Biggest Loser "Sizzlin' Hot" Summer Challenge

[Disneywedding2010]

Afternoon everyone!

Its raining here so not much going on today. Alan has cleaned up some and other then that we're lounging.

Alan heard from his daughter for the first time in over 2 years yesterday. Long story short he's not seen her since 2010, before that she was I believe 2 years old. Needless to say his ex wife has done a real good job of keeping him from having a relationship with her.

We were talking about his kids the other day (before Father's Day) and I told him "Well, she's going to be ____ years old on Father's Day. I know grown kids this day and age have FB." So I got on the computer and started looking and found her! We logged into Alan's account and sent her a friend request. She responded to it yesterday and he gave her his cell number. They talked for over an hour and we found out she's living like 20 minutes away from our house in Corinth. She's been in the area about a year and hasn't talked with her mom at all. She said part of the reason she left was because her mom was constantly bad mouthing Alan and she got fed up.

Here's to hoping now after all these years they can have a relationship without outside forces getting involved.

Sunday QOTD:

My favorite country in the World Showcase: I can't really pick one. I like each one of them for different reasons.

Country to add: I'd say Austrailia or Ireland as well.

 

[JacksLilWench]

Posting a bit early because I'll be out tomorrow morning volunteering at the triathlon!

QOTD Sunday: A Disney question today! Epcot is mostly known for the world showcase. A beautiful display of 11 different countries. Which one is your favorite and why? Which country would you put in world showcase if you could?

Have a wonderful day!!

My favorite country is France I adore the music, the food, the theming, the Mini Eiffel Tower, Marie, the Boulangerie....everything! I would love to live there if I could!

But if I had to add a country, I would say Greece. There's nothing really Mediterranean at WS, and I think the possibility would be awesome. Just think of the food options!! Gyros, hummus, cucumber salads, baklava...delicious!

**************
Thanks for all the awesome words, everyone. It's really comforting to know that even if I don't always get the WW leader I want, I have a ton of leaders to pick from on here. You guys ROCK!

I just finished my second(?) long run for my ToT training....five miles! But I was able to finish in 1:14, which is not too shabby, I think I can't for a rest day though, which is tomorrow!! A friend of mine invited me over to swim tomorrow though, but that's much easier than running. Plus anything with water and I'm sold

Have a good afternoon, everyone!

ETA

Kristina Oh my gosh!! I hope Alan and his DD are able to develop a relationship, and to make up for all those lost years. That's so great you guys were able to find her!

 

[jillbur]

We stopped a couple of years ago and stayed at the JW Marriott right on Pennsylvania Ave. I lucked out and got a great rate on hotels.com with a discount code. I paid $100/night on the weekend ($400-500 during the week) so I didn't care about the parking fee. Be careful a lot of the hotels even outside of DC charge the parking fees. The JW Marriott is about a block from the White House and museums. There is a Hard Rock Cafe - which was actually one of the best we have eaten in.

Have fun.

Janis

Thanks. I'll look into it and see what the prices are. And, I think my boys would like to eat at the Hard Rock. They've never been to one, so maybe I'll look that up too!

Posting a bit early because I'll be out tomorrow morning volunteering at the triathlon!


QOTD Sunday: A Disney question today! Epcot is mostly known for the world showcase. A beautiful display of 11 different countries. Which one is your favorite and why? Which country would you put in world showcase if you could?

I absolutely love World Showcase. I love all the countries for different reasons (a lot have to do with food, though ).

I would love to see South America represented as Brazil! And, of course I agree with all the Australia, Ireland, and Greece votes.

DD ordered a non-fat hot chocolate from McDonald's recently.... and then we sat and chuckled as we watched them pile on the whipped cream and chocolate drizzle.... without even asking us!!! "Um.... DUH.... I ordered that NON-FAT so there would be NO FAT in it!!"

I laugh so hard when people order fat free lattes and then load up with whipped cream & chocolate sauce. But, to each their own. Glad DD had a great meet. Hope today is just as good!

I looked at a Hampton Inn in Alexandia last night. It was $87 and free parking. They have a shuttle to the metro. We probably won't have time to swim since we will only be there 24 hours, but the free breakfast is a plus. And, I'm not big on hotel free continental breakfasts, but it'll save us at least $20 or more. And, DSs love those breakfasts. DS9 can eat!

Afternoon everyone!

