Sorry Connie! I don't know what is wrong with me! I just havent been that interested in the computer for some reason. I guess it is good for me to give it a break. I think maybe I havent really had any cake projects going on. So I havent been online searching ideas or asking questions or uploading photos. I think that might be it.
Yep, Connie, I'm very guilty of it lately. I'm going to try and be better because it so helps when I'm in control and with several weeks of stress before me, I need to be in control. I have 3 more weeks until my household goods are packed and picked up. Then I will be staying with a friend for 2+ weeks before I fly out on the 16th. I feel overwhelmed with all there is to do to leave, it's a major move. I've been slowly packing up my office and bringing things home because the moving company won't pack there.
Tomorrow morning a friend and I are taking the 6:30AM train to Rome, a 4.5 hr trip. I'm excited, I've been a few times and this is my last trip...boo hoo! We're going to the Sistine Chapel and the Coliseum, I'm not sure where else. I'll be back Monday night, so you won't see me here again til Tuesday. Have a great weekend and Happy Veteran's Day!
It's alright you guys I really shouldn't be so reliant on the computer but alas I am! I check my email/myspace/facebook/cc SEVERAL times a day! It's sad and pathetic but tis my life at least I still get all my 'chores' done LOL... Yesterday I made 21 pillows, got laundry done, cleaned out the bunnies litter box, raked for my dh (then found out he was just going to mulch them 
) so I still am productive just check the computer ALOT LMAO. I can't help it. I'm ADDICTED LOL....
Anyway, I hope everyone has a GREAT WEEKEND!
Susan enjoy your last hoorah in Rome I can't even imagine going there once let alone more than once you are so blessed. I hope you remember to take a moment to just breathe and to take in the air!!!!
I know how you feel, Connie. I find being a stay-at-home Mum can get very mundane at times, and I need plenty of contact with other adults. We're missing a few members at the moment, so that's probably why you're feeling this way.
Well, we ended up staying with my BIL and his family in Melbourne. It turned out to be quite a cheap holiday, because they insisted on providing our meals, a car and our accommodation. AND they were going to an open range zoo on Saturday, where you get on a bus and drive through the herds of zebras, giraffes, rhinos, etc, etc, and insisted on paying for our entry into there as well. The kids had their cousins to play with, who they don't see very often, so we had a great time.
Sonia sounds like it was a great vacation/holiday!
Hi all I am in San Diego for my last show of the season. I have been busy here and my extra time doing my homework for my next class. I hate math so this one will be extra stressfull!
When I return home on Wednesday I am going to start my new work out schedule. I want to do cardio 3 days a week, strenght 2 days, and a DVD 2 days. I decided to do this to jump start my workouts. I still have not gotten into the grove like I should be. My eating has been horrible, however it is hard to eat well when out of town. Eating is never on a schedule, this also does a number on my blood sugar!!!
Everyone have a great day
michelle
Oh Michelle, I love SD! I used to live in the Gaslamp District downtown, right across from Horton Plaza. You're lucky!
I had such a good time on my trip, it was beautiful. I'll download photos and put them on my page in the next couple of days. One of my favorite places in the world since I've lived here is the Trevi Fountain and I got lots of fountain time in. We also went to the Coliseum, to many gorgeous piazzas (town squares), to the Vatican, to the Spanish steps, shopping and walking around and just hanging out. Rome is known for it amazing fountains
and it was so great to see them. The main purpose of the trip was to see the Sistine Chapel, and it did not disappoint. My friend and I sat in it for about half an hour and just wondered at the ceiling and the job that Michelangelo did. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to look for a piece of local art to buy. Artists, as you might imagine, are ALL over Rome. I bought 3 pieces! I couldn't resist and would've bought more if I had a million dollars! One is of the Spanish steps and the beautiful fountain at the bottom, one is of a window with flowers overlooking Piazza Navona, and one is just of a courtyard scene with flowers. I love them and can't wait to get them framed.
