Biggest Loser Princess and Tinker Bell 2011 and 2012 -- OLD please see NEW thread

[lisah0711]

Well, sorry to kill off the Princess thread here!

Rose, safe travels and Happy Birthday!

Kathy, hope that you are having a wonderful time at the beach!

Maria, hope that you are enjoying your "culturization!"

Lindsay, hope the first week of school is going well! I think it's good to have a three day week-end to round it out. The parents need it, even if the students don't!

Nancy, enjoy your celebrations and don't do a bunch of housework before everything gets messed up again. BTW, I don't think that you are old enough to be a cougar but I don't blame you for looking!

Anyone else get sucked into the thread about the bride that Disney wanted to move three weeks before the wedding due to construction? It was on the community board with a link to the wedding forum (a place I don't normally go) but in the middile of reading both threads went "poof." She would have been more sympathetic if she didn't think that she was entitled to a bunch of stuff for her trouble. It seemed like maybe the wedding was getting to be more important than the marriage, too. Ah, well, hope it all works out. One of those little Dis mysteries where I may never know what happened.

Have a great week-end, ladies!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

wait so was the thread closed, lisa? now i'm curious. i get sucked into the weirdest threads sometimes and they always end in fights. the whole every person in a wheelchair has a "hidden" disease thing tends to be the one i get sucked into the most. why do i read these things???

you didn't kill the thread lisa, don't worry. i meant to get on an post earlier. i have not been a good BL thread participant though so i wanted to make sure i posted over there first. and then i went out for my morning walk.

i'm doing here and there cleaning and not much else today. things at home have been a little...tense. john and i have been at each other's throats every morning and every evening. not good. he's stressing about money, i'm stressing about the baby and all that jazz. and god forbid we talk about it instead of get nasty.

i'm getting a little nervous about disney actually. i tend to get very punchy when there. i don't know - i guess i build up this perfecto trip and the second john says something annoying i flip, crack, blow up. i need to learn some breathing techniques or something since i can't take a xanax! basically i need to figure out how to not be such a witch with a b. the heat and the size of my mid-section will probably not help things. breathe. breathe. serenity now....

 

[lisah0711]

Nancy, ah, calm, peaceful thoughts. Is it working? Sorry for the snarkiness. Nothing like rushing around getting ready to have family fun to bring out the worst in everyone.

The Disney bride thread didn't just get closed -- I have to admit nothing makes me want to read a thread like seeing one of those little locks next to it! It got "poofed" -- there was even a thread about "where did the thread go?" Just a little bit of Dis drama that makes you go "hmmmm!"

But enough of that, please refresh my memory about your trip, Nancy. Where are you staying? Have any ADRs? Character meals? Guess you will have to wait until next time to check out the new Star Tours. I think a WDW trip being preggo and having a little one is a perfect way to take it down a notch and just enjoy, like Rose!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

well since you asked.... our itinerary is as follows (of course, we'll be with a 2 year old so these ADRs may or may not hold!)

we flly out on the 11th at 7:05am and land at 9:51am i love getting into MCO early because i feel like we can get some good park time on our arrival day. we're taking ME (we rented a car one time and never used it. that'll be our first and last time) to BLT. i made an ADR at via napoli for 2pm. this may or may not happen depending on what the little man does as far as napping. if it doesn't look good we'll cancel. if not, pizza! our first full day will start at chef mickeys! we have a 7:25 breakfast ADR! it'll be nice to not have to go far to make our breakfast. then we'll walk to MK and hang out there until our 11am appt at the harmony barber shop. thomas is getting his haircut AND so is john! john needs a haircut now sooooo bad but he's just going to wait til we get to WDW. and i wouldn't be surprised if he lets them put colored gel in his hair! that night i'm planning on making spaghetti and meatballs in the villa and then having leftovers two nights later. it should help with the $$$.
tuesday: LTT at 4:25pm
wednesday: hollywood and vine at 8am - character b'fast with oso and handy manny!
thursday: le chefs de france at 5pm. john's been wanting to go here for forever. and we'll celebrate his bday that meal. maybe i'll have them bring him a cake or something? he's actual bday is 9/20 but close enough.
friday: raglan road at 5pm. we're missing the 6 months til st. patrick's day party there by ONE day! doh! i'm hoping during this meal i can get DH in the ireland mood and we can discuss our next trip there. i'd like to go there maybe this time next year. we haven't taken thomas there yet so his family needs to meet two boys now and we still need to meet his cousin's third baby. john's family in ireland is AWESOME - i wish they would move here and john's family here would move there.
saturday: crystal palace at 8:30am and our flight home (boo) leaves at 6:50pm. we're big into leaving in the evening - same reason as arriving early. we like to get the most bang for our buck.