Alan heard from his daughter for the first time in over 2 years yesterday. Long story short he's not seen her since 2010, before that she was I believe 2 years old. Needless to say his ex wife has done a real good job of keeping him from having a relationship with her.

We were talking about his kids the other day (before Father's Day) and I told him "Well, she's going to be ____ years old on Father's Day. I know grown kids this day and age have FB." So I got on the computer and started looking and found her! We logged into Alan's account and sent her a friend request. She responded to it yesterday and he gave her his cell number. They talked for over an hour and we found out she's living like 20 minutes away from our house in Corinth. She's been in the area about a year and hasn't talked with her mom at all. She said part of the reason she left was because her mom was constantly bad mouthing Alan and she got fed up.

Here's to hoping now after all these years they can have a relationship without outside forces getting involved.

It's amazing that Facebook can bring them together. I'm so happy they got to reconnect and I hope they can continue to develop their relationship. And, good for her for being so mature and recognizing the need for the communication!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not too much happening today. I am actually quite tired and could probably take a nap right now, but I have too much to do to stop & take a nap. My silly cat has been pulling out clumps of hair. So, I get to vacuum pretty much daily. Yay! He's done this in the past & we don't know why. He looks funny, though, since he's all black and now has some bald spots. I already cleaned the bathroom and am headed into the dining room to do the hardwoods. I think I'm also going to start pulling stuff out for the beach, too. I started making lists this morning so I can get organized.

I hope you all have a nice relaxing Sunday.

Jill

 

[6ofus2]

Posting a bit early because I'll be out tomorrow morning volunteering at the triathlon!

QOTD Sunday: A Disney question today! Epcot is mostly known for the world showcase. A beautiful display of 11 different countries. Which one is your favorite and why? Which country would you put in world showcase if you could?

I have never been to Epcot! Or DW for that matter! But we're planning to go next year.

 

[kisobel]

i love France, just think it is very pretty and the Grand Marnier slushies aren't half bad either. one country i would like to see represented is Australia. they could have great food and it would be a good addition. this weekend i have been struggling with the broken refrig and eating normal. i did go through wendy's tonite but i only ordered a sandwich and a bottle of water. i never knew you could get water at a fast food place. lol before i was so focused on my soda i never really looked at the menu. so instead of focusing on the negative this weekend(cauing a downward splurge spiral) i will focus on the positive- i made some very good decisions. hopefully the repair will be cheap and easy and not cut into my vacation fund.

kate

 

[buzz5985]

Good Sunday morning

Thanks Janis for the info about the hotel in DC. We are think about doing this in Nov during Jersey week. We are thinking of asking a couple to come with us. She has never been to DC but we are thinking she will say no since she doesn't like museums. THe husband will love to go but we don't know about her.

.

If you get in touch with your Senator's office - they will try to get you a tour of the White House. You need to schedule it in advance. They run security checks on everyone. I went - it was OK - you can't bring in any camera's, phone etc. (Another reason I stayed at the Marriott). The rooms are closed off with a velvet rope - but you get to see the decor and ask questions about it. They keep the visitor list short - there were about 12 people there when I was there.

Afternoon everyone!

Its raining here so not much going on today. Alan has cleaned up some and other then that we're lounging.

Alan heard from his daughter for the first time in over 2 years yesterday. Long story short he's not seen her since 2010, before that she was I believe 2 years old. Needless to say his ex wife has done a real good job of keeping him from having a relationship with her.

We were talking about his kids the other day (before Father's Day) and I told him "Well, she's going to be ____ years old on Father's Day. I know grown kids this day and age have FB." So I got on the computer and started looking and found her! We logged into Alan's account and sent her a friend request. She responded to it yesterday and he gave her his cell number. They talked for over an hour and we found out she's living like 20 minutes away from our house in Corinth. She's been in the area about a year and hasn't talked with her mom at all. She said part of the reason she left was because her mom was constantly bad mouthing Alan and she got fed up.

Here's to hoping now after all these years they can have a relationship without outside forces getting involved.

Sunday QOTD:

My favorite country in the World Showcase: I can't really pick one. I like each one of them for different reasons.

Country to add: I'd say Austrailia or Ireland as well.

That's great news. A friend at work was in a similar situation, and now that the kids are starting college, both are in touch with my friend and involved in his life now. Another case of the ex bad mouthing to the kids. So so sad that he missed all those years.

