Penpal match? Just turned 50, want to lose 75!

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: I'm glad the weekend went okay and that its behind you.

I didn't have to go to the sportsman show this weekend, thank goodness. But I was plenty busy anyway. I did go walking both Sat and Sun which was good. I did get my roses trimmed and some of the oak trees trimmed. I quit trimming when the bag I was filling with the clippings got too full. I'm going to hopefully finish the trees this weekend. I think they grew another foot over the winter, unless the branches just seem higher because they aren't weighted down with leaves.

I have a dental appt today. Ick. Hopefully I won't have to go back for anything. Even though its my BIL, that doesn't make it any better.

As for LC, I was bad on Friday (office pastries) and bad on Saturday. Olive Garden (I ate bread sticks), but I was okay yesterday and have started off okay today. The sad part is I won't show a loss tomorrow, weigh in day. Oh well, there goes another 5 weeks without a loss. I need a good swift kick.

My research group has a "booster session" scheduled for April. I will have to attend once a week for 8 weeks again. I'm hoping that will nudge me along. I don't have that much more to lose, I just can't seem to do it.

I hope Carolyn and Mary pop in once in a while, or even someone new wants to join us. Until later.
Leslie

[Suji]

Hi Leslie,

Ice storm=no school today. It's still hanging around 32 degrees this morning. Due to Potomac State Voting, school was out yesterday as well so DS3 is joyfully sleeping in again. Of course, with DH's @hour commute, icy roads are not something we look forward to at all.
I used to hate dental appointments, but now they don't freak me out. I guess it was facing having my wisdom teeth out in my 20's that finally got me over that fear. Now it's only the bills for the work that I dread. I told you about DS2 breaking his front teeth--they just finished the crown work last week and of course the dentist is not on our insurance plan down there in VA so we are not seeing much savings! Grrr.

I am going to try very hard to keep away from any starches today. I had a little bit of spanish rice/chicken at the historical society and 2 tortillas for dinner yesterday. I will be very careful to eat nothing not allowed today. Guess I'll have eggs for breakfast then.

If the roads get less slippery, I may drive down the street to the library since Ineed to figure out what kind of activities I could do with the kids. I have until the 25th Feb when Jr. Garden Club begins again.

Later,
Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue:

Ice storm. Ugh. I hate those. They are pretty if you don't have to go anywhere and don't lose power but that's about it. I think we are done with our cold weather. It's supposed to be super nice this weekend. I may go golf with DS or maybe ride my bike. I still have more trimming to do on the oak trees. I need to get the mower (its a hand mower because our yard is really small) down to the shop to sharpen the blades. I would like to clean out my flower beds too and get them ready for planting. I'm going to prepare a small square in the backyard and plant zucchini and summer squash, maybe pumpkins. It all sounds good. Whether I get it all done is another story. My sunday is sucked up with DS's concert and taking my mom to church.

The weigh in went well yesterday and I was down even more this am. I hope it stays off this time. I think eliminating nuts, seeds and cheese has helped. I have replaced those with whole grains and fruits. Less calories, less fat, but higher carbs. Its tough to figure out the right balance that will enable me to lose.

Enjoy your icy day.

[Suji]

Hello,
Sorry for the long no post stint. I've been kind of busy between farm and home and volunteer stuff. So, if you now have whole grains, is that a new phase of LC or something different? I'm working on my portion control most definitely! I'm glad all the major food centric holidays are done with so that I can do what I want!

Our cold weather is going to return--would you believe yesterday it was 75 south of us near DC?! Now snow is beng forcast for later in the week. Meanwhile, I am ordering peonies (old fashioned fragrant type) and daylilies. I have some passalongs and no seedling types but these are named ones in yellows, oranges and lavender groups for 3 different areas. I do like hemerocallis borders in the mags. :-)

My DS# has today off so I took him to volunteer for 2 hours and I'm on call to pick him up shortly.