We left early Saturday morning, which was my birthday, so that was a great way to spend a birthday. We had train tickets to return yesterday but when we asked our hotel to double check the train schedule, the informed us that the trains, buses, and subway were on strike!! Arrrgghhh....!! I've lived in Italy a long time and these 24 hour strikes are nothibng unusual, seem to accomplish nothing, and drive me crazy. But I know enough to know that even on strike, a few trains run. So we hurried to the train statin, where we got into 3 different very long lines (typical Italian bureacracy) and were able to use our ticket to take another train that got us about 20 miles from home. Thank goodness another friend came to pick us up. Now, our original ticket was on a fast train, took us all the way home, and was more expensive. But they WILL NOT refund the difference of taking a slow train that didn't get us all the way home. That's just the way it is. But the trip was great and my friend and I spend a lot of time laughing.
Sounds like an interesting and exciting birthday, Susan. Are you able to take all your pieces of art with you when you move???
Well, I have a very busy week. I'm working on Thursday and Friday for my brother in law, helping with a group of diving students, which is very exhausting work, with lots of heavy lifting (plenty of exercise 
) I also have a 2-tier wedding cake, and two birthday cakes to do for Saturday, and I have had to turn down 3 other orders. So if I'm not around over the next few days, that's why!!
Susan sounds like fanstatic birthday (well except for the whole train thing)... I'm very envious.
Sonia - good luck w/ all of those cakes!
Michelle - have fun in San Diego!!!!! and WOW that sounds like an awesome workout plan good for you!
Well, tomorrow my "baby" (well my first born really but she's still my baby) will be 5! I can't believe it 5! No more little kid, 5 is like some coming of age thing she has matured 10 fold recently and has become SUCH a big girl! Yesterday I baked the no fail sugar cookies - hopefully I didn't mess them up this is my first time EVER to do cookies (besides the normal choc chip or PB ones) my main concern is decorating them pretty but I'm sure it will be ok .Then I need to make some dolphins for her cake! ACK her party is saturday I have SUCH a big to do list to tackle.
Susan, Happy Birthday. What a lovely way to spend your day. Well, dispite the train thing. Just wondering, are things any better in Italy, economy wise. Sounds like shopping is still thriving there.
Connie, how fun planning your baby girls party. They grow up so fast. I know she can hardly wait til saturday. Tell her Happy Birthday from all her CC "Aunties",lol.
Ok, someone needs to kick start my butt. Ya know how when something sounds to good to be true it usually is? Well guess what. The new job, NOT, got fired on Monday. Seems that they really just wanted me to work my butt off so they could get these really great looking cakes for their photographer to shoot. These will be used for menus, advertising, etc. Don't ask me how they are going to deliver the products. I know they keep telling people how we were baking our bread fresh daily, funny thing though, they were buying it and bringing it in the back door. Anyway, I truly depressed. My eating is not good. Gotta start again looking for a job.
Sorry for the rant, just needed to get it off my chest.
oh man I'm sorry Alaina that sucks so bad I know it is difficult for you, but as my mother used to always tell me "everything happens for a reason" although it used to tick me off when she said it LOL but it does ring true. I hope something even better is around the bend for you.
Yes, Tabitha is VERY excited for Saturday she can't wait. We took her out for her birthday dinner last night since dh has a study group tonight so won't be home until late and she thought it was like the greatest thing that they sang to her and gave her dessert LOL.
Laina ~ That's terrible! I know you're disappointed, I'm sorry. I have a feeling that you don't want to work for people who treat you like that or who are disingenuous with their customers.
Connie ~ I can tell how excited you are about Tabitha's party, have a great time! How are the cookies and dolphins coming out?
the cookies came out pretty cute - not perfect but not too shabby for my first attempt...
I made the dolphins yesterday out of RKT then just covered them in mmf. Right now they are drying and I'll bake the cake tomorrow. Today I am a cleaning machine trying to get the house suitable for the party guests.
I did do 250 crunches this am so that felt good to actually do that again and feel the burn (alot quicker than before might I add ACK need to get back in the groove)....