My DF's 80th birthday party was today. My father was thrilled, even though he called my a trouble maker - with a smile!!! His Assisted Living staff took care of everything for us. The food was great, we just brought in the beer, wine, and cake. His last big party I had in my backyard, we had a tent, 150 people and I did all the cooking. So this was a very easy party to plan.

I have to get back to work - have a great week everyone!!

Janis

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Got in a nice 30 minute walk with DH and the kids tonight. Only did 1.6 miles because DH's knee was bothering him and it was getting dark so we just did one lap. DS15 ran 3 laps, 4.8 miles. He's aiming for the 400 mile club and he has until August 25th to do it. Lots of mileage in his future.

I need to walk with DH more often. Because his legs are so long:
A) I need to double time it to keep up
B) we walked at 3.2mph pretty steadily. Typically I am slower than that when I walk.
We could have pushed a little harder but DD was walking with us. She drives me nuts because she keeps criss crossing in front of me and won't pick a consistant pace.

We had fun too and had a nice talk the whole way about the El Camino de Santiago.
I hope to drag him out more often, I just need to get mom to watch the little kids sometimes so we can get a good workout in.

I'm doing well on the scale too. Down to 184-185. 13 pounds gone since starting the BL challenges. I should attempt to kick it up a notch, I could probably lose more than a pound or 2 a week but I'm pretty happy with the progress I've made so far.

I've given up the soda and I'm loving it, so now I'm aiming for chocolate. That is a big downfall of mine, and I need to get that under control because I can (and did today) inhale a whole hershey bar in about 2 seconds. That's 210 calories, it's insane.

So y'all have to help me!!!

Sorry, rambling!!
OK, need to get the kids to bed. Tomorrow starts morning practice so we have to be at school no later than 5:55am!! YAY! NOT!!
I'm going to stay there and work on my cross training and running too.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Morocco is my fav followed by France.

I'd love to see either Australia or something Caribbean added in the showcase. That would be cool especially the Caribbean themes with music and such and a lot of the food is fantastic.

 

[EDuke98080]

Hi All,

My name is Erika and I did participate in the last challenge. I didn't do very well reaching my goal but I did find that I maintained. As soon as the last challenge was over I gained a couple of pounds and was missing the support of reading the thread and having to report in. I somehow missed this thread and would like to rejoin if I can. Thank you for the inspiration!

Thanks!

Erika

 

[Disneywedding2010]

Evening everyone!

We didn't get much of anything done today. Its been raining pretty consistent since last night. I just happened to get on weather.com and figured out why! We have a tropical storm that is covering the whole state of FL right now. I feel sorry for everyone that is at Disney World right now. I checked the 10 day forecast and it looks like its going to rain pretty much for the next 10 days. Now, yes it can typically rain in FL every day (we were told that before we moved here) it just depends on where you are. Let's hope it doesn't dampen to many people's vacations and doesn't overflow our pool, .

Thank you to those of you that commented about Alan's daughter. Yes, unfortunately its been many years of ex wife talking smack about Alan and telling all kind of lies. Luckily, he was able to have a truthful conversation with DD and explain his side of the stories that she was asking about. It sounds like for the most part she is doing well for herself and getting her life together as much as she can for being in her early 20s. Here's to hoping they can continue to blossom this relationship and at some point they can see each other. I know that would make Alan's heart melt .

Nothing really planned for tomorrow other then making up a meal plan, exercising, do some reading of my Bob Harper book, cleaning, and organizing some.

Oh, I almost forgot the funny story that happened today . Alan has been on this baby kick lately. My friends like to call it "baby fever." So i was doing something earlier today and heard him making all kinds of noise. Then he yells for me, "Honey come here." I walk into the bedroom and he's completely cleared off his area beside the bed where we had some stuff. He tells me, "Okay I moved this and did this and we can put a pack n play right here (points). What do you think?" I kind of chuckled and said, "Cool, looks like a good plan."

You fast forward a few hours and he yells for me again. I walk into the guest bedroom. "Okay picture this room empty." "Okay". "We can put the crib here, dresser here, rocking chair here, what do you think?" "Um, honey you do realize I'm not even pregnant yet right? Hold your horses babe. Have some patience." He throws his hands up and the air and jokingly in a light hearted way says "I DON'T HAVE PATIENCE!" "Okay, well then I need to teach you how to be patient" "Yeah, that aint going to happen." "Yes, your probably right. Teaching you how to be patient is like Hell freezing over, yeah it aint going to happen" .