TTFN!
Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: The problem with incorporating whole grains is that it makes you want MORE!!!. Yes, I'm back up again. Good grief. Its LC if you count how many carbs you have a day and stay within the limits you set for yourself. For me its around 50-60, but since I'm not losing at that, I need to back off again. I'm thinking of trying a two week on strict - 25 or below and two week LC 50-60, to give a little wiggle room for what I eat in the two weeks I'm not strict. I know I can lose when I do strict so if I tell myself its only for two weeks, then maintain for two weeks, then back on for two weeks, maybe I can do it. I just don't seem to have the drive or will power I did a year ago.

I didn't get my flower beds in shape this weekend, but did accomplish a whole lot inside the house. The weather was okay, not beautiful though so I didn't feel to bad staying inside. DH and DS went fishing and I have to take advantage of when I have the house to myself, so they don't stick their nose into what I'm doing and prevent me from getting it done. I totally cleaned out the closet under the stairs. I loaded up my Explorer with stuff from the closet to haul of to good will. Then I broke down boxes we were saving that computers came in in case we had to take them back. We have to cut them down so they fit in the recycling bins. Anything that doesn't fit in the bin, the haulers won't take away. I combined the luggage (one suitcase inside another inside another), and was able to fit all the Christmas stuff under the stairs with room to spare. Yay. Mission accomplished.

Sunday was beautiful. We hit the high 50's. While killing time waiting for the concert to start, I walked the track of the school and did the stairs. The concert was at a middle school on the other side of town, so I couldn't return home between call time and concert time so I decided to exercise.

Not much is on tap for this week so I'm going to move into flower bed, yard mode. Hopefully the weather will allow it.

Catch ya later. Hey Carolyn - What's up?

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: Just had to check in to tell you there are some daffodils at my office that are blooming! Unbelievable, but I guess it is past mid-February.

I'm restarting induction today for the umteenth time. Hope I can stick with it for two weeks. That's what I told myself. Give it two stinking weeks!

Have a great day.

[Suji]

Hey Leslie,

Willpower flying your way! I'm struggling with the LC diet concept --my mind won't wrap around the whole usual package so I can only currently work at LC in parts . For whatever reason (biorhythms?), jumping into Atkins with 2 feet is not in the cards at this moment because my attention is being drawn into other areas of life. But I remain aware of my choices this round and generally my choices are good :-) I made a main course salad for dinner last night though the protein was cheese.

Everything is closed down today. We're expecting an icestorm in the region, so fear! fear! fear! Right now nothing is going on in my town and there's just a light dusting of combo snow leftovers and fresh overnight. I guess something is churning to our south.

I have a lone flowering crocus at the farm. :-) Everything else is either below ground or just showing green at the soil level. I'm looking forward to the great spring display but I also have got to get muscle tone or my back is going to be giving me problems. All this sitting isn't helping me.

I've been on a roll with poring over the old PA warrants trying to locate a needle in a haystack while researching a possible former land owner at the farm. It's a puzzle I want to solve, but reading through the itsy bitsy writing and trying to decipher whether the locations are referencing the same area of settlement is a bear!

Went to bookclub yesterday and finally got the discussion over with for last months choice. As usual, the "leader" had little to say and left it up to me and one other person to do the talking. What is up with that?! I think group leaders should be more prepared than most.

TTFN,
Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: Thanks for the will power. I hope it sticks around. I did okay with induction yesterday, but still went a bit high on the carbs. I know what I need to trim, but I don't know what to put in their place. Bleh.

We still have bright sunshine today. I'm hoping it holds for the weekend. After the weather people predicting rain everyday but Monday, they sure were off the mark. I wish we had more winter like you guys do.

I'm reading a book by Keith Clemons called Above the Stars. Have you ever read anything by him. I've only read a couple of chapters, but it seems to be a quick read. So far so good.

I know how it goes with group leaders. I've often taken the helm. I do agree, a leader should be a leader, but I've found myself in that position many times where the leader doesn't lead. It's very frustrating.

The research on the farm sounds fascinating. My uncle did family history research for years and then put together a book. It was a great effort but well worth it.

Hope the weather doesn't hit you too badly this weekend. I'm enjoying the flowers.

[sleepysue07]

Hi Girls!

