SBO

[doghouse]

good morning - a hectic week ahead of socialising - parties, lunches and weddings! sigh. just going through a really trying patch.... Sue UK , i do not know if you know I am from Zimbabwe! I am also doing a south african degree but through correspondence as I am old , married with little kids! food not good not bad, exercise - still doing it. chat to you all soon but I need to put in some work before I take my dd's to this birthday party. xxx

[sharonohio]

Just a very quick evening post. Did more house cleaning today (working in S room) and now have 3 huge bags of stuff to take and donate. Not much else going on. Food OK.

[suoon2bthinner]

Hi
I am a bit more on track I think- nothing like a gain on the scales to focus the mind!
Ate out last night- due to go to a friend's bbq- but crossed wires and ended up walking out locally instead- we shared some houmous and pitta bread to start then I had fillet steak- in a cream & mushroom sauce and asked for salad instead of the fries, so not too bad. Had plenty of wine but won't have any mon- fri to catch up so hope that works out ok.
Doghouse- didn't realise you were from Zimbabwe, no. Coincidence me mentionng my colleague. Lol at the 'old' bit- I think I am a lot older than you- my boys are grown ups - well, 2 are anyway. Are you studying to be a teacher? Got that impression from previous posts- but could be quite wrong
Got my walks in yest & today and we are having bbq for dinner- have put a leg of lamb on- smells delish already. I have done a bean salad and some coleslaw to go with it and we will also cook some sausages to start off with.
Enjoy the rest of the w/e,
Sue

[sharonohio]

Good afternoon. Took a car load of stuff off for donations so that cleaned up S' room a bit more. Spent time with D proofreading and rewriting med school application number 10 so hopefully that one will go out tonight. Also since S' boss can't seem to write him a letter of reference even though he promised to, S identified key points, H drafted that up and D and I edited. Sent back to S for his additions and hopefully he can just stick under bosses nose and get him to submit (yes the man is a slave driver and very very inconsiderate). Mind you he also hasn't written S' annual review which would give him a pay raise so this is as expected.

MP:
B 1 egg, 1 ww toast, mini peppers, fruit (melon, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries)
AS - leftover tunisian eggplant and hummus
D - pork ribs, carrot and mint salad, green beans
ES mango

[PaulaB]

hello everyone, been really working through the munchkin situation and I now have a grip on things. My stress is still showing in my mouth but it is beginning to heal and is just a bit tender. I've graduated to soft foods but I still need to go slowly. So, I'm not SBing it at the moment. No harm done anyway as I can't eat much. Mt DH made his famous salmon last night so I had some of that. So good to have some real warm food. I did eat very slowly though. My clothes are somewhat looser I'm just so tried of smoothies and I'm really looking forward to some hot tea.
Not much happening here, it is the dog days of summer. Doghouse I finished Mukiwa, it is a good read. Very sad ending though, so sad to lose the love of your country. It certainly gives me a better insight into Zimbabwe. Your country will always be the most beautiful in all of Africa in my estimation. I'd so like to go there again. Part of the reason I travelled Africa was because I wanted to see what colonialism was like before it was completely gone. Besides, it is always great to travel where English is the spoken language.
I'm on a week's vacation so I'l be back posting

[sharonohio]

Goodday to all. Less than a week until our vacation. Weight holding steady which is good I suppose. Med school app 10 didn't go until today but it at least is done. Letter of reference was revised and now S has to figure out how to present it to the boss. He's actually planning to email it to the guy who is out of the office all week at a conference. May not be the best approach but S thinks that his boss will be more relaxed since he doesn't have the day to day lab stuff to worry about. We'll see. I just hope he can get this done since all these applications are just sitting there pending this letter.

Working on planning the trip to Quebec some more. Saturday night we're hopging to watch a huge (largest in the world) projection show and the Sunday after we arrive is the last day of a huge festival of the history of Quebec so there's lots of stuff going on throughout the city streets. Since H speaks no french, picking and choosing those that are language friendly make this fun. We're planning on two days in the mountains and along the St Lawrence enjoying nature. We may or may not make it up to see the whales (depends on everyone's interests).