 

[Mary•Poppins]

Posting a bit early because I'll be out tomorrow morning volunteering at the triathlon!

QOTD Sunday: A Disney question today! Epcot is mostly known for the world showcase. A beautiful display of 11 different countries. Which one is your favorite and why? Which country would you put in world showcase if you could?

-----
QOTD: My favorite is Morocco, it is absolutely beautiful and I'm just mesmerized by the architecture and I love everything they have in the stores. If I could put in a country...I think I would do India but it seems that might be a bit like Morocco. Maybe Ireland or Australia would be fun. I think they should really fix up that Africa area though.

Have a wonderful day!!

I really like France and Canada. I agree, the movie at Canada is wonderful. Another country .... hmmmm .... Perhaps Brazil or Argentina. My son went to Argentina last summer and it sounds wonderful.

Pam A lot of our graduation parties are held at people's homes here too. Our problem is the fact that our house has a lot of steps to get in and out of and we have a lot of elderly family members that would have trouble with this.

The hall we rented was from our church and was only 250.00 for the day. When we priced everything out ... renting a tent, ice (which the hall had for free) setting up tables and worrying about the weather (along with getting my house together) we thought the hall was a steal! Our second son is graduating next year and we already have the hall booked. Many families are starting to catch on to this. We were the second family to book the hall for next year ....

I got a lot of my supplies from Oriental Trading online. They were very reasonable. One item I found that was wonderful was the inflatable buffet (I copied the link below.) We ended up passing these from graduation party to graduation party. I put our salads in here to keep them from going bad.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/graduation-inflatable-buffet-a2-38_1314-12-1.fltr?Ntt=graduation+ice

I also used someone's idea on the boards and had root beer floats. We got a 1/2 keg from the beer distributor and put ice cream in one of the buffets. It was a BIG hit. However, for next year we are only ordering 1/4 keg. We had a lot left over.

Afternoon everyone!

Its raining here so not much going on today. Alan has cleaned up some and other then that we're lounging.

Alan heard from his daughter for the first time in over 2 years yesterday. Long story short he's not seen her since 2010, before that she was I believe 2 years old. Needless to say his ex wife has done a real good job of keeping him from having a relationship with her.

We were talking about his kids the other day (before Father's Day) and I told him "Well, she's going to be ____ years old on Father's Day. I know grown kids this day and age have FB." So I got on the computer and started looking and found her! We logged into Alan's account and sent her a friend request. She responded to it yesterday and he gave her his cell number. They talked for over an hour and we found out she's living like 20 minutes away from our house in Corinth. She's been in the area about a year and hasn't talked with her mom at all. She said part of the reason she left was because her mom was constantly bad mouthing Alan and she got fed up.

Here's to hoping now after all these years they can have a relationship without outside forces getting involved.

Sunday QOTD:

My favorite country in the World Showcase: I can't really pick one. I like each one of them for different reasons.

Country to add: I'd say Austrailia or Ireland as well.

Really hoping this is a new start to a great relationship.

If you get in touch with your Senator's office - they will try to get you a tour of the White House. You need to schedule it in advance. They run security checks on everyone. I went - it was OK - you can't bring in any camera's, phone etc. (Another reason I stayed at the Marriott). The rooms are closed off with a velvet rope - but you get to see the decor and ask questions about it. They keep the visitor list short - there were about 12 people there when I was there.



That's great news. A friend at work was in a similar situation, and now that the kids are starting college, both are in touch with my friend and involved in his life now. Another case of the ex bad mouthing to the kids. So so sad that he missed all those years.

My DF's 80th birthday party was today. My father was thrilled, even though he called my a trouble maker - with a smile!!! His Assisted Living staff took care of everything for us. The food was great, we just brought in the beer, wine, and cake. His last big party I had in my backyard, we had a tent, 150 people and I did all the cooking. So this was a very easy party to plan.

I have to get back to work - have a great week everyone!!

Janis

Congrats on your party! It sounds like your dad really enjoyed it. My dad turned 80 in December. So lucky to have them in our lives.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Welcome back Erika!!

Kristina, Alan cracks me up. Men are doer's! DH was the same way when all the babies came.
Here's hoping the baby dust sticks when the time comes.