there's a MNSSHP on tuesday evening. as much as i'd love to go i don't think we're going to bother. one because i'm too cheap and two because there's just no sense in trying to keep a toddler up so late.

so, that's our plan for the trip. i heard on sorcerer radio this morning talk about the mickey shaped pretzel and i'm looking forward to having that. john wants to eat a cheeseburger at the liberty tavern in epcot. he likes that place alot for some reason - the food tastes the same as any other place! oh well. i think it's because they have good bathrooms

we're going to have to take it much easier than our normal trips. heat, toddler, preggo...recipe for needing to stop and smell the disney popcorn!

getting close now! really looking forward to living in luxury at BLT in a one bedroom. we are going to feel like rich people

 

[lisah0711]

Oh, your trip sounds like so much FUN, Nancy! Thank you so much for sharing because we love to live vicariously through other people's trips, you know.

well since you asked.... our itinerary is as follows (of course, we'll be with a 2 year old so these ADRs may or may not hold!)

we flly out on the 11th at 7:05am and land at 9:51am i love getting into MCO early because i feel like we can get some good park time on our arrival day. we're taking ME (we rented a car one time and never used it. that'll be our first and last time) to BLT. i made an ADR at via napoli for 2pm. this may or may not happen depending on what the little man does as far as napping. if it doesn't look good we'll cancel. if not, pizza! our first full day will start at chef mickeys! we have a 7:25 breakfast ADR! it'll be nice to not have to go far to make our breakfast. then we'll walk to MK and hang out there until our 11am appt at the harmony barber shop. thomas is getting his haircut AND so is john! john needs a haircut now sooooo bad but he's just going to wait til we get to WDW. and i wouldn't be surprised if he lets them put colored gel in his hair! that night i'm planning on making spaghetti and meatballs in the villa and then having leftovers two nights later. it should help with the $$$. Did you ever read the Grandpa Mohawk trip reports on the DVC boards? I think they do some very fun stuff with guys hair at the Main Street barber shop. Robert used to like having green gel in his hair when he was little.
tuesday: LTT at 4:25pm Yum, I love LTT!
wednesday: hollywood and vine at 8am - character b'fast with oso and handy manny! I am sorry that I have to confess that I had to Google Oso because I had no idea who you were talking about. But I did know who Handy Manny is -- although in our day it was "Bob the Builder." Now the new favorite show here is Top Gear on the BBC -- fast cars.
thursday: le chefs de france at 5pm. john's been wanting to go here for forever. and we'll celebrate his bday that meal. maybe i'll have them bring him a cake or something? he's actual bday is 9/20 but close enough. Ooo-la-la! You might want to pick something up at the bakery next door so you could take it back to your room for later, too. Do they do Remy anymore there? That is probably something that Thomas would like.
friday: raglan road at 5pm. we're missing the 6 months til st. patrick's day party there by ONE day! doh! i'm hoping during this meal i can get DH in the ireland mood and we can discuss our next trip there. i'd like to go there maybe this time next year. we haven't taken thomas there yet so his family needs to meet two boys now and we still need to meet his cousin's third baby. john's family in ireland is AWESOME - i wish they would move here and john's family here would move there. Oh, I would love to go to Ireland some day!
saturday: crystal palace at 8:30am and our flight home (boo) leaves at 6:50pm. we're big into leaving in the evening - same reason as arriving early. we like to get the most bang for our buck.

there's a MNSSHP on tuesday evening. as much as i'd love to go i don't think we're going to bother. one because i'm too cheap and two because there's just no sense in trying to keep a toddler up so late. Oh, but you will get to see the Halloween decorations. If they are anything like the DL Halloween decorations they are really fun, especially at night. I love all the Jack o'Lanterns.

so, that's our plan for the trip. i heard on sorcerer radio this morning talk about the mickey shaped pretzel and i'm looking forward to having that. john wants to eat a cheeseburger at the liberty tavern in epcot. he likes that place alot for some reason - the food tastes the same as any other place! oh well. i think it's because they have good bathrooms

we're going to have to take it much easier than our normal trips. heat, toddler, preggo...recipe for needing to stop and smell the disney popcorn!

getting close now! really looking forward to living in luxury at BLT in a one bedroom. we are going to feel like rich people Would you believe the first time I stayed in a studio was in February when I was alone? We stay in a 2 bedroom for three of us because it is nice to be able to spread out after a day of family fun!

Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[mikamah]

A quick princess hello!

Had a very fun couple days on the cape. We got home around 4:30 after stopping to swim at michael's friends house. Just enough time then for a quick supper and email/facebook check before football, and now I promised michael we'd watch a movie together. So I skimmed but am excited to come back later and live vicariously through Nancy's disney plans!!

