THE COLLEGE PROGRAM!!!!

Main Entrance Operations!

Yahoo!!!!! Congratulations Gretchen

You are going to be great there!

I was so happy with my weigh in yesterday -- down another 3.5 pounds which makes 18.5 total. I'm almost in new territory for 2011. Thank goodness for the Tinker Bell looming or I could fall off the wagon so darn easily. I really do not want to cover this territory ever again so will be strong!

Have a great day all!

Yahoo! You go girl

Guess who's robotics team took home the FIRST WINNER CHAMPIONS trophy today?? Can't guess??

MY TEAM!!!!!!!!

Yay Go team!




Happy Sunday everyone Just jumping in quick before we head to NH for a b-day party. Went to Wrentham for the outlets yesterday and got a ton of shopping done.

Got to run!

Keep sending those weights!

 

[jillbur]

Guess who's robotics team took home the FIRST WINNER CHAMPIONS trophy today?? Can't guess??

MY TEAM!!!!!!!!


Yup, we DID IT.... a "three-peat".... three times Overall Champions at our Regional event! And now we are ON TO STATES!


P

YAY Congrats!!

CONGRATS to the Robotics team!!!!!!


We've decided that Thanksgiving to Xmas is no fast food, now I just need to designate which places are considered fast food. I'm not sure if I should lump Panera into that category. What do you guys think?

I wouldn't but maybe put some restrictions on it. Like...no frozen mochas with whipped cream?!?! They are dangerous! But, they are also sooooo yummy! Ok, probably a bad example, but maybe limit the choices on the foods.

Good Sunday morning everyone

Question of the Day

Is there any special thing that you personally do to celebrate the holidays? Not with the family.

I bake. It's so relaxing to me. For Thanksgiving, it's pies and pumpkin rolls. For Christmas, it's lots and lots of cookies. Some years, my sister and I get together and bake, others I bake in my kitchen, by myself, with strict rules on no kids or DH allowed lol. I absolutely love baking. And, I bake all the time. The problem is not eating everything I bake! I usually force it upon DH and he makes a dent in the baked goods. We usually freeze Christmas cookies or share with work and family. I was just thinking about what day I am making my pumpkin rolls. I better get organized!

Off to take the kids to Sunday School. I am going to the grocery store for a few items I didn't need in bulk from Sam's Club yesterday. Then me and the kids are going to JCPenneys to get DH a few new shirts for his birthday. It's Friday and he'll be 35. We will run in a Thankgiving 5k and I joke that he is going up an age group this year and I am not. My birthday is one week after Thanksgiving. He's not happy lol.

Have a great Sunday!

Jill

 

[lovetoscrap]

Guess who's robotics team took home the FIRST WINNER CHAMPIONS trophy today?? Can't guess??

MY TEAM!!!!!!!!


Yup, we DID IT.... a "three-peat".... three times Overall Champions at our Regional event! And now we are ON TO STATES!


I do like the meat prices at Costco... their organic chicken thighs are an excellent price.... but I'm disappointed in their produce lately. Do you buy produce there??


Do you have an air hockey table already or are you buying one for Christmas? We bought one for the kids several years ago when we added the playroom.... but don't use it much any more, but they really loved it for years. But we bought a HUGE one and THANK HEAVENS DBIL was spending Christmas eve here with us or "Santa" would have had to leave the table in the garage, unassembled! "Mrs. Claus" would not have been able to help get that up to the room and assembled!


************

Well friends.... other than my big robotics news, I guess I don't have much to say. Well.... I will say, it was a "winning" day for me too! I was SURROUNDED by junk food (pizza, baked goods, candy) and managed to stick nearly totally OP (I did share a homemade RK treat with DD).... and I got in a good 30 minute really brisk walk outside at lunch time. Considering the stress level today and the proximity to the temptations, I call today a success all around!!

P

CONGRATULATIONS! I was really pushing that pixie dust your way yesterday! So exciting for the kids (and you! ).

And great job keeping On Plan despite all the opportunities to go off. Absolutely a successful day!

Produce at our Costco is hit or miss. I got a big thing of mushrooms yesterday, but when I went a few weeks ago they looked icky and were expensive. We have been disappointed with their green beans but the bags of Spinach is usually good. DH likes their green apples and he bought some tomatos yesterday. I got a box of the best blueberries I have ever had during the summer when I when I went back and got more they were terrible. The same with their strawberries.