************************
Yep it's me at 6:30 am. Weird huh?!? Today was the first day of summer conditioning for DS15's Cross Country team so we had to be at school at 5:55, we arrived at 5:45. I was going to hit the track this morning but started to not feel good when we got there so I decided to come home and eat something first. I'm starting to feel a little better.
The little boys have camps at 9 so I'll hit the green after I drop them off.

I figured I'd just pop in early and say hey, so HEY!!

I hope everyone has a great OP Monday!!!!

I'll be back with a QuOTD when the QOTD is posted.

 

[pjlla]

Happy Monday morning friends!

I hope you all had a terrific, relaxing/productive weekend (depending on your goal ).

DD swam great again yesterday with another 2 personal best times! She really loves the pool at Harvard and I think it puts her in a great frame of mind to do well.

After last night's swim we all walked into Harvard Square to a place called Charlie's (burger joint). I ordered a delicious black bean wrap. It was far too delicious to be low fat, but I think it was reasonable, given the options. It came with a small side of guacamole (which I ate), a small side of sour cream (which I skipped), and a small side of salsa and nachos (ate a few....more than I planned, but not the entire serving). The wrap itself was large and appeared to be whole wheat. I tried to pull off and discard any "extra" layers of the wrap as I went along. Splurged on the ride home with a snack size Rolo McFlurry from McD (stopped to use their potty initially) and called it a night.... we rolled in about 11:30 pm.

I'm sure I ended yesterday over my points, but will use my weekly allowance that I rarely get into (other than for splurges like yesterday) and feel good about it.

Off to take DD to Driver's Ed today. Will do a walk/run for the first hour or so and then pop into Macy's to do a return and a quick stop at Target for a few essentials before I pick her up. Should be home by 11:45am for a shower and lunch. I will try to pop on and chat some more than! TTYL..............P

 

[bigsis1970]

If you have never tried the shirataki tofu noodles and there isn't any reason why you can't eat soy, give them a try! Especially if you are watching your carbs. The whole wheat pasta is really healthy, but full of carbs. The tofu noodles are something crazy like 20 calories per serving and nets out to about 1 carb per serving. They are a BIT chewier than traditional pasta, but that would be my only thought.

Enjoy!!!......................P

Where do you find the tofu noodles? right at the grocery store?

Welcome Michelle! We are here for any support you need.

Jill

Thanks Jill

Posting a bit early because I'll be out tomorrow morning volunteering at the triathlon!

QOTD Sunday: A Disney question today! Epcot is mostly known for the world showcase. A beautiful display of 11 different countries. Which one is your favorite and why? Which country would you put in world showcase if you could?

QOTD - my favorite country is Italy - just love the whole pavillion.. and the FOOD!
If I got to add one - I'd pick Austraila

Afternoon everyone!

Here's to hoping now after all these years they can have a relationship without outside forces getting involved.

Gosh, sounds like a great start for them!

Happy Monday friends --- in Maine today we are expecting rain so not too much outside stuff going on.. Yesterday I planted 6 pickle buckets of Tomato plants so my legs are feeling the effects of that... I am determined to get in my walking so Im hoping for a break in the rain about 4ish! if no I guess I'll just be soggy! but I bet i'll walk faster.. Haa...

 

[pjlla]

Yep it's me at 6:30 am. Weird huh?!? Today was the first day of summer conditioning for DS15's Cross Country team so we had to be at school at 5:55, we arrived at 5:45. I was going to hit the track this morning but started to not feel good when we got there so I decided to come home and eat something first. I'm starting to feel a little better.
The little boys have camps at 9 so I'll hit the green after I drop them off.

I figured I'd just pop in early and say hey, so HEY!!

I hope everyone has a great OP Monday!!!!

I'll be back with a QuOTD when the QOTD is posted.

Hey Early Bird! I don't envy you the morning rising.... but I'm in the same boat. Doubles for swim (meaning morning practices in addition to the evening practices) starts tomorrow! We will be out of the house at 5:45 two to three mornings a week.... definitely Tues/Thurs for now.... but DD is hoping to add another. You and I can be EARLY MORNING BUDDIES a few days a week! We can compete to see who can post first!

Pam A lot of our graduation parties are held at people's homes here too. Our problem is the fact that our house has a lot of steps to get in and out of and we have a lot of elderly family members that would have trouble with this.