 

[mikamah]

Good morning princesses and lisabelles!!

The long weekend is almost here!! Whoo hoo for those of you who have been working and not living the life of liesure like me. I still have 6 more days off.

Nancy- Your trip sounds awesome, and how nice to be staying at BLT to be so close to MK. I'm sure once dh gets his hair cut and some mickey glitter in it there's no way he'll be cranky. You gotta go and enjoy every minute with only one toddler to chase around. I'm sure you will have a fabulous trip. Love the itinerary, and being flexible, letting Thomas sort of set the tone and speed will help. A one bedroom will be awesome, too. I'm so jealous.
P-town is quite the place for people watching. We went to falmouth and took the ferry to martha's vineyard for the day wed, so we didnt' get to P-town. Michael was noticing lots of teenager making out at Canobie lake on monday, so i didn't want to introduce him to P-town just yet.
Ireland is on the list to take michael too. We have second cousins there, and I've been twice, so I want to take michael one day. Also my best friend Anne is from Ireland, I went for her wedding, and we've met most of her family when they've come here to visit, so I'd like to visit with them also.

Lisa- I think it's great you stay in a 2 bedroom when you go to wdw. It is so nice to have the extra space. I always think about going up to deluxe for a couple nights, but then I'm afraid I won't be able to go back to the values. Maybe some day.
Glad Robert had a good first day of school, and hope the rest of the week went as smoothly. Amazing how fast they grow. I noticed michael is really growing in the trunk the other day when he was laying on the couch. Any fun weekend plans? How is the running going? I hope things get better with the other gels.
Interesting on the bride thread disappearing. I haven't been brousing the dis much at all this summer. I hope I'll have more time in the fall.

Lindsay-- Go happy Ryan had a good first day of school and football is going well. Michael did much better last night, and was a bit of a beast himself. I think he just needed to get used the drills and he was tackling almost every kid he came up against, and when he had the ball, he only got knocked down a couple times. He was very proud and happy. He's going to be the noseguard. A new term for me. Who knew there were so many names to the positions. Good luck with the southbeach. YOu can do this!! You need to have a little flexibililty with it too, with your busy life. I am in the post vacation, no food in the house part of my plan. It actually works pretty well. I'll make us smoothies in a few minutes and then make a shopping list and stick to it. It's a new season, and we all can be princess losers!! I want to get back to my princess weight first.

Rose and Maria- Hope you're both having fabulous vacations.

We had a very fun couple days on the cape. We stayed in falmouth right near the bike paths, so the first day we biked up to north falmouth, and I had brought a picnic lunch, so we brought that and sat near a little pond on the bike path. It was really beautiful. After lunch our room wasn't ready til 3, so we biked around the town, and found a very cool playground michael playe for a while, and I checked out the map to figure out where to go. We found the beach road, and biked along the beach, but after the hurricane, the side of the roads which looked like they usually had a good 3 feet for bikes were covered with sand, so the biking was not easy. It wasn't too far til we got to a bike path again that took us back to our hotel. We went out for a nice dinner that night, and then swam. Michael loved having disney and nick on the hotel tv, with on demand, so I did some reading and finished Cold mountain, which was sooo good, and he got some tv time.

Wed we took the ferry over to MV and biked all around Oak Bluffs. There are these beautiful little gingerbread cottages in bright colors we biked around for a bit, and then we found this little dirt path through some woods that we followed for a while and that was fun but noone else was on it, and I got a little nervous, watching too much Criminal Minds, I think. Or the woods in cold mountain got me thinking. We came out and weren't sure which way to go, so we went one way to an intersection and figured out on the map to find our way. We went back to the center of town locked our bikes, had a late lunch, rode the carousel, and walked the main street with all the shops and some arcades. We got back to the hotel at 8ish, swam a bit, and were tired, so we got some Milano cookies from the vending machine and stayed in. We swam again yesterday before we left, and went in a few shops and had a big late breakfast at Ihop on the way home.

It was a really nice couple days. I need to get motivated and unpack now. I just unpacked the dirty laundry, and still have stuff from maine in the big suitcase.