We have to pack meat today. We buy about 2 months worth and then repackage it with our Food Saver into one meal servings and freeze. I would actually like to do more than that and go ahead and put marinade in it or cut into strips for things that we would need that for but by the time we are done packing and sealing we are exhausted and just glad to be done.

We have a full size air hockey table we got from an arcade. It is HUGE and incredibly heavy. Unfortunately it has spent most of it's life as a giant crap holder. It is in DH's man cave and I really wish he would keep it cleaned off so the kids could use it more. We really enjoy it as do their friends when it is usable. Otherwise I wish he would get rid of it, since it just takes up a whole lot of space.

We've decided that Thanksgiving to Xmas is no fast food, now I just need to designate which places are considered fast food. I'm not sure if I should lump Panera into that category. What do you guys think?

Nah, Panera is a quick casual restaurant, not fast food! I admire your resolve-- we end up so crazy between Tday and Christmas that our fast food consumptions goes up!

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

QOTD Saturday..Food shop/plan... I used to plan out a week or so of main meals/entree. I would do one day at BJ's, most of the meats for a week or 2 and then Publix 1x during the week and walmart 1x. We had a second fridge in the garage so I could fill it with the extra mik, eggs,freeze the meats... about 6 mo ago it gave out and had to change how I shopped. I was surprised by how much it threw things off. We have another fridge for about a month but I still cannot seem to get back to the routine.

QOTD Sunday Holidays for ourselves...I love this time of year . I do most of it for my own enjoyment and because making my family happy makes me happy.

I do most everything myself but the outside lights. The baking, shopping, wrapping,planning travel,..but I love it. My DH works a lot of hours this time of yr-it's been 2 weeks every day right now-so he isn't usually avail. I used to be really stressed when the kids were little and it all had to be done in secret. Now, I say I'm going shopping and I just come home and wrap it right away.

I wll say that I am pretty behind this yr. Usually I have a good amount of the gifts bought and know what I'm getting for most. This yr, I don't have a clue. I just ordered a few things online and bought a couple but I am hoping for inspiration and soon.

 

[pjlla]

Just popping on to say hi to my new REAL LIFE friend, Kathy!! She is no longer in the "imaginary friend" category! Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by to meet DD and I and for cheering for her swim!

You are so beautiful! I love your hair! Such a pretty color and REAL style (as opposed to my just "hangin' down hippie hair")!

Thanks again to Michael for his patience in sitting while the grown-ups chatted!
TTYL............................P

 

[lovetoscrap]

QOTD: My immediate reaction was "No" it is all done with family, but one of my favorite traditions is watching "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (absolutely my favorite Christmas movie!). It used to be a family thing but they don't share my love so it probably will be watched on my own this year. And I listen to the album and other christmas albums constantly and my kids get sick of it so it becomes something I do just for me when I am alone.

I also do some of the decorating myself, especially of my Disney tree. It is my tree and no one else is allowed to touch it!


CAUTION! Long story/vent ahead. You don't need to read, I just need to get it all out!

DD's 16th birthday is next Saturday and I have been pulling my hair out over what we are going to do. I have been asking her to figure out what she wants to do for a party and we will do it. After several months of throwing ideas around she finally decided she just doesn't want a party. She has lots of friends from different "groups" at school and she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by leaving them out. Some don't like the others, or don't know others of her friends and she couldn't figure out what they would even do at a party together so she said to just forget about it. She did say she would like to invite some small groups of friends over at different times in the next few months to play games or watch movies, which is fine with me.

And I told her that since I was planning on spending money for the party and she isn't doing it we would do a big family birthday celebration and go to Baltimore for the weekend and go to Medieval Times. She has wanted to go there for years. She is thrilled with that idea! The plan was to go on her birthday next Saturday and spend the night after. BUT the football team made the playoffs and the game is-- you guessed it, Saturday. The band is marching and she really can't get out that, and she decided she would like to be there with her friends. This actually happened last year too and I made about 150 brownies that she passed out to friends during the game. Apparently when the game was announced someone asked her if this means they all get brownies again! I guess I will be baking.

So, no party, money towards party will be spent on promised family trip. Sounds good, right? Not so fast. Her best friend messaged me on Facebook saying that she is going to thrown her a surprise party the day after with the help of some other friends. I love this friend and this is so sweet of her, but I also know that their family really doesn't have any money to do this so of course I have told her that I will provide any supplies and help they need. At least it isn't on my dd to be the bad guy if friends are upset they aren't invited since she knows nothing about it.