MP:
B steel cut oats, raisins and pecans
L leftover sweet potatoes and black beans and tunisian eggplant and zucchini
D chicken satay with peanut sauce, thai cucumber salad, grilled squash

[doghouse]

Good morning everyone. Paula b how amazing would it be if you got back here - you would see soooo many differences. With you by my side I might be brave enough to go back to our beautiful farm, Tengenenge! Sigh. I am not sure I will ever be able to go back, I have heard that the Chinese (so much for giving the land to the Zimbabweans - kick people who were born in the country off for foreigners more like!) company who are now mining there have degraded the environment so badly - turned our dam into a slurry pond!!!! That said though, you would still have an incredible holiday..... maybe one day (when we are both at our goal weights!!) Probably more chance of us coming to Canada though! I sometimes think we should move there instead of our other choice Australia because there is no quarantine for dogs!! My brother and his wife (who is Aussie) have just had their first baby, she was born at 32 weeks - my sil had a health scare and a tumour was growing at rapid pace. soooo scary. anyway my little neice arrived safely and is progressing well, and the initial tests on the tumour have so far been promsing.... very stressful and have longed to be there with them to give them more hands-on support but we are in good comms on email and by phone and my dad's younger brother who is in aussie has also been fantastic at keeping us up to speed. they gave her my mum's name as her second one..... and the really wierd thing was, my mum who loved to have her presence felt (really!!) was called Gemma, well the nurse taking care of my little niece was called..... gemma - not such a common name and we just chuckled to think my mum was absolutely sure her loving presence would be felt when her baby had his baby!! speaking of babies it is my first born's birthday today so we were up at crack of dawn opening pressies.... she melts my heart.,. the thing she opened first was her card and she was thrilled with it and thanked us profusely for each present. she gets one from us, one from her sister, one from the dogs and one from the cats/chickens!! A tradition my parents did - too funny really! I am organising a party for her class and extra friends on Thursday - actually could not sleep last night stressing how i was going to cope with 30 children AND their mothers!! thank goodness DH will be on school hols so will be able to lend his support.
got on the scale today and i will NOT EVEN TALK about it, so bleak, i have let go completely and am LIVID with myself. anyway, as always i remain hopeful. DH said are you still posting on your forum and I said yes periodicially but clearly i need to be more accountable... let me just get through this hectic week.
sharon, your menus always look fantastic and soooo delicious. I think you enjoy similar tastes to me! (but in moderation!!!) good luck with the applications.
Sue UK, yes, am training to be a teacher. love it!

[suoon2bthinner]

Hi
I actually had a whole day yest- completely ON Plan! I know- amazing! Can't say the same for the w/e but that is what w/e are for- relaxing and I did get my walks in ok.
Today am just having lunch- roasted salmon slices with shredded vge- had coleslaw at the w/e and kept this bit back with no mayo .
Just back from a rep lunch now- am very pleased with myself, finished my salmon then took an apple only at rep lunch, avoided the KrispyKreme donuts etc and now eating my lf yog with blueberries

Doghouse- how long since you were in Zimbabwe? have you been back since you moved away? Sounds like you are having fun on your DD btd.
lol at the thought of 30 kids- rather you than me!!
So annoying when the scales show a gain- but remember- you are a 'work in progress'- set off again, you can do it. I get a bit down sometimes with my puny efforts but then I didn't get fat overnight- so am not likely to get thin in that time either!
I seem to need to be accountable- that is why I have gone back to ww meetings after a month off- clearly doing it alone is not for me.

Sharon- is it this w/e you head off? How long will the journey be? I always fancy what you are eating too- could you come and cook for me?? have not tried oats with nuts in- do you cook them with the oats or sprinkle on top?

Paula- glad the mouth is healing- black beans are soft- try a soup with them, I love that.

Sue

[PaulaB]

just a qucik note, I'm leaving to go to physio appt (rotator cuff) and I'm riding my bicycle to get there. Dusted off the helmet and I'm ready to ride

[sharonohio]

Oh dear with so much going on today I forgot to post. Shame on me.

Yes, we're off for 6 days to Quebec. Saturday is mostly travel because we have to drive from home to Cleveland (much cheaper and nonstop flight but 2 hours driving to start the day). We're spending Saturday night through Wednesday morning in Levis (across the river from Quebec) at a bed and breakfast (Auberge Artistique) -- I believe owned by a sculptor and his significant other. Then Wednesday morning we're driving up river to La Malbaie and staying in another bed and breakfast for 2 more nights. We come back on Friday (have to make a connection and make the 2 hour drive) and it will be very late when we actually get into the house.

Paula, good for you on the riding. We dusted our bikes off and gave them to our son. Just getting up the hill out of our house would have been a challenge and DH really can't operate a bicycle any more.