No big weekend plans here, which will be nice. I need to do some yard work big time. Lots of leaves and sticks down, and my lawn is a big long.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

uuugghhh well when it rains it pours i tell ya.

i think i've mentioned here and there about my crazy in-laws, yes? well last week my 70-something year old MIL went in for some crazy back surgery. the first surgery lasted something like 7 hours and then on monday she had another surgery which was 13 hours long! and all of this is elective! i asked john a few times what exactly is being done for the surgery. what is the procedure? he has no idea. and gets mad when i ask. apparently MIL told my mother at thomas's bday party that she was having rods put in her back. so now she's in the hospital in terrible pain and will probably go to a rehab center closer to where they live in the poconos. so now the woman will not only be completely crazy but also incapacitated due to her back. i don't foresee her doing the PT necessary to heal.

got a text from john about two hours ago. his sister kathleen has breast cancer. now, if someone told me i had cancer i'd first crap my pants and then i'd figure out how advanced, what stage, what are the next steps, etc etc. i asked him these things and he said he didn't know. he said she's in shock and wanted a "clear head" before calling anyone. ok...it's friday...of labor day weekend. if you wait then you won't get any calls back until tuesday! the woman is a 46 year old with terrible manic depression and on lithium! if she waits for a clear head she's going to wait a long time.

and you know what's sick? i don't even know if i believe it. he told me the lab called her and told her. since when does a lab call and say, "oh you have cancer" and that's it?? and if i ask any questions john will just get pissy at me for being pushy and nosy. that family just doesn't handle medical things well at all. they blame everything on mental illness or their collective stomach problems - they all have crohn's.

sorry, none of this makes sense probably but i needed to vent! i'm not trying to sound heartless, i really am sorry that she is sick. but instead of figuring out next steps the whole family will just call each other over and over and say how horrible life is.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Nancy- I was looking at the prices for great wolf lodge after I posted and holy smokes is it expensive. like 400-500$ for one night for 4 of us. I mean it includes the water park but I still thought that was much for a 1 night trip. My dh took his summer camp to sahara sams in NJ this summer he said it was awesome. It does not have a hotel attached but surrounding hotels run packages. We can stay one night and get 4 tickets to the park for 200$. Not sure what we will do yet but when we decide I will be sure to let you know.

well since you asked.... our itinerary is as follows (of course, we'll be with a 2 year old so these ADRs may or may not hold!)

we flly out on the 11th at 7:05am and land at 9:51am i love getting into MCO early because i feel like we can get some good park time on our arrival day.

I totally agree...we always have left super early to get the most out of our first day. We have always been mid day leavers but I think next trip we will try to get a late flight

we're taking ME (we rented a car one time and never used it. that'll be our first and last time) to BLT. i made an ADR at via napoli for 2pm. this may or may not happen depending on what the little man does as far as napping. if it doesn't look good we'll cancel. if not, pizza!

I have been craving either italian or pizza all day. So when i saw this I was like YUM!!! Now I will be thinking about Pizza and chicken parm for the next few hours.

our first full day will start at chef mickeys! we have a 7:25 breakfast ADR! it'll be nice to not have to go far to make our breakfast. then we'll walk to MK and hang out there until our 11am appt at the harmony barber shop. thomas is getting his haircut AND so is john! john needs a haircut now sooooo bad but he's just going to wait til we get to WDW. and i wouldn't be surprised if he lets them put colored gel in his hair! that night i'm planning on making spaghetti and meatballs in the villa and then having leftovers two nights later. it should help with the $$$.

We wanted to do the barber shop last trip even for the kids to just get do"s with gel or mickey shapes but the long was way too long. I love that now they take reservations. I cant wait to see the pics. I hope John lets them do something fun.

tuesday: LTT at 4:25pm
wednesday: hollywood and vine at 8am - character b'fast with oso and handy manny!

Thomas is the perfect age for this. He will be so excited to see these guys. Im assuming he watches the shows right?

thursday: le chefs de france at 5pm. john's been wanting to go here for forever. and we'll celebrate his bday that meal. maybe i'll have them bring him a cake or something? he's actual bday is 9/20 but close enough.

Such a cool way to celebrate a birthday. Now I am thinking being thrifty here but I have heard those cakes are a bit pricey and Im sure the three of you wont finish a whole cake....well you should anyway right....so just a suggestion if you nix the cake you could always buy him a little gift and give it to him then. Still a special moment of celebration.

friday: raglan road at 5pm. we're missing the 6 months til st. patrick's day party there by ONE day! doh! i'm hoping during this meal i can get DH in the ireland mood and we can discuss our next trip there. i'd like to go there maybe this time next year. we haven't taken thomas there yet so his family needs to meet two boys now and we still need to meet his cousin's third baby. john's family in ireland is AWESOME - i wish they would move here and john's family here would move there.

Oh this is perfect...he will already be in a good mood from the few days your already at disney and then to set the enviroment up...your a smart girl I have never been to ireland and do not know anyone there but I bet it is lovely....and Im glad you enjoy his family there.

saturday: crystal palace at 8:30am and our flight home (boo) leaves at 6:50pm. we're big into leaving in the evening - same reason as arriving early. we like to get the most bang for our buck.

there's a MNSSHP on tuesday evening. as much as i'd love to go i don't think we're going to bother. one because i'm too cheap and two because there's just no sense in trying to keep a toddler up so late.