And the pressure is off of me (and her) to figure out what fun things a group of teen girls would like to do, right? NOPE! I get a message from friend last night asking what I think they should do! I am the dumb mom, what do I know about what 15/16 year old girls will think is fun??!! So I did send her some of the ideas we had discussed before and this morning she says she is thinking of having everyone decorate their own cakes to take home and then they can watch a movie or play board games. I have a ton of cake decorating stuff so I told her that sounds like a great idea. But I will probably spend money buying a bunch of frosting and bags and other supplies they will need. There goes the party money I wasn't planning to spend! And on top of all of that this friend is actually really flaky and tends to come up with great ideas and not follow through or cancel things at the last minute. I am sort of hoping that she will ask if we can do this at my house so that even if she flakes out as long as girls have been invited/told we can go ahead and do it. DD actually suspects that she is going to throw her a party and will be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

And have I mentioned that I have NO PRESENT for her? And no idea of what to get her???? I want to get her something memorable-- so she can say for the rest of her life " on my 16th birthday my parents got me this great/special/wonderful _____________ " Anyone have any ideas of something special to get for a Sweet 16 gift? She doesn't wear jewelry so that is not really an option.
ETA: I am thinking of maybe a music box of some sort?

End my venting. Now I have to go figure out something for dinner and get some done. And look online for birthday gifts. . .

 

[glss1/2fll]

fly by post. we have to leave for church in 21 minutes and i am not dressed, teeth are not brushed and ds2 is in the only bathroom!

super congratulations to Gretchen!! whoot whoot

nice job Pamela

i'll hop on later to answer qotd

i spent most of the morning catching up on the 10 pages i was behind. yes, things are a bit of a blur!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Just popping on to say hi to my new REAL LIFE friend, Kathy!! She is no longer in the "imaginary friend" category! Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by to meet DD and I and for cheering for her swim!

You are so beautiful! I love your hair! Such a pretty color and REAL style (as opposed to my just "hangin' down hippie hair")!

Thanks again to Michael for his patience in sitting while the grown-ups chatted!
TTYL............................P

I told you that you would love Kathy! I am so glad that you all got to meet up! Was there a swim meet? I have been skimming lately and I think I missed something.

Congrats on the robotics victory!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Question of the Day:
With the holidays fast approaching, what do you do to relieve stress? I am hoping that it is not eating.

Once we get our tree up, I find it very relaxing to sit for a few minutes each evening and just look at it while I sip something warm. I didn't get to do much of that last year, but this year I am determined to reclaim the holidays for me!

THEY ACCEPTED ME FOR THE COLLEGE PROGRAM!!!!

Main Entrance Operations!

So wonderful, I am so excited for you!!! I know you deserve it, what an honor!

Question of the Day:
It is Saturday When do you do your grocery shopping? Do you plan your meals including breakfast and lunch?

We do a major run sometime between Friday night and Sunday night, it varies based on our weekend schedule. We do plan our meals, but we plan to eat out Friday and Saturday. We plan breakfast and lunch, but it is a loose plan. DH makes me eggs with veggies most mornings, if it isn't feasible I'll usually take blueberries and cottage cheese to work to eat. Lunch for me is a protein with a bunch of raw veggies and a container of sugar-free jello.

Congrats Question of the Day:
Is there any special thing that you personally do to celebrate the holidays? Not with the family.

I have a few "just me" holiday traditions. I start reading my holiday Harlequins in Nov. and any I don't have finished by New Year's Day stay on the shelf until next year I pick up Hallmark ornaments just for me -- usually Belle, Star Trek, Star Wars, and whatever I'm collecting. I've got a snowtop lodge collection that's been going for a fewy years. The first ornaments come out in July, so I get a head start. On July 25th I try to start "Christmas in July" by downloading my Flylady holiday control journal. I then start filling it and transferring things from the previous year, making notes. After Thanksgiving, I will start to listen to holiday music while I'm at work. I will also buy a new holiday cd every year.

Maria

 

[pjlla]

CONGRATULATIONS! I was really pushing that pixie dust your way yesterday! So exciting for the kids (and you! ).


Thanks... it was super exciting! I think I might have been more excited than the kids!

And great job keeping On Plan despite all the opportunities to go off. Absolutely a successful day!

And if it doesn't sound to "braggy", I'll tell you I had ANOTHER totally OP day today, despite so many temptations (like muffins the size of your head and homemade mac and cheese at the swim meet concession stand, plus TWO stops at Dunkin Donuts.... 5 am and 2pm). My only indulgence today was ONE pumpkin munchkin (gotta have them before they're gone!) and I counted it and journaled it, so all good! Finished with dinner and still have 3 points left for an after-dinner treat! Sure, the exercise has been lacking, since I've had such crazy days, but I got in a good walk yesterday and another good walk today (back and forth a few times to the off-site parking, carrying books, backpacks, laptop cases, etc).