Hi everyone!
Happy Belated birthday Susan! It sounds like a wonderful trip.
Very sorry to hear about your job, Alaina 
.
Good luck on all those cakes, Sonia. I have two small ones to do for Sunday.
Connie, how are the headaches? With my sporatic involvement here, I don't know how you have been feeling. I was watching the "Doctors" show the other day and there was a man on there with chronic headaches. Finally they determined that he had a slow leak of his spinal fluid. It sort of caused his brain to sag, causing the pain. I was thinking of you while I was watching it, wondering if they had found anything.
I had been dreading today for a few weeks now. I had my front tooth removed. The anticipation was worse than the actual procedure. Maybe I told you all about it before. It was infected for the 4th time and there was no other way to restore it. Then I had to go have a temporary tooth bonded to my other teeth. I was just very tired and sore when I got home. I popped a few pills and felt much better. Now the pain is starting to come back. I will have an implant done in a few months.
I feel like laying around and pampering myself but DH wont be home tonight 
Not much else going on here.
I'm back....Sorry I've been mia for so very long. There is no excuse.
My eating has been bad and my exercising non-existent so I need to figure something out. My days are busy, I don't like cooking, I don't know what to cook. Guess I should check out the link to healthy recipes on page 79.
Connie, I hope your husband passes his test, waiting sucks
Susan - Happy Belated Birthday. I am so envious of all your traveling, you are very lucky.
Merissa - glad you had a nice weekend away with your dh.
Michelle - glad your toe is better and that you are done with group work.
Sonia - sounds like you are busy! Glad you had a nice time in Melbourne.
Alaina - that sucks about your job but it doesn't sound like someone you'd want to work for anyway. Better that you didn't waste anymore time with them.
Shelly - I am jealous of the size 12's. I hope I get there some day....new year's resolutions are coming up again.
Karen?!?! Hope all is well in St. Pete. with the rain and cold weather here, I wish I was there.
Not much going on here. I volunteer at ds school M/F all day, then we have swimming M/W at 4:30 (both kids) and ballet at 6pm. I babysit T/Th until 5:30 (for my sister still, that's almost over...YAY!!!). Wrestling is at 6:30 T. And there seems to be something going on every weekend.
DH went away this past weekend so the kids had a sleep over at my sister's and I had a cocktail party with some of the mom's from ds class. It was fun, I stayed in bed until 11 the next day.
A local gym's "monthly special" is bring in a turkey for a chance to win a free 3 month membership. I think I might, I don't think too many people visit the site or even know about the gym it's so tucked away and they never advertise. I want to join a gym but last time never went so if I got 3 months free I'd be able to tell if I'd actually go.
I'm trying to be prepared for my cheerleading position coming up. Right in time for the holidays....I want to do better than I did last time.
Well that's it for now.
Hope everyone is doind well!
Hi everyone, back in AZ and working hard on my school work
I have not gotten back to my work outs yet I think I will give myself this weekend and start on Monday.
While in San Diego my bridge work fell out so I had to go to the dentist, it will cost a little over 1500 to put it back in and do other things since I havent been to the dentist in a very long time. I start the 3 part process for the bridge on Monday,woo hoo (not)
Casey, glad to see you back. as you can tell everyone has been in a slump you are not the only one. Happy Belated Birthday to you as well.
Susan I dont think I said Happy Birthday, sorry!!!
OK off to finish my homework and submit so I can be free for the weekend!
Michelle
Sorry to hear about your bridge work, Michelle. Guess I am not the only one with teeth problems. If it makes you feel any better, my dental implant will cost me $4000. Insurance might pick up $1000. I feel I could really use the money for other things. But I certainly dont want to walk around with out a front tooth. It looks much more endearing on my children, LOL.
The only good thing about my sitution is that I have to be very careful eating. I cannot bite down on my temporary tooth. If I do, it could break off. Just for looks. So last night it took me a lot longer to eat. I think I ate less because of it. I am hoping it willcause me to slow down and eat less. it would be great if it might change my habits.