I would agree to save your money on this until the kids are a little older. We loved MNSSHP and our kids made it until late in the night. Ryan was almost 5 and nick was 2 1/2. I would say if we just had nick it wouldnt have been as much fun.

so, that's our plan for the trip. i heard on sorcerer radio this morning talk about the mickey shaped pretzel and i'm looking forward to having that. john wants to eat a cheeseburger at the liberty tavern in epcot. he likes that place alot for some reason - the food tastes the same as any other place! oh well. i think it's because they have good bathrooms

we're going to have to take it much easier than our normal trips. heat, toddler, preggo...recipe for needing to stop and smell the disney popcorn!

getting close now! really looking forward to living in luxury at BLT in a one bedroom. we are going to feel like rich people

I am so excited for you. You will have a good time and just keep it in your mind about taking it easy. Lower your expecations and then if you can do more it would be icing on the cake. I know you said you like to read the TR's. I did one for our last trip and Nick was not much older than Thomas is now so if you want to read it I can get you the link.

Kathy- Your trip sounds right out of a nicholas sparks novel. It sounds so peaceful and enjoyable. I feel like all of our trips are so stimulating I would love to just take it easy like that and enjoy life. Michael is going to remember these times with you forever. How special I hope you enjoy the rest of your relaxing time off. Lucky duck.

Lisa- How is the running coming along????

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

Sorry I havent posted in a little while. Last night we had open house. I really liked Ryans teacher. She seems very nice and warm and friendly. He seems to be really enjoying her too. One week down....how many more????
I am really looking forward to the long wkend break. Not that I am going to get much time to relax but its still better than being at work.

No plans tonight.

Tomorrow football game need to leave the house by 3. That will go to 5 or 6 depending how much on time they are. So some relax time before and after that.

Sunday- I am working with my uncle at his italian stand at the garlic festival all day. We serve bruschetta and roasted red peppers with fresh mozzerella, and meatballs on a stick. (people ask for the balls on a stick and I crack up every time) real mature I know. Working for my uncle is like working a sweat shop in china.....there is no fun it by any means. But its a little extra money.

Monday- We will take the boys to the great allentown fair. this has been going on for over 50 years. Its huge. Its 3 blocks from my parents house so as a kid I would go to the fair 4 or 5 times during its stay. Lots of great memories. We may take the kids to the demolition derby they have every year. We took ryan last year and nick decided he didnt want to go. I think this year they both will be fine with the noise. Its alot of fun to watch.

So thats the skinny on my wkend plans. Speaking of skinny. I am on my 4th day of a somewhat modified version of South Beach. I have done fairly well except for the following. I just couldnt give up my morning hashbrown from mcd's, I got a salad from cosi and it came with a piece of whole grain flat bread well couldnt resisit the bread, and last night I had a small run in with cotton candy my parents brought for the kids. Overall still much better than I have been eating. Today I have really been having bad thoughts about eating bad things and bad cravings. Like I wanted so bad to get a really huge piece of greasy pizza. I just feel like I want to eat everything today. I have a feeling TOM is lurking around the corner. bloated + irritable + cravings....sounds like it to me.

Ok well I am off to figure out what to make for dinner. Talk to you soon!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

lindsay - please send me your TR!!!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2295347

Here ya go for anyone who wants to read it. It was our best trip yet and I am just dying to get back with them.

 

[flipflopmom]

Hey! Remember me?

I just have a second, we are getting ready to go to the VT vs. App. St. game, but I miss you all like crazy bad. I will get back, I promise. PROMISE. I can do it. I can.

Rose, I know your bday is soon, maybe the 4th? Mine's Monday, and I was think you were day before or after, or something, but anyway HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Since I've been on last: lost 5 pounds, got a sinus infection, my Uncle passed away, caught a stomach bug and lost 2 more, basically, I've been working late EVERY day trying to come up with stuff that will catch this crew up, and trying to sleep sickness away. Gave a math test, half made D's, F's. Well, N, U, but equivalent. They are so... dense. Sweet as honey, but I just don't think there is much there. Like one question had a group of animals, and 1 SHOE, and they had to pick out what didn't belong, and most missed it!!!!!!!! Another same, all fruit one hat, they missed it. I came home and gave Sophie the same test, without the 2 weeks of individualized instruction, just to see if the directions I gave were unclear. She did GREAT! I even gave the test in groups of 3 or individually!!!

Oh well, things are hopping on the Master's end. I found out I sit for my comps Oct. 21, and go back within a month to defend what I wrote. LAST CLASS has started up. So no stress there or anything.

Sophie's loving school and is doing ballet class, AK's loving cheer and being in 7th grade - the oldest in our school. We're rolling along, well, fumbling along. But alive!