Produce at our Costco is hit or miss. I got a big thing of mushrooms yesterday, but when I went a few weeks ago they looked icky and were expensive. We have been disappointed with their green beans but the bags of Spinach is usually good. DH likes their green apples and he bought some tomatos yesterday. I got a box of the best blueberries I have ever had during the summer when I when I went back and got more they were terrible. The same with their strawberries.

That is EXACTLY my problem! DH brought home peaches that were great. So a week later he bought another box... and they were DREADFUL, and of course, we weren't going back that way any time soon, so $15 worth of peaches got dumped in the compost bin!! It is just TOO hit or miss!!


We have to pack meat today. We buy about 2 months worth and then repackage it with our Food Saver into one meal servings and freeze. I would actually like to do more than that and go ahead and put marinade in it or cut into strips for things that we would need that for but by the time we are done packing and sealing we are exhausted and just glad to be done.

I do that too.... it is money saving, but takes a lot of time and makes a big meaty mess of the kitchen!

We have a full size air hockey table we got from an arcade. It is HUGE and incredibly heavy. Unfortunately it has spent most of it's life as a giant crap holder. It is in DH's man cave and I really wish he would keep it cleaned off so the kids could use it more. We really enjoy it as do their friends when it is usable. Otherwise I wish he would get rid of it, since it just takes up a whole lot of space.

Actually, our air hockey table got turned into the Lego robotics table earlier this summer, but that was okay.... and of course, now the Lego table is in the DINING ROOM of all places! It needs to get moved before next weekend.

Nah, Panera is a quick casual restaurant, not fast food! I admire your resolve-- we end up so crazy between Tday and Christmas that our fast food consumptions goes up!

We'd do okay avoiding fast food, as long as we could still stop at Dunkins (since it is the only fast food between home and the Y and the only fastfood within a 20 mile radius!! ).

I'm not sure how I'd count Panera. I'm not a big fan of their stuff.... I think a lot of it is "pseudo-healthy food", rather than really healthy. Their portions are huge and pretty caloric for a lot of their stuff. But they do have some healthy delicious options, so that is a plus for them.

I guess that is an individual decision to make. I DO consider Dunkin Donuts "fast food" (despite my joke above), but I know lots of people that don't.

I told you that you would love Kathy! I am so glad that you all got to meet up! Was there a swim meet? I have been skimming lately and I think I missed something.

Congrats on the robotics victory!

Of COURSE, there was a swim meet..... what else would I do with my weekend??

Next up we want to plan a New England meet with CC, Buffy, Deb, Sue, Maria, Tracey (sorry to any NE person I am forgetting!).... and then we move national so we can meet you and Lisa and Shawn, etc!! Actually, I think our NATIONAL meet should be at Disney so we can all meet Gretchen and see what a great CM she is!! And we have a friend who just moved into a nice house near Disney, right???? I'm sure she wouldn't mind putting us up for a few nights!!

**********

Evening friends! Another hectic day, but at last I am home and ready to relax a bit. I've folded some laundry and have another load in the washer, ready to hang out tomorrow. My bed is made (at 5pm, since DH was still in it at 5 am when I left the house!), and dinner is done and hopefully all cleaned up (DS was in charge of that). I'm gonna put on my jammies, make a cup of decaf green tea, and grab my book and RELAX for a bit! I think I've earned it!

Alarm rings tomorrow at 4:45 am, as high school swim practice starts for the season. But at least she is meeting a friend at their "usual" spot, so I only have to drive 10 miles rnd trip at that hour. Then I will go home, get DS up and ready for school and off on the bus and then DASH to the Y to pick up DD at 7:30 to have her to school for 8 am.

After that I plan to hit the TM to get in some much needed exercise (may go outside if it isn't too cold).

I'll be back tomorrow after all of that!..........................P

 

[mikamah]

Just popping on to say hi to my new REAL LIFE friend, Kathy!! She is no longer in the "imaginary friend" category! Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by to meet DD and I and for cheering for her swim!

You are so beautiful! I love your hair! Such a pretty color and REAL style (as opposed to my just "hangin' down hippie hair")!