The hall we rented was from our church and was only 250.00 for the day. When we priced everything out ... renting a tent, ice (which the hall had for free) setting up tables and worrying about the weather (along with getting my house together) we thought the hall was a steal! Our second son is graduating next year and we already have the hall booked. Many families are starting to catch on to this. We were the second family to book the hall for next year ....

I totally hear you on getting the house ready. I'm stressed about it already! But a lot of our family (okay... ALL of our family) is coming from out of town....anywhere from a 2 hour drive to an 8 hour drive.... and some will be staying over with us, so we would have to get the house ready anyhow. oh well.

I got a lot of my supplies from Oriental Trading online. They were very reasonable. One item I found that was wonderful was the inflatable buffet (I copied the link below.) We ended up passing these from graduation party to graduation party. I put our salads in here to keep them from going bad.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/graduation-inflatable-buffet-a2-38_1314-12-1.fltr?Ntt=graduation+ice

That looks neat! Thanks for the link!

I also used someone's idea on the boards and had root beer floats. We got a 1/2 keg from the beer distributor and put ice cream in one of the buffets. It was a BIG hit. However, for next year we are only ordering 1/4 keg. We had a lot left over.

Another neat idea. I don't think we would go in that direction (DD doesn't care for root beer, but I will keep it in mind for DS in the future), but I would like to have one great ORIGINAL idea for the party. I've been floating around the idea of a "candy bar" and while I think it is neat and fun, it certainly doesn't put for the "health" idea that I like to promote.... plus I don't feel the overwhelming need to spend lots of money on candy for folks to take home! It will be costly enough just to put on the party! I'd just like to come up with a good party/food theme.

Congrats on your party! It sounds like your dad really enjoyed it. My dad turned 80 in December. So lucky to have them in our lives.

Hi All,

My name is Erika and I did participate in the last challenge. I didn't do very well reaching my goal but I did find that I maintained. As soon as the last challenge was over I gained a couple of pounds and was missing the support of reading the thread and having to report in. I somehow missed this thread and would like to rejoin if I can. Thank you for the inspiration!

Thanks!

Erika

Hey there! So glad to have you back!! Hop on in with both feet!!

Got in a nice 30 minute walk with DH and the kids tonight. Only did 1.6 miles because DH's knee was bothering him and it was getting dark so we just did one lap. DS15 ran 3 laps, 4.8 miles. He's aiming for the 400 mile club and he has until August 25th to do it. Lots of mileage in his future.

I need to walk with DH more often. Because his legs are so long:
A) I need to double time it to keep up
B) we walked at 3.2mph pretty steadily. Typically I am slower than that when I walk.
We could have pushed a little harder but DD was walking with us. She drives me nuts because she keeps criss crossing in front of me and won't pick a consistant pace.

We had fun too and had a nice talk the whole way about the El Camino de Santiago.
I hope to drag him out more often, I just need to get mom to watch the little kids sometimes so we can get a good workout in.

I'm doing well on the scale too. Down to 184-185. 13 pounds gone since starting the BL challenges. I should attempt to kick it up a notch, I could probably lose more than a pound or 2 a week but I'm pretty happy with the progress I've made so far.

You're doing great! You are heading in the right direction and that is the key!

I've given up the soda and I'm loving it, so now I'm aiming for chocolate. That is a big downfall of mine, and I need to get that under control because I can (and did today) inhale a whole hershey bar in about 2 seconds. That's 210 calories, it's insane.

So y'all have to help me!!!

Sorry, rambling!!
OK, need to get the kids to bed. Tomorrow starts morning practice so we have to be at school no later than 5:55am!! YAY! NOT!!
I'm going to stay there and work on my cross training and running too.

Suggestion number one regarding the chocolate? Keep it out of the house! Stop buying it. If you are craving chocolate, make a lowfat chocolate milk (dairy, soy, almond milk...whatever)... at least that way you can feel good about the calcium and protein in the milk. Or make yourself and iced mocha at home.... that way you can control the sugar and fat. Buy some chocolate Vitamuffins or brownies.

I laugh so hard when people order fat free lattes and then load up with whipped cream & chocolate sauce. But, to each their own. Glad DD had a great meet. Hope today is just as good!

It was good.... thanks. I was just amused and confused on why they added the whipped cream, etc without even asking. We have learned to say right up front NO WHIPPED CREAM OR CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE!