I miss you. Did I say that? I miss you!

We missed most of the hurricane, just nasty wind mostly. The earthquake was FREAKY FREAKY scary, I thought I was having some sort of attack. WE NEVER have earthquakes in VA!!! One kid in my class was crying because I freaked out , the janitor was in the hall and didn't feel anything, I called him in my room to find out what was happening, he said I was having a stroke and needed to go to the nurse! Then one of our male teachers came down to check on us and told me it was an earthquake! LOL.

So that's my life for the past month in a nutshell. Since I don't have to work Monday, one of my birthday gifts is to get caught up (I only read this page).

Don't take my absence as a lack of caring. Promise. Love you ladies!

HAPPY LABOR DAY! GO HOKIES!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

hi friends!

last night started our labor day extravaganza. a great time was had with our little parade around the neighborhood. a fdny ambulance led the way followed by an OLD firetruck from the 1900s or something crazy like that. it's an open truck and i swear every year i think it's that thing's last. then they showed a movie on the grass. since it's luau theme this year they showed lilo and stitch and seeing all the little kids in their little camp chairs was SO cute. thomas even sat with my cousins mary (10) and johnny (11) for a while on the blanket. we could tell he must have been exhausted if he actually sat. considering he ran the whole parade route i'm not surprise. he did manage to get a big bloody lip while chasing his little friend erin. i brought him home to clean him up and he SCREAMED "down! down!" so i'd put him down and he could go back to playing. he stayed up til 9 which is SO late for him

anyway, i'm late now and need to head to the airport to pick up my friends! i hope to get a chance to sign in over the weekend but if not, have a wonderful weekend and i'll catch up with everyone for personals later!

xoxo

ps, happy birthday rose! glad you're back taryn (so sorry about your uncle though), lindsay - i made it a few pages into your TR last night, hi kathy! enjoy the last couple of days off! hi maria! or should i say bon jour?

 

[mikamah]

Good morning ladies,

Nancy-So sorry to hear about your mil and sil. It must be so frustrating to not get real information about such serious issues. I agree with you, if it was me told by a lab person (which is doubtful) then i would be right on getting more info and staging. Makes me think about my sister and I both when we had our mammograms we got called back for more films, which made my sister very nervous and she never told anyone because she thought she was going to have cancer, but both of us were fine, so I wonder if it could be something like that. Though even for that, my doctor called me not the lab, but I could see that the x-ray dept might call to schedule more films. I hope she is ok, and maybe it is not cancer but something like that.
I hope your mil surprises you and does what she needs to to recover. Back surgery is no small potatos.
Sounds like you had a nice night last night, and a fun weekend planned. Hope you have a great time this weekend, can relax a bit.

Lindsay- I think you're doing great on south beach. I am a firm believer in not depriving yourself totally, and if a hash brown every now and then is going to help to keep you on track the rest of the day, so be it. If you compare this week to many other weeks this summer, I'm sure you're doing better and on the right track. You can do this!! Glad Ryan likes his teacher, and school seems to be going well. I think there's only about 41 weeks left. The demolition derby sounds like a blast. Michael would love something like that, and balls on a stick. Sounds like a perfect weekend for a mom of 2 boys. I'll have some bruschetta please.
Have fun.

Taryn-Sorry to hear about your uncle, and sending good wishes for your class. Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you again this year.

Lisa- Hope you are enjoying the long weekend, and ds had a good first full week.

Rose- Love to see the occassional facebook post from you. Enjoy every minute.

Maria- Hope you had safe travels this week and are having a fabulous trip.

Well, I'm going to attempt to run/walk 10 miles this morning with my friend karen. Her dh will watch michael and we do a 1.7 mile loop. We'll need to go 6 times. We'll see. My half is 3 weeks from today. I am so not anywhere near prepared as I was for the princess. I am going to go and just want to finish. Not last would be nice too, but I'll be very close to last according to last years times. I doubt I'll even beat my princess time of 3:35. I am going to run 3 morning a week when michael starts school. Wed is his first day and I am off, so I can get a longer run then too. If we make 10 miles today, I will go and do the hilly part of the race route so I will at least know what it is like.

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Hi Ladies!

A very quick "Hi!" -- We need to get Ben new sneakers and a watch before school starts and Dennis is adamant we are leaving at 10am to do it, so that leaves me with not much time...

I will do a mini TR later. Ben took hundreds of photos, so I'll have them up on FB eventually.

I can't wait to catch up with everyone! We had a good trip, but if I never try to read another word in French it may be too soon...Bonjour, indeed! The next Bon I encounter better end in Jovi

We went shopping after we got home yesterday, so I am all set to continue with my "lower carb". I'm not sure if it's technically SB, but I may look into that. I think I have a book, somewhere. I think I'm eating too much fruit (a few servings of berries a day) to be SB.