Thanks again to Michael for his patience in sitting while the grown-ups chatted!
TTYL............................P

Thank you Pamela, you are so sweet. I loved meeting you and felt like I knew you so well already. What are you talking about, your beautiful, long blond hair, makes you look so young. Your dd is so beautiful, and such a sweet girl too. How did she do today? It's 7 pm, are you still at the Y? Hope you're long home by now.
I was very happy Michael was so good, after sitting in CCD, it could have been so much worse.

Obviously you can't forget about it, but at least when you're watching for things you don't have to constantly worry about him Well I guess we do anyway, but you know what I mean

Happy Sunday everyone Just jumping in quick before we head to NH for a b-day party. Went to Wrentham for the outlets yesterday and got a ton of shopping done.

Ain't that the truth, even once they're grown up we'll still worry about them. sheesh.
Hope you had a fun day at the party!

I told you that you would love Kathy! I am so glad that you all got to meet up! Was there a swim meet? I have been skimming lately and I think I missed something.

Pam's dd had a swim meet at the Y near us, so we went and visited for a bit, and was lucky to be there and watch her dd swim one of her races. It was so great to meet her. It is amazing how much we can get to know each other here before we meet and then when we meet in person, it's like we're old friends, just like at the princess.

LTS - Here's a big hug for you, because it's a tough situation you're in, and I am sure your dd will have fun however it turns out. I hope the friend comes through and helps to organize it.

Good afternoon everyone!! I just finished uploading the rest of the football pics to facebook, and with my slow computer, it takes a while to edit them, but it is fun. We went to the mall tonight, and split a sub and had a cup of soup at d'angelos, so I need to point that out, and if it's less than 45 points, which it should be, I am proud to say, that i actually stayed on track for my 4 day weekend!! It feels good. And I got out to run walk twice, and did some yard work twice, so a great weekend overall.

Hope you all had a nice sunday!

 

[JacksLilWench]

Good Friday morning Happy 11/11/11

Question of the Day

With the holidays fast approaching, what do you do to relieve stress? I am hoping that it is not eating.

I go home and shut my door to the world, haha!

THEY ACCEPTED ME FOR THE COLLEGE PROGRAM!!!!

Main Entrance Operations!

WHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Saturday morning

Question of the Day

It is Saturday When do you do your grocery shopping? Do you plan your meals including breakfast and lunch?


Have a happy and healthy day.

I really should plan better for my meals and doing my shopping. I try to plan ahead, I make lists, but I always realize when I've forgotten something...and it's usually at the last minute. I will definitely be doing my shopping tomorrow after work, though!

Good Sunday morning everyone


Question of the Day

Is there any special thing that you personally do to celebrate the holidays? Not with the family.

Personally? I don't know about that...I still live at home, so everything is usually done with the family (Not for lack of trying...I like my alone time!) Maybe this year I can start a personal tradition!

 

[tigger813]

I think I'm heading to bed soon! I have a horrible headache and I'm chaperoning Ash's field trip to the MOS in Boston tomorrow! An hour plus on the bus each way could be interesting! I will be bringing my ipod so I can rest up for the long day. We are seeing an exhibit on Pompeii. Ash and I ran to Subway to get lunch for tomorrow. We will eat on the bus on the way home.

I've been taking care of laundry and trying to clean up our bedroom a bit tonight. I did get some work done on the family room today but more to try and do on Wednesday. I'm hoping I can start working out again by Wednesday.

Have to go out tomorrow night too as I have a meeting for Izzie's new Daisy troop. I heard they are thinking about a Sunday meeting time which I'm not thrilled about.

Trying to convince my parents to take the train up for Christmas. My sister may come up with them so they have a traveling companion. My sister asked one of us to fly down and drive them up but there is no way I can do it and my brother says he isn't able to either. Mom and Dad saw the Rockettes last night and had a nice dinner out with my sister and her family. Mom slept a lot today and then they did some work out in their yard. Mom is still having a hard time about the dog and I am just letting her know that she can cry as much as she wants.

Well, time for some Nyquil as my head feels like it could explode!

TTFN

 

[dvccruiser76]

Ha! I tried it and it actually had my post from this morning so I could jump right back. Not sure what was wrong before, but hopefully it's fixed now

DD's 16th birthday is next Saturday and I have been pulling my hair out over what we are going to do. I have been asking her to figure out what she wants to do for a party and we will do it. After several months of throwing ideas around she finally decided she just doesn't want a party. She has lots of friends from different "groups" at school and she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by leaving them out. Some don't like the others, or don't know others of her friends and she couldn't figure out what they would even do at a party together so she said to just forget about it. She did say she would like to invite some small groups of friends over at different times in the next few months to play games or watch movies, which is fine with me.

