Hello all. My cold is winning. I decided NOT to have an Elise day yesterday to avoid exposing her to my germs. Instead John and I worked on the land for the last two days. We are working on clearing the home site and widening the lane. We have taken probably 20 trailer loads of rotten logs, brush, tree trimmings and logs to the dump this week. Today I just about wore out - this cold is taking it out of me.

Eating yesterday was horrible. Patti, it must have been the moon. Today I am way under on points - we skipped lunch and I ate when we got home around 4, don't figure I'll eat much else today except maybe some yogurt.

Bert, running errands is NOT resting! Have a great time with the grandkids.

Patti, seven weeks without missing a class is a huge win! I'm not doing any structured exercise at all, but I am getting more than my 10K steps every day, and I am lifting the weights of the logs, so I figure that is enough for now.

Waving to everyone else.

Diane

Good Morning, Ladies. It's going to be hot one today. We will be having Jillian and Cole today. We will also start the process of closing the pool. This moring I have a virtual seminar for student teachers; I've never done this before, so it will be a new adventure for me.

Eating yesterday was ok, not great, but ok. Today, if the weather permits, I'll grill BBQ chicken. I'll think about vegetables later on. I have hot dogs and mac and cheese for Cole. Jillian is going to a sleepover at one of her friends' house. Cole is supposed to spend the night, but I'm not sure he will stay without Jillian. I hope he does though.

Diane: Wow, that is a lot of logs, brus, and tree trimmings to haul away. You must be exhausted!

Patti: Hope you enjoyed the "cracker thin" pizza! LOL

Have a great day, everyone!

Bert

Hello all. Yesterday I was feeling better, so got some yard work and errands done at home. Eating was pretty good, considering we were invited to a friend's house for dinner. I had some guac and chips before dinner, chicken breast and veggies including two small yukon potatoes for dinner, but she fixed some roasted parsnips with some sort of sauce, and I didn't know how to track it. My downfall was the wine! I tracked all as best I could, and am trying to do better today. I had a higher point lunch than usual (leftover pasta primavera, heavy on the veggies and light on the sauce, but still 8 PP per serving), so I'm trying to behave with snacks. Dinner will be a chicken stir fry - the only points are in the sauce, and the little bit of rice I have with it. I still have a few weeklies left, so hopefully I will be okay.

Carrie and I are getting over our cold, but now John is coming down with it . Brad asked us to keep Elise on Wednesday, so we will just have to keep her away from John if he is still sick.

A friend from church who has lost about 50 lb. on WW thanked me today for recommending Skinnytaste recipes to her. I love most of those recipes!

Patti, it seems like summer is definitely still going here, so it just sounds strange to be thinking about winterizing already! But I heard Glacier NP had 5 FEET of snow today, so I guess it will get here eventually.

Bert, did Cole end up sleeping over? I think it is nice for the gk to get one-on-one time every so often. My mom and dad did that with all the kids, and it was really special time for them.

Waving to Janet, Paula, Cindy and Karla. I'm guessing life has them hopping.

Diane

Patti, what a DARLING picture! Leo is so sweet, and I love how he is sleeping on top of your grandson. The shower curtain will be such a cozy addition.

Bert, best wishes and prayers for Lindsey and the twins.

I am sore, sore, sore. Our grass in both the front and backyards has been terribly strugging the last few years, and it all died this year. We were down to dirt. So we bit the bullet and had tree trimmers come and thin and trim, and take down two trees overhanging the house one day last week. Saturday and today we got leaf-pro (composted leaves, basically) and spread it on the whole thing. I spread most of it! 21 yards of stuff! Saturday we got 9 yards and I spread about half of it, then our friend who brought his tractor over to help John move logs spread the other half with the tractor. All today while John was going and getting trailerfuls of the stuff, I was spreading. I spread about 12 yards mostly by myself today alone! My back is killing me.

Eating has been pretty good. I made two batches of cookies yesterday and only ate two cookies - one of each variety. The cookies are for Friday. Today I've only eaten about 7 points (lots of zero point foods today) so I have enough to have a bun with my pulled pork sandwich for dinner.

Friday is the day we inter my mom's ashes at Arlington National cemetery. My sister from Wisconsin and her partner arrive Wednesday and stay until Sunday (staying a couple nights with us, a couple nights with my other sister on the other side of DC.) We are having a reception after the service at my other sister's house, and I said I would bring cookies and salads. So trying to figure out a good, lower point couple of salads to bring.

I go for WI tomorrow. I'm really hoping for a positive. I've had 5 blue dot days this week, if I behave the rest of today.

Diane

Good Morning, Ladies. Today is the day! We will be grandparents again! Lindsey is scheduled for her C-Section at noon. So anxious to see them!

Diane: I'll be thinking of you on Friday. I still track on both WW and MFP as I like to see the the calories and points I'm eating. Some days are better than others at tracking. I agree with WW and MFP in similar guidelines; but, for me, I just need to see it I guess.

Patti: What an adorable picture of Leo and your grandson!

Have a great day, everyone!

Bert

Hello all,

The steroid hell is over then I went for my bi-annual infusion and guess what they give before the infusion....yup IV steroids lol. I'm finally getting back to me. I did manage to go down to blue house and work the other day. Will go back again on Friday when it's a high of 68 and I have no kids. Tomorrow is katis I'll infusion so I'll have the baby and Adi. Would go down when she gets home but it will be too hot for me. Thursday, I'm going to see Mom and to the grocery store and five below to pick up some Christmas gifts. Friday I'll finish sanding diningrooms re-mud where it's needed and start painting. I should be able to finish it Friday or early Saturday.

