Happy Monday Morning - ALL!!

Hello gals and guys ~ Hey, it's gotta be happy, right? We all had the pleasure of waking up ALIVE and that's a wonderful start. How was your weekend? Do anything fun, exciting, silly, wild, boring? hehehe, yes, we'll give BORING stuff the same consideration as FUN. My weekend was wonderful - considering I started off Friday with absolutely NO plans, it ended up coming together wonderfully. Friday was a wonderful lunch on the beach with Jill (2 Shakes) and her hubby John, at my FAVORITE restaurant there - 31 Ocean!!! Love that place. Great company, non-stop funny, silly, blabbering - er, I mean meaningful adult conversation. Saturday was spent with my girlfriend, Carole T. - dinner and a drink (yes, that's right, I only had "A" drink) at a place called STOOGES, here on VaBeach and Bonney Road. It's a shame they don't draw a bigger crowd - it's a really nice/clean place, large dance floor. Which makes NO sense anymore, cause the new owners ONLY have Karaoke now - the live bands are gone .... anyway, the food has always been good and the company (Carole) is ALWAYS great!!! Sunday was spent at Busch Gardens with my son (Keoni) and my red headed twin and girlfriend, Wendy G. and her Family (Hubby & 2 sons). Keoni and I got there EARLY (nah, we're not little kids trapped in big people's bodies) and hit about 5 or 6 rides before Wendy and her crew showed up 3 hours later. We stayed for a total of 8 hours, road a gazillion rides, ate some delish BBQ - rode some more rides, walked, walked, walked, got wet (er, drenched) on a few water rides ..... and WALKED some more. We had an absolute BLAST!!! I betcha my "feet" logged about 8 miles yesterday. Please note I had to "guestimate" how many miles - more on that later. Of course, this morning? Well, this morning is reminding me with each creak of my joints, stiffening of each muscle, and just plain ACHES and PAINS that ... "NO, Lei, you are not 10 years old anymore, you're 45 - SLOW down!" ....yikes, I hurt!!! Some of those rides slam you left, right, up, down and then it starts over. Of course, those are the funner scarier rides and those are the ones that we rode several times - hence da' aching! Oh - and it's a really good thing that my girlfriend (Wendy G.) also happened to post about the FREE pedometer yesterday, which I ordered. Because not more then 10 minutes into my walking at Busch Gardens, I LOST MINE, hence the 'guestimate' on miles walked yesterday! [grrrrrr--whine--sigh] ...that really bummed me out. Not only was it a more expensive model ($40) ..but it's the FIRST purchase I made to my new 'healthier weight loss' life. Paul and I bought it about a week before my surgery - and it's been glued to my hip ever since. Amazing the sentimental value that we put on materialistic items, huh? Soooooooooooooooo - how was YOUR weekend? Hugs - Lei .

Let's see: Saturday was my husband's birthday, so our 2yr old went to a babysitter for the entire day and part of the night. We went to lunch at a new place we'd never tried: California Pizza Kitchen. It was marvelous! Then we went to several adult stores but couldn't find anything we wanted or could afford. I found that I'm a 2x in lingerie there. *wink* Well, it did get us into the mood so we went home and um.....how to say this delicately.....made mad passionate love for a few hours. Can we say jelly legs and a smile that wouldn't leave my face? We noshed at home for dinner then went to pick up the toddler who was so worn out that she fell asleep before we got home and stayed asleep for most of the night. Sunday, we just did groceries and our toddler discovered the carts that have the kiddie cars attached to them. She sat and spun the wheel and made vrooming noises the whole time so we were able to get groceries without chasing her down or holding her down. Then we just relaxed and watched some movies and had family time. It was rather nice. PS, I broke that two week plateau finally. Hugs, Tonya 405/379/252/180 (high/surgery/current/goal) 5'5"

G'morning Lei! Yes, it is a happy Monday morning...even though I am back at work after almost two weeks off. I am grateful to have a job to come back to. I had pretty good weekend, but most people would seem to think it was boring. Saturday was spent doing laundry and catching up on mail and things since I just came home on Saturday morning. Sunday was supposed to be spent at BG (like you and Wendy G) but with Kara's broken foot we decided to scrap that and go another weekend so I spent it cooking and baking instead. We had the whole family over for Easter dinner. It has been about a year since I have spent 6 hours in the kitchen and I really enjoyed myself. I was changing recipes and trying to make everything yummy. No one noticed the sugar free stuff! On an even better note...I am down another 9 pounds! Must be all that dancing and walking on the boardwalk. I have not weighed in two weeks! Well, time to start work so I will go for now. Have a happy day! {{hugs}} Tammy C