I got up this morning and hustled over to Deer Island. I got there a little later than I would have liked so I encountered more people walking their dogs, but it wasn't too bad. I did 3M by the ocean with a view of the Boston skyline part of the way, so hard to complain about that. I came home and Dennis made me an omelet, now I just have to finish getting presentable so I can see the Mall public

I'll be back later to chat, everyone have a fantastic day and I hope you're off to a great start for the holiday weekend!

Maria

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Hello Taryn!!!!! We miss you too and I am so glad you checked in. Have a great day at the game.

Nancy- Have a very fun time this weekend with all the festivities.

Maria- Glad you had a good time I cant wait to hear about it and see pics. Have fun shopping.

Kathy- Wow I totally forgot about your race coming up. Thats the wicked one right? Good luck with getting the runs in. Im sure you will do just fine.

Sorry for the quickie responses today. I am trying to get out running. My goal is 5 miles.

Talk to you all later.

 

[lisah0711]

Happy Birthday to our lovely Princess Rose!

and an early

Happy Birthday to our lovely Princess Taryn!

September is quite a month for celebrations in this group. Our anniversary is next week-end and I believe that the lovely Princess Maria was also a September bride.

I was impressed by what a bunch of running Princesses and Tinks we were yesterday!

I did six miles yesterday -- was shooting for ten. The good news is that it isn't the gel causing the stomach problems. So it will be the Imodium for my run for me. I'll test it out next week-end on my easy five. My times are good so I feel confident I can do my race without being swept. It is what it is and instead of boo-hoo-ing about my training not being what I WISH'ed, I will celebrate that this is the third half marathon that I am starting this year!

Nancy, so sorry about all the family issues. Hope that you can forget about them for awhile and have a great time with your friends this week-end!

Maria, welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about your trip. Good luck to Ben as school starts next week. Robert survived his first week.

Kathy, you'll do fine at your half this month. Is it the wicked one? Sounds like some fun costumes to distract you!

Lindsay, isn't your relay coming up, too?

I know Rose has Wine and Dine coming up, too.

Taryn, so lovely to see you! Don't be a stranger! Take a few minutes for a mental health break and come chat with us.

Lisa, how was your vacation? Congrats on being a superstar the last week of the BL challenge!

Did you see our Tinker Bell Half training schedule starts September 20th? Just two days after my half. And it goes to 19 miles now if you're going for time. Might as well start training for a full. There is talk about turning the 17 miler scheduled for Christmas Eve into a virtual jingle bell run.

 

[mikamah]

Good morning princesses and Lisabelles!!

Wow, can't believe the Tinkerbelle training will be starting soon. So excited for you Lisa's!!

We didn't make our 10 miles yesterday. Just did 5. It was hot and humid, and we were both just not feeling it. I'm going to take a page out of Lisa's book, and say it is what it is, and do the best I can. I can go out wed when michael's in school, and will push for at least 8, go for 10. I'm definitely not doing this half for time. lol. I thought i'd beat my princess time of 3:35, but probably not, but that's ok. I'll see how I feel that day, but right now I'm thinking I'll stick with 5k's around here, and hope to run the occassional disney half. I'm just not into the training like I was for the princess. And yes it is the Wicked half. I wonder if there will be some costumes. Hmm that would help. Our bathrooms are at 4.5 and 7.5 miles at a beach before and after we do the hilly section of Marblehead neck. Nice to know the bad hills are only 3 miles. I hope that will be enough for me. Hate to have to go in the bushes along the way.

Lisa- Oh well, glad it's not the gel, but bummer you're having that problem at all. I hope the immodium will do the trick.

Hello everyone else!! michael's having a meltdown, so gotta run. xo

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Happy Birthday, Rose!

I hope you had a fantastic day, and all your "4"s are now in alignment for an awesometastic year!

Maria

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I promised you an mini TR, and if I don't start it will never happen...

Monday, August 29th -- We decided to wait until later to leave, to give the storm clean-up time to happen. Based on what we were seeing on the Boston news, it didn't seem so bad...(note, this impression was corrected when we started seeing the news in Montreal, they were much more concerned about VT). So it was a pleasant drive. We went up about 2 hours in NH, then another 3 in VT, and then about 45 minutes in Canada to Montreal. I had never been in VT for any appreciable time before, and I found it to be quite Green. Just miles and miles of green trees, green mountains, a lovely state. We decided to get something to eat in Montpelier, and the golden dome of the capitol just seemed to sit and shimmer in the forest as we approached. So, by the time we got to the border, we were ready to be done. We didn't have any issues entering, and were on our way up the farmland. Dennis said it looked like we were in IL, and I had to agree. If the signs weren't in French, I would think I was in middle America.