And I told her that since I was planning on spending money for the party and she isn't doing it we would do a big family birthday celebration and go to Baltimore for the weekend and go to Medieval Times. She has wanted to go there for years. She is thrilled with that idea! The plan was to go on her birthday next Saturday and spend the night after. BUT the football team made the playoffs and the game is-- you guessed it, Saturday. The band is marching and she really can't get out that, and she decided she would like to be there with her friends. This actually happened last year too and I made about 150 brownies that she passed out to friends during the game. Apparently when the game was announced someone asked her if this means they all get brownies again! I guess I will be baking.

So, no party, money towards party will be spent on promised family trip. Sounds good, right? Not so fast. Her best friend messaged me on Facebook saying that she is going to thrown her a surprise party the day after with the help of some other friends. I love this friend and this is so sweet of her, but I also know that their family really doesn't have any money to do this so of course I have told her that I will provide any supplies and help they need. At least it isn't on my dd to be the bad guy if friends are upset they aren't invited since she knows nothing about it.

And the pressure is off of me (and her) to figure out what fun things a group of teen girls would like to do, right? NOPE! I get a message from friend last night asking what I think they should do! I am the dumb mom, what do I know about what 15/16 year old girls will think is fun??!! So I did send her some of the ideas we had discussed before and this morning she says she is thinking of having everyone decorate their own cakes to take home and then they can watch a movie or play board games. I have a ton of cake decorating stuff so I told her that sounds like a great idea. But I will probably spend money buying a bunch of frosting and bags and other supplies they will need. There goes the party money I wasn't planning to spend! And on top of all of that this friend is actually really flaky and tends to come up with great ideas and not follow through or cancel things at the last minute. I am sort of hoping that she will ask if we can do this at my house so that even if she flakes out as long as girls have been invited/told we can go ahead and do it. DD actually suspects that she is going to throw her a party and will be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

And have I mentioned that I have NO PRESENT for her? And no idea of what to get her???? I want to get her something memorable-- so she can say for the rest of her life " on my 16th birthday my parents got me this great/special/wonderful _____________ " Anyone have any ideas of something special to get for a Sweet 16 gift? She doesn't wear jewelry so that is not really an option.
ETA: I am thinking of maybe a music box of some sort?

End my venting. Now I have to go figure out something for dinner and get some done. And look online for birthday gifts. . .

Is she a Disney fan too? What about a nice Disney musical snowglobe? I used to collect them but sold a bunch on ebay, but I did keep my favorites. Some are pretty nice.

Next up we want to plan a New England meet with CC, Buffy, Deb, Sue, Maria, Tracey (sorry to any NE person I am forgetting!).... and then we move national so we can meet you and Lisa and Shawn, etc!! Actually, I think our NATIONAL meet should be at Disney so we can all meet Gretchen and see what a great CM she is!! And we have a friend who just moved into a nice house near Disney, right???? I'm sure she wouldn't mind putting us up for a few nights!!

Who wouldn't want a bunch of DISers crashing at their place

Good afternoon everyone!! I just finished uploading the rest of the football pics to facebook, and with my slow computer, it takes a while to edit them, but it is fun. We went to the mall tonight, and split a sub and had a cup of soup at d'angelos, so I need to point that out, and if it's less than 45 points, which it should be, I am proud to say, that i actually stayed on track for my 4 day weekend!! It feels good. And I got out to run walk twice, and did some yard work twice, so a great weekend overall.

Hope you all had a nice sunday!

Hi Kathy,
Sounds like you had a nice Sunday too. It's supposed to be pretty nice the next two days I think. I'm looking forward to it

I think I'm heading to bed soon! I have a horrible headache and I'm chaperoning Ash's field trip to the MOS in Boston tomorrow! An hour plus on the bus each way could be interesting! I will be bringing my ipod so I can rest up for the long day. We are seeing an exhibit on Pompeii. Ash and I ran to Subway to get lunch for tomorrow. We will eat on the bus on the way home.

Hi Tracey,
Hope your headache is gone, so you can enjoy yourself tomorrow. Haven't been to the MOS in ages, but I always used to like it. Are they seeing any IMAX shows?




Hi everyone,
Another quick hellp before bed. We're still missing a lot of weigh-ins, so please keep them coming. We've also had some amazing losses this week, so Halloween is officially over, or at least the Halloween candy is gone Keep up the good work everyone!