If I didnt have insurance it would have cost me a little over 5000. I am getting this and all other work done now before we loose dental (if we do) next year.
sorry to hear about your dental problems too Merissa, it sure does stink!
Good morning everyone.
I think we are all getting busy for the holiday season!!! It sure does get busy this time of year.
I have a challenge for everyone, post a healthy side dish for Thanksgiving. Something other than a salad. I am going to bring a side dish and thought I would find something healthy, but tastey. I will keep looking we have a whole week lets do some sharing.
I got up yesterday, did treadmill, got up today and did weights. Now todays workout was not too hard, I am still finding one that I like to do since weights are not my favorite. But I think I found one that I really enjoy and it is a challenge.
Hello, sorry I haven't been on I couldn't get cc to load.
Sorry about both of y'alls dental issues those sure suck and are so expensive UGH....
Well, Tabitha's party went off well everyone seemed to have a good time. She got entirely too many toys but tis normal LOL. I did do 250 crunches the other daybut it was only once and then I just got to busy w/ party prepping. Now I have a week lull BUT we leave for Kentucky on Monday to spend Thanksgiving w/ dh's family. SO I have to start that prep too LMAO We drive up there (12 hour drive) then stay w/ dh's grandpa in a nice NON kid friendly home LMAO.... But it's nice to see everyone.
Hi all, I'm back from my diving work. I did 4 dives last Thursday, 6 on Tuesday, and 3 on Wednesday....so exhausting!! I certainly did plenty of cardio and weight lifting, as I was helping 18 students get their gear on and off all day! I've come home feeling lighter than before, but forgot to weigh myself this morning!
Casey, it's great to have you back, I've been wondering about you!
Alaina, sorry about your job, hope you can find something else real soon!
Connie, glad to hear your party went well. Do you have pics of the birthday cake to show us???
Oops, I forgot......Michelle, I love that idea for healthy side dishes, but will have to think about it! Could someone please fill me in about Thanksgiving, and what it is for??? (Please excuse my ignorance 
) as I'm not sure what type of side dishes you would consume at Thanksgiving, it's not something we celebrate here.
Sonia, the dives sound so awesome! I want to come to Australia s baaadd! It is on my list of places to go before I die, or get too old!
Thanksgiving: My son just brought home a little booklet about it, so I hope I don't get the facts wrong. The first Thanksgiving went something like: The Pilgrams (some of the first settlers here in America) had a great harvest that year. So they celebrated by having a feast over the course of several days. During that time some Indians (Native Americans) came and brought food too.
Nowadays, we usually eat Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie are pretty tradional foods. OH and GRAVY...LOTS. Everyone is always stuffed. Then everyone lays around and watches football. So besides the FOOD we are to be Thankful for the things that we have, family, food, a home etc.
Hope that explains it a bit.
Good morning all! Hope everyone is having a great thurs. If it's going better than mine you should be.
I did not weigh myself, I don't want to. I don't care.
My challenge for today is to do something that makes you HAPPY. I currently feel like s**t and do not know what I am going to do but hopefully I will figure it out.
Sorry to unload but....As you know I watch my niece & nephew every t/th. Have been for a long time now, get nothing for it. I just agreed to do it for another term of school even though I was trying not to. This morning before dropping my niece off my sister called at 7am and said "Can you make sure there is coffee for me? I have no coffee cream."....then my dh implied that I am my sister's b****, even though he insists he didn't mean it like that. Anyway I am feeling very used and walked on and depressed and like that is all I am to people....their b****. Not just my sister, also to dh who doesn't do much in the way of housework. Great way to start off my week as cheerleader. Oh well, it's just today. I'll get over it.
So yeah, do something that makes you Happy!!!
Awwwwww!!!! Boy it sure seem like you should get SOMETHING for babysitting 2 days a week! Ouch! Can she not afford to pay you? Or trade you for some other service? I hope you feel better soon!!