We were very pleased with our hotel. We had a suite so Ben had his own space to sleep and watch tv in. Unfortunately there weren't a ton of channels, but we brought the dvd player thinking that might be the case. We were beat, so we unpacked (we had a small kitchen), and walked to the local Mall. We had some not so great takeout, but we also found the close IGA, so that was fortuitous. We went to bed pretty quickly, we had a busy day ahead.

Tuesday, August 30th -- This is the day we scheduled a hop on/off bus tour, so we could get the lay of the land. It was a double decker bus, so of course my adventurers had to sit up top. This was fine for most of the tour, until it started pouring We were all glad we had picked this, we felt like we had a much better handle of where things were and what we might like to do. We also learned there apparently is a rivalry between Toronto and Montreal. Who knew? We spent the morning on the tour, then got off and had lunch. We went to the Notre Dame Basilica in the afternoon (absolutely beautiful church, where Celine Dion was married), and then back there in the evening for a light show. We went to Old Montreal for dinner, and Dennis had poutine. None for me, thanks Then Dennis decided to take a walk to see St. Catherine Street, since his co-workers had told him so much about it He went about 2 blocks and came back. It was a bit raunchy for him, and he wasn't overly comfortable being solicited

The next day we wanted to walk around the city a bit. We went to the Underground City, and enjoyed the miles of mall -- but didn't really see anything that caught our fancy, much. We had lunch, and then we had to grab a taxi -- we had a tour of the headquarters of Cirque du Soleil scheduled! This was a special treat, they do not do tours for the public. Dennis works with them to find their space when they come to Boston, so we were offered a tour. We could not take any pictures, but I was absolutely amazed at what goes into a production. Of course they have the studios where they practice the shows, a gym, etc. What I did not realize is they actually dye the material for all of their costumes, and then sew them. They make or adapt all the shoes, and make all the headpieces. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say it was extremely impressive, and they also do a lot for the communities they appear in, as well as Montreal's poorest neighborhood. We went back to Old Montreal for dinner. It was my turn to pick and I wanted a crepe! It was more dessert than dinner, but my crepe had a ton of fresh strawberries and sliced banana covered in Belgian chocolate sauce, with sides of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. No, not exactly on any diet

Thursday, September 1st -- This was our last day in Montreal, and we planned to take the subway out to the Olympic Park. We found the subway to be quick, clean, and pretty easy to maneuver. We went up in the Olympic Tower, which had a fantastic view of the City and surrounding community. One thing we quickly discovered was there weren't really suburbs that go on for miles like around Boston, once you get out of Montreal it seems to be pretty farmy. We also toured the Biodome, with 5 habitats found around Canada and the animals that go with them. We did some more walking around Old Montreal, and ended up having dinner overlooking the marina. We did our final souvenir shopping (I got a couple of great pairs of artisan earrings and plenty of maple products for family and co-workers), and that's when Dennis sprang his brilliant idea for our exit on me -- wouldn't it be great if we could be on the road at 6am instead of 7:30?!

Friday, September 2nd -- So, up at 5am, car packed, and groggy me and Ben are ready to hit the road. We were very happy to be over the border when we would have been leaving, but still...When we got to the border the guard asked Dennis where he worked, who Ben was, it was a little intimidating but, safely back in the U.S. we were able to relax and enjoy the Green. We got home in early afternoon, I started the , we made our grocery list, and started putting away things we had out for the hurricane that didn't hit us, we were so fortunate.

I am pleased to say I started eating correctly right away, and I've run 3M Sat. and today.

We enjoyed Montreal, but I was struck by a couple of things.

The Good:

The news anchors were so multicultural they looked like the United Nations. And the sports announcer we saw was a very healthy woman. I liked that!

The people were polite, and we could figure out most things without too much help.

The Surprising:

Everyone seemed to be smoking -- all the time. It was hard for me (I'm allergic to smoke), but there were not smoking at all in indoor restaurants, so that was actually good.

We quickly got the impression that speaking English was frowned upon, even for tourists. From watching the news, we also felt like English-speakers were second-class citizens. That may not be the case at all, it was just the impression we got.

I did keep thinking I would have a better time if I were at Disney -- I think part of that was all the smoking, and part of it was things were unfamiliar and we had to work to figure them out. The taxes seemed really high, and figuring how much something really cost was a more math than I wanted to do.

The Verdict:

I am really glad we went, but I don't see the need to return any time in the near future. I don't know where next summer will take us, but I predict it will either involve a cruise or another big city in the U.S. My guys got a taste of non-theme park vacationing, and unlike me, I don't think they want to go back

Maria