My husband is moving along in bathroom, once he's done in there we'll lay flooring, baseboards and molding around tops of ceilings, I'll then call for electric inspection to get electric turned on then I'll call water while we work on the the livingroom and downstairs bedroom. Coming along slowly but should be done soon. We need to get a furnace and get it installed with all new ductwork, ac will come next year, we'll use window units for now if need be. Need to price HVAC untils with installation then see where the money will come from as we've depleted the money we had for this remodel.

Anyway, I'll catch up on reading posts tomorrow, going to bed cause I have to get Adi up and ready for school in the morning.

Have a great night!

Bert, the boys are beautiful. I am sure Monday cannot come soon enough for you. Congrats and thank you for sharing your joy with us.

Paula, you guys are sailing thru the redo. Have you checked into any assistance programs for the hvac system? My sister got hers replaced for a very reasonable rate. Hope you don't overdo in this heat. Praying for fall to arrive every day.

Lunch with the girls, Costco and then work. Huge new sale starting tomorrow so it will be a busy night putting up the million signs. Sure wish we would get electronic signs like Kohls. Our flagship store in Columbus has them so hopefully they will trickle down to us little folks.

Big hugs to everyone
Patti

Good afternoon,

Went to see Mom today, she was really with it today. Spent a few hours with her 💖💖💖

Bert, how adorable. Love is in the air

Patti, my husband is really moving along with the house. I have not been down much because of this heat wave we've been having. Tomorrow after I take Adi to school I'm going down because it'll be cool enough. I actually found a furnace that's big enough for the house that we can afford. My husband will run the duct work and my nephew will install the furnace since he's HVAC certified. That picture is adorable!!

Janet, sounds like you are going to be busy with all the sports and Broadway tour. Suppose to be a high of 68 here in Cincinnati tomorrow, finally getting some fall weather going on.

Well I'm off here need to figure out dinner. Have a great night!

Paula

Paula, your mom looks great. Happy to hear she was having a good day during your visit - her smile says it all. Those moments are true treasures.

Patti, that elephant motif is just so sweet - he should look at licensing the drawing for all sorts of baby/kid things, shirts for parents, embroidery, etc. Talented family!

Bert, thinking of you as you meet the little guys.

The change of seasons overnight is such a blessing - it's an open-windows day!

"Dear Evan Hansen" was so good - it asks a lot of the performers because the material is really intense, and the company gave their all - Knew I would cry and I did.

Had a bit of a not-great surprise yesterday - took Theo for dental work (got the go-ahead from the vet a couple of weeks ago and scheduled it). But yesterday they found a heart murmur and a golf-ball-sized mass near his left shoulder that weren't noticeable two weeks ago. They did a needle biopsy and now we wait. It could be minor, or it could be big. It threw me for a loop yesterday but now I have to wait for pathology report. I know he's 16 1/2, but he's always been really healthy. Praying it's something we can deal with.

Eating has been OK but definitely not great. Had an excellent omelet last night - James was in the mood to cook (using the nonstick omelet pan he gave me for Christmas). I got ingredients out and did cleanup - good tradeoff!

Have a lovely weekend, dear friends!

Good Morning, Ladies. We are traveling today to go see the babies! Oh, and Lindsey and Justin! I'll check in later...........have great day, everyone!

Bert

Hello all. It has been an exhausting weekend. Childcare 24/7 is harder than just a grandma day! Elise sleeps about 12 hours at night, but she wakes at least once during the night crying. I am not supposed to get up and go to her, but it wakes me and keeps me up un til she settles again. And my back is very sore from carrying her! She weighs 33 pounds, so it is quite a load. She was good as gold yesterday. My sister and BIL spent Friday night at my other sister's house, the one where we had the gathering. But they all three came over here yesterday about 1:30 to sort through photo albums for a while. So that was chaotic and tiring, and John had gone off with a friend to deliver some things down to the land. I was a bit ticked off that he disappeared for hours, unplanned, including once everyone got here. I was caring for Elise AND trying to get the things done with my sisters (which was planned, but I thought he'd be here to help with Elise!) She stayed up and happy way past her bedtime yesterday, still woke at 5:45 this morning! Today she was cranky even after a morning nap and a 2.5 hour afternoon nap. I think she was just worn out and tired of lots of people around, just like I was.

Eating is going okay. I'm doing much better about the snack monster. Keeping so busy has its advantages! Tomorrow Carrie is going to watch Elise for a while so I can go to the land while John takes down a tree. A beaver has been working on a big one, and it is aimed at the new gate we put up. We need to get it down before the beaver drops it. I don't like John running the chain saw (at least not dropping trees) without someone else around.

Carrie and I joined a gym last Tuesday, though I haven't had time to go yet.

Patti, sounds like you accomplished a lot, even with the fantastic party. I'm sure you would rather still be going to the river on weekends than working! My BIL who was here is an entertainer/juggler/clown.

Bert, kiss the babies! Are they big enough to come home?

Janet, hoping for good news (or at least not devastating news) about Theo. When will you get a report? Jealous of your lunch meet-up tomorrow.

Karla, such a worrying time with Kerry. It is so hard when the doctors can't figure out what is going on.

Cindy, hope you are getting some writing time to keep yourself sane.

Elise just stirred and cried. She has only been in bed for about 1/2 hour. I sure hope she sleeps later tomorrow morning! We are going to have her bath in the morning because she was too tired tonight, then go grocery shopping.

Diane

Good morning,
Ladies. We made it but traffic was horrendous. Took us almost 13 hours however, we got to see the twins in person. So it was worth it.