Suoon2b, I cook the oats by themselves at the start of the week. I put a few toasted pecans on top along with cinnamon. Sometimes I add a few raisins for a bit of sweetness and other times I don't. I have another two days of leftover oats for later in the week that I just reheat in the microwave.

Last night S got his first rejection from one of the medical schools he applied to. I think it might have been quite an awakening for him. I didn't think the odds were all that great at that school but it would have been nice if they had taken a little more time before the rejection. Needless to say I didn't sleep very well last night. Frustrating watching your child not succeed at what he wants so much.

MP:
B oats, pecans
L salad with red pepper, tomato, avocado and blue cheese
D salmon with pesto and tomato, spaghetti squash salad, leftover eggplant salad

[suoon2bthinner]

Hi
Sharon- sorry about DS rejection- I know you said he has to apply to many schools but it is still hard when a rejection arrives. Try and keep positive- and keep him working on getting the other apps in asap.

I have been ok today and pleased that I have avoided snacks that were not planned. I had grape nuts & bl/berries with light soy milk for bf, roasted salmon slices and roasted veg- pepper/carrot/onion for lunch + lf yog and 2 clementines plus some cherries later for a snack. Dinner was beef chilli topped with lf grated cheese and blobs of ff greek yog. Had 1 ryvita thin after then moved away.

Tomorrow back to ww scales after work- see how it goes.

Got a new team leader at work- she talks- A LOT!! Hope she settles down or none of us will get any work done

Hello to ATF,
Sue

[sharonohio]

Well, today has been not so pleasant. The day started by spotting Homer using the carpet in the living room for his potty. We knew Cassie was but now we're not sure what to do about him. In less than one month we're having the house recarpeted. Not good


Suoon2b, I agree that S needs to move along. I guarantee there will be plenty more rejections. We had a long talk this morning because he sent me an email which really annoyed me. So much that I told H that he could just do his own applications. Well H, thankfully, sent an email off to S who knew that he had really blown it. So we talked. I told him that he needs to consider this his full time other job until these are all done because I'm really tired of pushing him. Anyway, so maybe we've reached some resolution. For the amount of effort H and I and even D have put in we were feeling put upon.

And finally we're currently in the process of getting our hot water heater replaced. The basement floor is pretty wet and still a bit more probably before all done. I was really really hoping that it would hold up until after we sold the house. So now another unplanned large expense.

More red potatoes in the CSA (make them stop)
I will get through the day.

MP:
B 1 ww toast, mini peppers and 1 egg
L leftover chicken with feta, leftover eggplant salad, leftover carrot salad
D large chef salad with cucumber, tomato, lettuce, smoked turkey, red pepper, cheddar cheese and...
ES some kind of fruit (we have a boatload)

[PaulaB]

hello everyone, spent the day walking around Newcastle Provincial Park, it is a 7.5 km walk. It was lovely, the trails are mostly in the trees but it still was very hot and rather humid for the coast. We dabbled our feet in the ocean but the walk out on the beach was rather warm. It got really smoky by the time we took the launch back to Vancouver Island. The news said that the interior of BC has more than 400 forest fires burning and the usual westerly winds are going 'easterly' at the moment and so the coast is getting smoky and it is getting very hazy. We woke up to rain this morning so I hope the rain washes the air. There are air quality advisories for the young, elderly and those suffering from respiratory problems.
Sharon such luck with the hot water tank. At least you were home and able to contain it. My mouth still isn't all healed,I'm still on soft foods. Last night I ate something which was too hot and my mouth is all tender AGAIN. Still, it is better than it was.

[Teacher Sue]

Hi Everyone!
Just a quick note to say Hello! We are heading out for a long weekend up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so I have to finish the laundry and start packing.
Hot and very humid here. Mr. Scale is not moving down much at all, but I am determined not to let that ruin my life! I just keep thinking about what Red Rox says about this being a marathon and not a sprint.
DH is having some good days and some not so good. Today has been good so far.
Take care everyone!

[sharonohio]

Hi all

Today been fairly OK so far. Had my hair cut so, same old with that. Did a library run to get paperbacks for our trip. Made another drop of donations.

Paula, I know about those fires. The summer we went to Banff the fires were horrible and the air quality left lots to be desired. Your walk sounds lovely despite that. We're hoping to do some walks in the parks north of the st lawrence next week and/or along the shore. If the rain holds off the weather should be exquisite.

MP:
B oats, pecans, peach
L leftover eggplant, spaghetti squash and zucchini with hummus
AS PB with red pepper
D pork chop, corn, green beans