Sorry that I've been AWOL for a while. I haven't really been watching the carbs or anything else for that matter.

I've just been out of pocket a lot lately. I now have two jobs, and I am on the staff at my church too, so scheduling is just really tight these days.

I know that I need to get back on the treadmill, and back into LCing, but honestly I've just been rushing around eating what I can grab in between jobs, so I'm sort of out of balance right now.

I have to tell you that you are causing me to want to plant something. If you could see my land though you would laugh. There is still so much junk to haul off that I can't imagine planting anything pretty until it's gone. My husband is really busy working these days too, so he hasn't had time to take care of the property (Not that he would anyway, without much nagging from me.) I guess I am gonna have to pay someone else to come and haul it all off.

Well, I have to go for now, you girls take care and I will try to be more faithful in checking in.

Carolyn

[Dreamcometru]

Carolyn: It's great to hear from you. I know life can get so busy sometimes. I find time to post because I sit at a computer all day at work.

So this weekend was awesome. The sun was out, 60 degrees. I walked the trail Saturday and Sunday and played 9 holes of golf on Saturday. I really enjoyed it and could actually hit the ball.

DS had his solo contest. He was 6th. Not too bad, but he was dissappointed because 5th and above have the possibility of going to state, so he's out of the running. I told him that freed him up to concentrate on other things now, so there is a bit of relief for him.

Strawberries are back! I ate a whole container this weekend. I think that's a quart? Anyway, it didn't hurt me weight wise, back down to 179, so I'm okay with that.

Hope everyone's weekend went well. Carolyn, two jobs and church staff too? Wow, you are a busy bee. I know how it is with the yard work, but again I'm faced with DH saying don't worry about it, I will take care of it and it never happens. So, I guess I'm going to start chopping the christmas tree into pieces so I can put it in the recycling because he certainly hasn't gotten rid of it, but I can only do that when he isn't around so he doesn't tell me not to mess with it. Good grief.

Have a great day ladies.

[Suji]

Welcome back Carolyn--my you are very busily employed in one way or another this season! Did this fall into your lap by serendipity or was this a purposeful taking on of many new responsibilities? Please take care of yourself! That kind of schedule can be very draining!

I love strawberries too, Leslie. I ordered three different varieties to try at the farm. Last time I installed a bed here at home, the deer browsed them to the ground three times. So far, knock on wood, the deer haven't ventured out of the woods into our yard at the farm. Also, maybe they are more wary since PA definitely has a hunting culture and being out in the country, the locals will exercise that privilege!

We got most of the bagged plaster out of the bedroom and taped out likely locations of the sink, commode and shower with silver duct tape. Next weekend, I guess we'll be working at leveling the floor and perhaps wiring. I still need to make three more plant orders: daylilies, iris and glads. I plan to make one local trip to pick up plants at one of the mountain nurseries--flowering crabs for the driveway.

My one concern is back health. I have been having more issues with lower back discomfort. I suspect my "core strength" is lacking and my spine needs that muscle support. I need some of your exercise fortitude, Leslie! Yesterday I did much better at water consumption which is always an issue for me! I forget to drink. I am trying to have more herb tea too since I drink more if there's a flavor. Also, I'm still working on portion sizes. My goal is no refills of the plate for anything. I'm getting better with that.

My boy at VA Tech is planning to come home for spring break, likely beginning this Thursday. It's always nice to have him around. He said he was sending in applications for another NASA internship though it is a definite commute from here. I wish I could awaken some kind of goal setting in my youngest. He is certainly intelligent enough, but I fear his brain cells have been co-opted by the gaming industry.

Time for a new picture. The robins have been flocking big time in the past two weeks or so. They are a strong spring presence which gradually fades out over the summer so that I am left wondering where they all go then.

Later,
Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: I love the pic of the robins. We get them here but not so much anymore. They used to be abundant. They haven't come back yet this spring. A true sign of spring here is when the woodpecker comes and hits our chimney. We have one of those steel covered chimney tops. It took us years to figure out what the odd noise was. One day I was outside and saw it pecking away. We've lived in our house 23 years and they have come back every year. I heard it for the first time on Saturday.