I looked at a Hampton Inn in Alexandia last night. It was $87 and free parking. They have a shuttle to the metro. We probably won't have time to swim since we will only be there 24 hours, but the free breakfast is a plus. And, I'm not big on hotel free continental breakfasts, but it'll save us at least $20 or more. And, DSs love those breakfasts. DS9 can eat!

Sounds about like the price I would pay (DANG, I'm cheap!) I'm not big on most "continental breakfast" either, but the Hampton is decent.... not great, but decent. You can usually get yogurt, oatmeal (real stuff, not just instant), hard-boiled eggs, cereal, fruit.... in addition to the "junk" like white bread bagels, pastries, french toast stix, etc. And if you've got a growing boy in your group, the price can't be beat!!

That particular vacation was truly a "budget" trip. We drove down in our van, stayed overnight about 5-6 nights in Alexandria. We brought a full cooler and a full bag of foods. We ate breakfast at the hotel every morning, lunch out while we were touring, and then dinner several nights in the hotel room. We mostly ate from what we brought for dinner, but we splurged one night and ordered pizza delivered to the room and one night we went out.


Not too much happening today. I am actually quite tired and could probably take a nap right now, but I have too much to do to stop & take a nap. My silly cat has been pulling out clumps of hair. So, I get to vacuum pretty much daily. Yay! He's done this in the past & we don't know why. He looks funny, though, since he's all black and now has some bald spots. I already cleaned the bathroom and am headed into the dining room to do the hardwoods. I think I'm also going to start pulling stuff out for the beach, too. I started making lists this morning so I can get organized.

I hope you all have a nice relaxing Sunday.

Jill

Sounds like a kitty stress problem. Does he need therapy???

My favorite country is France I adore the music, the food, the theming, the Mini Eiffel Tower, Marie, the Boulangerie....everything! I would love to live there if I could!

But if I had to add a country, I would say Greece. There's nothing really Mediterranean at WS, and I think the possibility would be awesome. Just think of the food options!! Gyros, hummus, cucumber salads, baklava...delicious!

Greece is a great idea!!

**************
Thanks for all the awesome words, everyone. It's really comforting to know that even if I don't always get the WW leader I want, I have a ton of leaders to pick from on here. You guys ROCK!

I just finished my second(?) long run for my ToT training....five miles! But I was able to finish in 1:14, which is not too shabby, I think I can't for a rest day though, which is tomorrow!! A friend of mine invited me over to swim tomorrow though, but that's much easier than running. Plus anything with water and I'm sold

Have a good afternoon, everyone!

Training sounds like it is going great!

Afternoon everyone!

Its raining here so not much going on today. Alan has cleaned up some and other then that we're lounging.

Alan heard from his daughter for the first time in over 2 years yesterday. Long story short he's not seen her since 2010, before that she was I believe 2 years old. Needless to say his ex wife has done a real good job of keeping him from having a relationship with her.

We were talking about his kids the other day (before Father's Day) and I told him "Well, she's going to be ____ years old on Father's Day. I know grown kids this day and age have FB." So I got on the computer and started looking and found her! We logged into Alan's account and sent her a friend request. She responded to it yesterday and he gave her his cell number. They talked for over an hour and we found out she's living like 20 minutes away from our house in Corinth. She's been in the area about a year and hasn't talked with her mom at all. She said part of the reason she left was because her mom was constantly bad mouthing Alan and she got fed up.

Here's to hoping now after all these years they can have a relationship without outside forces getting involved.

Sunday QOTD:

My favorite country in the World Showcase: I can't really pick one. I like each one of them for different reasons.

Country to add: I'd say Austrailia or Ireland as well.

Prayers that their relationship will develop and flourish.

I don't know, I love all of them for different reasons.
I love France for the photography possibilities. I love China because they respect their history and heritage (Love love love the Terracotta Army display). I love England for the layout and the design of the town square.
They are all Awesome.


I SO agree about the Terracotta army! That was amazing!

I'd like to see Africa built up and have their cultures showcased and I'd love to see Australia. I think we are missing out on a huge part of the world without those 2 continents.

Agree with this as well!

It was ok. Didn't love it, but I think I need to see it again to decide. We saw the 3-D version and the cinematography was excellent. The story was like another movie, but I won't spoil it for others.

That is EXACTLY what I said. And YES, very reminiscent of another movie! Almost TOO!

Thanks for reminding us to stay until the end.