Casey-It's really takes a toll on on a person when you feel like you are being taken advantage of, especially when it is family. It took me years to finally have the courage to learn to just say NO. And you know what? That's ok! People know when they are puhsing too far, and sometimes they figure, if it's not broke, why fix it. Get yourself registered for a class, a part-time job, or something that you "want" to do. Then just tell your sister that it is not going to to fit into your schedule anymore. JMHO
Here's a healthy side that we like to do on the grill in the summer without the spinach most times( if I use the spinach I tell the kids it is seasoning), but can also be done in the oven for any occasion.
Spinach-stuffed mushrooms:
1-pkg stuffing mix (like Stove-top)
1 1/2 Cup hot water
40 fresh mushrooms (2lbs)
2-Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. (10oz) chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 Cup shredded part skim mozzarella chesse (reserve 1/4 C)
1 Cup grated parmesan cheese
Mix stuffing mix and water. Remove mushroom stems; chop stems Melt butter in skillet. Add stems and garlic, cook and stir til tender. Add to stuffing with spincach and cheesed. mix well. Spoon into mushroom caps. Top with remaining mozzerella cheese. Bake in shallow baking dish @ 400 degrees 20 minutes or til tender.
Casey it sounds like you need to take a breather from sitting. Did she offer to pay or something or did she just expect it. As far as the hubby, do you both work? If so then the house/yard work should be split. This is how I was raised so I expect it from my boyfriend and he does do his part, now.
I found a recipe Almond and vinegar green beans.
4 oz fresh green beans
1 cooking spray
1 medium shallots , minced
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sliced almonds
1 Boil water in a medium saucepan. Cook the beans in the boiling water for approximately 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.
2 Spray a nonstick skillet with the cooking spray. Sauté the shallot for 2 minutes over low heat. Increase the heat to medium, add the green beans, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
3 Add the vinegar and cook for 30 seconds, then add the almonds. Toss to mix.
As some of you know I am diabetic so this came from a diabetic site. I love almonds, fresh green beans and balsamic vinegar so it sounds great to me.
I finished my homework early so that makes me happy. I have the weekend to relax.
Well, I've been checking regularly, but this is the first time I've had access to CC in several days. Been missing the chat!
Casey, I hope you're feeling better. I think the only thing you can do is be up front with your sister, but I know how hard it is - I'm a bit of a woos when it comes to confronting people.
Well, yesterday I challenged my husband to a race to see who could lose 10kg first, and he accepted the challenge! So I am newly enthused and doing well. He got up very early though and snuck out and went for a run, so I can see he's not going to make it easy for me! I'll keep you updated!
I love a good challenge....good luck!!
Casey, I feel your pain. I think overall, we feel better when we're in control, at least I do. And right now, I'm not in control of my eating and exercise, which is why my weight loss has come to a screeching halt. Get back in control, and I'll bet it will extend to other areas of your life and you won't feel so walked on. I'll be trying the same thing!
I'm about to tear my hair out, my stress is extreme. I have 3 weeks left here. My stuff is being packed and loaded on Thursday, so that'll be my Thanksgiving. Of course, it's a regular work day here, Europeans (like Australians and everyone else!) don't celebrate Thanksgiving. It was my choice that it be packed that day, I didn't want to pay December rent, given my lack of a salary next year. I'll stay with a friend until I actually leave on December 16. Half of my stress will be gone after Thursday, which will be good. Then I have to do all the other stuff that drives me crazy: settle all my Italian accounts, which takes a lot of time. The apartment, gas, water, electricity, phone, and bank account. You can't just go in or call and close these services. It's a mess...you have to "pre-close" them, then go back 10 days later for the final payment and closure!
My things will take about 8 weeks to arrive in Texas, so I have to pack suitcases with everything I think I'll need during that time. And you can only take 2 suitcases on the flight. I'm sad to go but will be glad when this part is over.
I'm sorry I've been so slack about posting...it probably won't be much better until I get to the States.
ack...moving stinks. And moving out of the country sounds 100x worse.
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