So your VA Tech son has spring break already? All three of my kids' is the last week in March.

DS is back at golf. He did good yesterday, but not good enough for varsity. Hopefully he will be happy with JV. He's already had a slight fender bender with his car. Fortunately it didn't hurt the other guy's car, so no report to insurance. Unfortunately DS's car needs some repair work now.

I'm sorry about your back. I had terrible problems with mine five or six years ago. Then I went on a diet with DS (gained it all back of course, this was way before LC), but when I lost about 20 lbs, my back problems left me and never returned. Occasionally I tweak a muscle now and then which can disable me for a day or two, but nothing even close to the problems I had several years ago. I hope yours is more muscle tweaking that disc issues. I can sure relate on how painful either can be, but muscle repairs a lot quicker than discs.

I went to the crowded gym last night. It's so discouraging because its so darned full. I don't really want to join a different gym though because the one I like has a longer commute and chances are I would never go but I am looking.

I better get some work done. Til Later.

[Suji]

Hi Leslie and Carolyn,
Brrr. Cold one this morning! Moderate temps are being replaced by a push from the north. Our friend living at the farm is pushing to start seeds, but I am holding the break on him. It's just too early. B-b-b-b-but DC is starting theirs!, he says. Washington DC being a heatsink and zone 7+ to our cold 6, of course! Newbies! :-) Do you use the SUnset zones. Leslie? DH subcribed me to Sunset magazine--definitely has a west of the Mississippi slant, but I think regional mags are great fun. I'd get Vermont Life, if I could. :-) We have Maryland Life, which is pretty good quality.

I am trying to come up with a curriculum for the next 6 weeks of meetings for the Jr. Garden CLub. It's a bit harder than I thought, since it is so early to have plants. Kids aren't going to have the setup for starting seeds (properly). Yeah, they can stick a bean in a cup, but it's not going to do well until May, really. I figure I'll have them learn to use winter to plan. Heck, it's fun going through catalogs (for adults anyway). Have either of you got any ideas that might be fun for @ second graders that is garden craft related? Any ideas are welcomed as I look through books for inspiration!

The historic society is going to put me on a committee to design a garden for one of their early 1800's houses on Main Street. That should be cool! I'm not going to be in charge, but I'll have input and do some work on it.

Speaking of old houses, I had a major find yesterday. I located online 2 pics of the farm from aerial photos. One from 1971 and the other from 1937! What a change! The 1937 pic shows the place surrounded by orchard and looking set in its' location properly. The 1971 pic shows the orchard completely erased (over 150 acres worth!) and even the shade trees around the house gone for the most part. It also looks as if the barn was replaced but the picture is kind of washed out, so I can't tell for sure. There was a barn fire, but I'm not sure if it happened in the 60's or 70's. After being so important to the early families, the place just kind of got tenanted out by the fruit growing comglomerate in the area that owned a few thousand acres of productive land.

Leslie, what month was it last year when you started going to the gym? Obviously it is still full of people who are doing their New Years Resolution thing. How long does that last usually? A few months and then you'll see the numbers of people slacken.

Carolyn, what kind of "good stuff" do you have planned for yourself to come down from the working stiff stresses? We're thinking of you. :-)

Later guys,

Sue (got to get one thing planned for Monday and get my supplies for the Jr. Gardeners today!)

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: Another beautiful day here. The daffodils I picked from the neighbor's side yard (bordering the parking lot of our building at work) are still gorgeous on my desk. If they fizzle over the weekend, I'm sure there will be lots more to pick (he he) on Monday. They are in the side yard. My car is usually parked in front of them. When is the neighbor every going to see them or miss them for that matter?

I have more tulips coming up this year than last. I'm excited to see what happens with them. I still need to clean out the two beds.

No, I don't use the sunset zones, nor do I have any logic to my planting. I plant whatever happens to be available at the garden shop at the time. We get Sunset magazine out here, I just don't subscribe to it. I am able to look at a copy once in a while either through the office or my SIL brings it to me. There are several Oregon magazines circulating. Our office gets the Portlander which I really like.