Okay.... I just got a break in my day. DH has offered to take DD to Driver's Ed on his way out of town. I will do my exercise here at home after breakfast. I will still need to go get her later, but at least I don't have to dash out the door at 8 am!

Mmmm.... I can smell the coffee! Tummy is growling.... BBL to chat more.....P

 

[donac]

Good Monday morning everyone.

It is dark and getting ready to rain today here in jersey. I here all alone. Ds2 went to work and dh took my car to have a headlight changed. A friend told me it was out. I got a ticket for having the back one out a couple of months ago and I don't want another one. So I am home most of the day.

I slept in this morning(till 7) and even though it is only 8:15 it still feels late to me.

I have been cleaning the basement aka my sewing room. My machine had to go into the shop on Sat because it was possessed (ti was running by itself) so I can't sew anything down there so I have been throwing things out and sorting things out. I found some patterns that I had been missing so that was good. TOday I am going to be cutting up my fabrics into strips to make it easier to sew things together.

I will probably work out while I am down there since my exercise bike is down there. It is just a plain one with an electronic readout and a fan. I have had it for a number of years down there. I will watch an episode of some tv show to make the time go faster.

I have not had a great week weight wise and I need to change that. I know that I have not been getting enough fruits and vegggies to that is the one thing I am going to change this week.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[::Snow_White::]

QOTD Monday: If WDW is known for something, it's gift shops! Epcot is one of the best place to shop besides DTD. With all the different culture's stores and Mousegears, there are plenty of different things to buy. Some people consider shopping a workout, which got me thinking: How do you define exercise/workouts? What is the least amount of work you have to do before you consider it a real workout?

----
QOTD: For me, anytime I am moving I consider it exercise. However, during this journey, I workout. To me, I am not working out until I am out of breath, feel some kind of pain to know my muscles are working, or at least on the brink of sweating. For some people just starting out, shopping could be a workout, but for me, it's just a part of everyday life. I can lift the 5lb weights at home and not sweat but still be a little sore the next day, so that is probably the least I could do.

Have a great day!!

 

[JacksLilWench]

QOTD Monday: If WDW is known for something, it's gift shops! Epcot is one of the best place to shop besides DTD. With all the different culture's stores and Mousegears, there are plenty of different things to buy. Some people consider shopping a workout, which got me thinking: How do you define exercise/workouts? What is the least amount of work you have to do before you consider it a real workout?

Have a great day!!

I only consider it a workout if it's planned and executed activity- otherwise it's just fun The least amount of work I can do before it's a "workout" is 20 minutes, or at least until I start sweating!

***************
This weekend was so awesome, especially last night- I hosted a MeetUp for the Pops In The Park series. One of the malls in the area built a big outdoor ampitheatre for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and every summer, they have a five-week series of concerts. There's only two more left, which bums me out But then I'll get to go find other fun stuff to do in town! Last night's show was called Vive Le France and they performed the "can-can" song, which was so fun!

Gotta hop off here and get back to work! Have a good day everyone!

 

[sissy_ib]

QOTD Monday: If WDW is known for something, it's gift shops! Epcot is one of the best place to shop besides DTD. With all the different culture's stores and Mousegears, there are plenty of different things to buy. Some people consider shopping a workout, which got me thinking: How do you define exercise/workouts? What is the least amount of work you have to do before you consider it a real workout?

I don't count my daily routine as exercise.
For example-even though I have to haul our laundry over to the laundry center in our apartment complex I don't add up all the minutes walking back and forth. (It would be at about 20 on laundry days)
I just read something interesting on Spark People a few weeks ago. It said not every activity you do is exercise but it is important to be active. So while the laundry counts for my overall activity level it does not count towards my daily exercise. And of course we should all be as active as possible. So I only count walking that I set out to do as exercise, not walking I do as part of my day-to-day life.

 

[Bethislucy]

QOTD Monday: If WDW is known for something, it's gift shops! Epcot is one of the best place to shop besides DTD. With all the different culture's stores and Mousegears, there are plenty of different things to buy. Some people consider shopping a workout, which got me thinking: How do you define exercise/workouts? What is the least amount of work you have to do before you consider it a real workout?

QOTD: For me I've got to get 30 mins in to consider it a real workout and I've got to get my heart rate up and sweat.



This is week 2 for me I do good during the week with my food, but I've got to work on the weekends. So trying to go ahead and make a plan for this up coming weekend now.