Wow, how did you find those early ariel photos of the farm? That's so cool.

I hope have fun with the jr garden club. If I can think of something, I will let you know. Rather than a plant that won't do good until May, can you have them plant a small tree? Start it indoors and then move it outdoors when the weather breaks. Or perhaps if there is some piece of land close by they can rejuvinate with tree seedlings and keep an eye on them over the several weeks that they meet with the garden club. We had a thing here on earth day a while back where people were passing out tree seedlings. It was so cool. I got a red (I think it was Japanese) maple tree. I planted mine at home and the tree grew huge so big in fact I had to remove it from where I had originally planted it. I wish I could send you some maple tree sprouts. I don't know if they have even started sprouting yet. I haven't checked out my flower beds. I usually have to go through and dig them all out because there are seeds everywhere.

Designing the garden sounds like fun. A lot of thought has to go into it. I'm not artistic enough to be able to figure that out.

I went to the gym last year most of the time regardless of the crowds because I hadn't been on the program very long and had lots of motivation. This year, the crowds seem larger though. I see people meandering around looking for a piece of free equipment all the time. Its really bad when you can't find anything to work out on. I have yet to be able to access a stair climber. Oh well, I'm still going to go.

Hope you have a great day. Hi Carolyn.

[Suji]

Hey,
Just a quick hello from me. I'm feeling a bit under the weather today-nothing serious--just tired out-especially my eyes, it seems-- and just this side of developing a case of the sniffles. So, I'm going to take it easy today and be a layabout.

The Jr. Garden club started up yesterday and my assistant was responsible for the project this time since she wanted to do it. SHe had a bunch of dried leaves and flowers that the kids glued to cards and then inserted them into plastic holders. Tomorrow is garden club general meeting and I'm going to suggest to other members to get involved for one session. I do think though that these kids want to actually plant something that grows, not just do craft things. I have a ton of little plastic pots at the farm and seeds, so whatever else happens, I think they should do that too!

I ordered a bunch of varied lilies this weekend--all kinds as long as they were fragrant. I think if I dig it properly, I have the perfect head-in-the-sun,feet-in-the-shade spot on the east side of the stone ramp. :-)

Food--been trending veg lately. I need to get to the store and stock up. I'm too dragged out after a couple weeks of sleeping poorly to plan anything. Boohoo. Still--healthy choices so as not to gain.

Hope you had a pleasant weekend Leslie! Carolyn, how was yours?

Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: I still haven't gotten my garden patch cleaned out yet to plant zucchini. Good grief, pretty soon it will be too late.

I upgraded my gym membership to enable me to go to the one close by my office at lunch. I didn't work up a sweat, but did weights and 10 minutes of light cardio on the exercise bike. I only have about a half an hour when you figure dress down, travel and parking time, but I'm okay with a quick 1/2 hour workout. Its better than nothing. I plan to do hard core cardio at my home gym on Tues and Thurs nights and the weights at lunch MWF. Then of course walking on the weekends. I hope it helps. Especially since my weight is back up again!

I may have mentioned my MIL has cancer. She was given nine months over a year ago. Now she's close to the end. DH is having a hard time dealing with it. He's helping her as much as he can and his sister has stepped up to the plate. My MIL is going to go stay with DH's sister until she passes. She has expressed many times she doesn't want to die alone so she doesn't want to go to a hospice facility. My girls are both coming home from college this weekend in hopes to get to see their grandma one last time. I hope she makes it that long. Yesterday was hard on DH. He had to work today, so maybe that will take his mind off of the situation for a while.

It sounds like the jr. garden club went well. Yah, if each person contributes one project that would make it so much easier. Maybe that will work.

I had best get to work. Hope you have a great day!

[sleepysue07]

Hi Sue and Leslie!

I am so sorry about your MIL Leslie, you and your family are in my prayers. Both of my parents died of cancer, and I know how horrible it is to see them suffer for such a long time.

Sue, to answer your ealier question, these jobs sort of just fell into my lap, I wasn't actively looking for work, but found it anyway. As I have mentioned before we have been under a lot of financial strain due to bad money management, and also huge medical bills. We agreed that we would both spend a year working extra jobs in order to pay off our debts. It isn't as bad as I had feared. I enjoy all that I do, so that makes it easier. And it feels good to be paying down our debt. One of my good friends is my manager at the store where I work nights. She schedules me to work when it is convenient for me. I am off when I need to be off, so that's really nice.

Today, however I am truly off work from all of my jobs. I have to do housework though, which I honestly don't mind anymore. It is a beautiful day outside today too. I have only gone out with the dog once though, and it was still cold. I think this afteroon will be warmer.

Last weekend was very busy. DH2 had a double header on Saturday about 100 miles from here, and although we won, it was still a long day. Saturday night we went with friends to a blue grass festival a hundred miles in the other direction, and then out to dinner. It was fun, but all of the riding in the car was not good for my back. I hurt it a couple of weeks ago while walking Trigger. (A rabbit darted in front of us and the leash was around my hand, so I couldn't let go fast enough.) Sue, how is your back now?

I am worried about DS1 he called last night to say that he had hurt his back lifting weights, and if it still hurts today, the trainer is taking him for X-Rays to rule out a disc problem. I hope and pray that it is only a minor thing. A disc problem would require surgery, and the loss of his scholarship. We are going to go pick him up for Spring break on the 14th.

I am looking forward to this weekend because I am going on my annual road trip with my friends. It's actually a women's church retreat, but it isn't with our church. We don't attend all of it, because we spend part of our time shopping, and a lot of time just laughing. Also, while I am gone, DH will be cleaning all of the junk off the property! He has hired a man who will come and take care of it all, with his bull dozer and dump truck. The best part is that the man is doing it for the junk. He is hauling off the old cars that my FIL left behind when he died, and using that as payment. I can't tell you how happy this will make me!

I am back to doing LC, but last night I had an Auntie Anne's pretzel at the mall. There is a Wendy's in the mall too, so for dinner I am sure that I can find something healthier there. Did I mention that I am working nights at a store in the mall? That's my second job, I work at "Things Remembered", the engraving place. I am learning to engrave things, and that is actually sort of fun.

Leslie, I know what you mean about the gym. When I was going I had the same problem, and would be so frustrated about wasting my time waiting to use the equipment. Kudos to you for continuing on though. I need to squeeze in the time to exercise. I am still at 218! I need to take a cue from Sue and start controlling my portions as well. I may drag my treadmill into the living room and walk for a while this afternoon.

Sue, I don't have a clue as to activities for the Jr. garden club. I just had my Sunday night children's group press leaves last week, but it sounds like your assistant already did something along those lines. Perhaps they could do the avocado pit, in water thing? My own kids always got a kick out of that when they were young. We also did something with a sweet potato in a cup, but I cannot remember if it was in water or soil. By the way, how great to find the aerial photos of your farm! I would love to do that! Our deed goes back to the 1830's, and I would love to see what our farm looked like back then. How did you find these?

Well, I am sorry to be so long winded today, but I am trying to get it all in while I can!

Have a great week, if I don't talk to you before next week.

Where did everyone else go?

Carolyn

[Suji]

Dadgummit--my post went missing due to a mis-fingering!
Hi you two. I had a long day volunteering at the Historic Society followed by a 2 hour meeting for the reconstruction of the 1907 house gardens next door to the HQ. A fellow volunteer asked me if I'd be interested in working at the Farm Museum where there is a group for @ 8-24 Master Gardeners working on their garden series (4 centuries of plantings represented in different beds). So, that may start next Thursday.

Meanwhile, I think that one company I ordered from is about to ship a big order and I will need to dig holes only the last time I went out there, the ground was still frozen! Now with all the rain this weekend, it will also be soppy ground. PLus, I still have weak back muscles and I know I will be sorry once all the physical effort of breaking ground begins. It's not like a nice prepared bed--it's lots of heave ho.

Carolyn--I envy your great group of friends. Much of my emotional well being is tied up in DH. On the other hand, Sis and I are getting together for the first time since January to go to the MD Home and Garden SHow. I want to pick up a new orchid. My cattleya (the corsage type) is in full bloom right now with three flowers on one spike and I'm loving it. There are two more spikes waiting to mature too!

Leslie, so sorry to have the dread spectre of cancer hanging over the family right now. You and your MIL have my deepest sympathy.

Check in when you can. I've got to get cracking on the Jr. Garden CLub prep for Monday.
Carolyn, I think that people are either in the mindset to lose weight and marshall all their energies to that or life intervenes and it slips to a less predominant place. Our missing posters had a lot of family stuff going on. Also, we have kind of slipped off the wagon, and some people are in the mood to see real discipline in their fellow posters to help them stay on track. I don't think we're offering that right at this moment in time--so they stopped coming. Que sera. We'll be remotivated again, I'm positive.

Later,
Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi Sue: I think you nailed it as far as other people leaving this thread. I for one love communicating almost daily. I love hearing whats new. I like writing even if nothing is new. And, of course, we do have the LC thing in common, when we choose to utilize it.

So how does it feel to be a "Master Gardner?" Pretty cool huh? What an interesting project. You will have to show us pics when its all done. The maple seedings are sprouting everywhere. I could send you some for your jr. garden club.

Thanks for the sympathy for the MIL situation. DH stops by daily. It keeps him from getting home until 9:00 at night and he is gone to work before I get up. The girls and I are going up to see her on Saturday if she makes it that long. DH said she fades in and out.

My cat is missing. It is so unlike him to not come home, but he didn't even come home for dinner last night. I expected him at my doorstep this morning, but he wasn't there. I walked around the house listening for him because he will cry if in trouble, but I heard nothing. I'm hoping someone will open their garage and he will come sprinting out.

Carolyn: I'm so glad to hear from you. You will have so much fun on your road trip. I always enjoy girls outings. They will be easier to do now that my kids are grown. Oh and a double header. I loved those. A whole day of baseball. It was always so much fun and very social. A great way to spend the day. DS is on the golf team again this spring, but official this year. They have a couple of freshman stragglers like he was last year so he feels a little more important and having the best time ever. He has improved greatly so hopefully he will get invited to participate in a varsity tourney. If he does he earns his varsity letter. If not, there's always next year. I hope your son's back injury is just muscular and that he makes a quick recovery.

Take care ladies. It's the weekend. Yay!

[Suji]

HI again,
When my first post went missing some of the responses went with it.
Regarding aerial photos--often states will do that to monitor the changes in land use. I found mine under Pennsylvania archives where I was researching the land tracts/surveys and there happened to be a link there. You can also look for old topo maps as they will indicate changes in how the land was used via symbols or road changes. As an example here's one for Texas: Aerial Photos
Maybe you can find your new/old place on one!

Sue

[Dreamcometru]

Hi ladies:

Kitty came home, but not until Sunday evening. I had canvased the neighborhood, talked to neighbors, showed his picture, searched everywhere and cried a lot. I was cooking dinner Sunday night and he waltzed through the front door like nothing was ever wrong. He looked thinner, like he hadn't eaten since Thursday, but other than that, he looked fine. He smelled like cigarette smoke which tells me he was in someone's house. There were two neighbors who weren't home over the weekend and it must have been one of their two houses.

Anyway, my MIL is really bad. In fact she can go any time now. DH is at her bedside. She's staying with DH's sister and a hospice nurse is there. I'm waiting for the call and will probably leave work. I may go anyway if DH wants me to sit with him for a while.

Sue: I have seen aerial photos of our property, but just the newer ones where our house is already there. You can even see our cars. I even did the google thing where you can look down your street. Its really cool, but they don't show our house beacuse we live on a flag lot behaind a couple of other houses and I guess we aren't cool enough to be photographed. Ha Ha.

Carolyn, I hope you had a great trip with your friends.

I stayed on track this weekend, but no losses to report. What's new, huh! I can't wait until April 1 when the booster session starts. Its 8 weeks and maybe it will put me in the right frame of mind to get totally on track and lose the rest of the weight I want to lose.