Morning Beautiful! K for starters the weather was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous Saturday! Oh yeah so we had Nora's birthday party out in the back yard. We set up picnic tables, fired up da grill and partied down. It was my parents, Trey & I, our girls, my sis & BIL, my nephews and my MIL. I'd bought eggs and filled them with candy for Jacob and Kayla to do an Easter Egg hunt. That went over very nicely. Josh is 9 so he helped hide the eggs. While they were being hidden my Dad drove Jacob and Kayla around on the tractor. He attached Kayla's wagon to it. Good grief you'd think we still lived on a farm like when my sis and I were kids. Heck I'd have loved riding around in the wagon. So the party gets going and we had us some turkey burgers/dogs grilled and they were a hit! They really ARE good! We also had baked beans, beanie weenies, chips, cheetos and then cake and ice cream. We brought Nora's high chair out back and set her in it and sang Happy Birthday to which she thought we were on crack or something equally weird and started gripping the sides of the high chair. Anyhow we put the cake in front of her and she smacked her hand into it. Her piece gets cut and put in front of her. Ya'll I kid you not she ate the whole thing and just left crumbs! We spent the rest of the day outside and the kids dug in what is soon to be our garden and made "sand castles" (dirt castles whatever) and it was just wonderful. Our bugga got lots of nifty clothes and some cute toys. LOTS of running around and playing and goofing off. I felt SO good and ran around like a nut! Sunday was kinda interesting. We spent it cleaning room to room and how da heck do kids get so many toys? I mean it looked like Toys R Us blew up in our living room! Then we spend the mid pm relaxing when we are out back and 2 houses down these men decide who kewl it would be to chop down da tree which is in 2 sections in the guys back yard. Ok now let me set this up for ya'll. 1) Top heavy tree so no matter what it AIN'T going in da direction they want even if they prayed real kinda hard bout it. 2) They tie a strap to it then to da douly truck which keep reading DIDN'T WORK OUT! 3) The 1st 1/2 they cut down comes within LITERAL inches from hitting their main house (to which we are like HELLO????) The wife screams at her hubs and they have NOT nice words in front of all our kids playing in their respective back yards but hey the woman was MAD. Ya'll it was seriously so close it brushed the house. 4) The 2nd 1/2 is over da shed and power lines and at this point ALL da neighbors on both sides of da street are in our back yards TRYIN' to convince these 2 to stop it cause it's gonna fail miserably. (Anybody gettin' where this is going?) 5) Keep in mind one end of the strap is around the tree and the other attached to the douly truck. There is one man IN the truck applying pressure to the gas and the other man is using a chain saw and axe to cut it in two. Ok here we go I said it loud and clear ITS GOING TO FALL ON THE POWER LINES FIRST THEN THE SHED AND WE WILL LOSE POWER. Sure enough da back wheels are spinning on the truck which is diggin' a hole in da back yard and then CRACK BAM BOOM...hits da power lines, lands on da roof of da shed and NO POWER! Moral of this story: don't fight with a tree older and taller than you can see oh and hey boys by the way hope ya'll are enjoying that $1000.00 fine ya'll will be paying cause of your "manly attempt at cuttin' down a tree" oh and next time someone tells you you are not doing it right (cause they work for a tree co. and have for 17 years ya might wanna be like oh ok thanks and NOT do it and cause your neighbors to be without power cause ur on a mission). WHEW! Otherwise, we watched American President, vegged and went to bed! Kitty Kat

ack..we cut down a tree that was pretty tall we did limbs first to lighten the load...its was some scary stuff...of course we moved everything around it away guess it is kidda hard to move a shed and power line...but i guess they figuired out how to move the power line haha...i am just glad no one was hurt other then finacially...tree choppin is scary stuff..i get upset of a chair falls on my foot imagine a WHOLE TREE we did nothing all weekend..well minus a little outback steak, shoppin, and mowing the yard...a pretty laid back glorious weekend..ps i sort of like the 9 pm thunderstorms rollin in ;)

Happy Monday to you to sweety !! Well I worked the early shift on Friday - and was able to get off from work at 3:30 .. and I said hmmm .. Let's go get my feet and nails done .. so I went and spent 2 hours at the Nail place getting them both done .. OMG they are beautiful !!! Started to go out Friday night but instead stayed in with Pat's grandbabies ( Mine are sick ) Saturday I spent a lot of time with my Mother , cleaning up her yard . and just chillin with her .. it was nice .. the weather as we all know was gorgeous .. I came home .. and NAPPED !!!! OMG I needed this so bad .. 3 hours laid out on top of my bed .. Got up and went to Big Lots .. and folks if you are a tuna eater .. they had those Tuna Kits .. 1.29 a piece .. I love Tuna so I am set for a while .. Stayed up Saturday night talking on line with my friends .. doing some research for the Conference .. just hanging out with me ... it was great !! Sunday . I went back to moms .. made the best Tater Salad you ever put in your mouth .. that is if you eat TaterSalad .. LOL .. The kids came over to moms for an Easter Egg hunt .. and what happens - Dontae gets so sick he yaks right there on one of the eggs .. So Amy had to take him home .. I made them both little goodie bags .. and sent them home .. Came home and hung my newest Tinkerbelle poster on my wall .. worked out .. with my new resistance band .. and just enjoyed the rest of the night .. I am making plans now with a very nice man in Rockville MD .. to go up and visit next weekend .. so . in saying that .. You precious enjoy your week .. !! Love ya , Natalie

Well, I had a pretty good weekend. It started on Friday, which was my day off (YAHOO!) and John and I had lunch with one of the craziest people I have met in a long time....LEILANI. It was WONDERFUL! The "adult converstaion" was so much fun it had me in stitches most of the afternoon. And John just loved ya. Thought you were GREAT! Can't wait to meet Paul. Saturday, since I could not camp this weekend, Patrick and I went to Bush Gardens for the day. We had a blast. Riding the rides and just hanging out. He is SUCH a great kid to be around. Funny, ta-boot. We left about 4:30 because we had just worn ourselves out. Came home, took a nap, watched Narnia, etc. On Sunday, I went to my sisters house for the afternoon to spend Easter with her and her little ones. I miss not having little ones (ok, I'm done missing it now - hehehe). We came home and dorked around here to prepare for this week, I did some scrapbooking and stuff like that. Guess that's about it. It was such a beautiful weekend. Jill 263/183(THAT'S 80 POUNDS!!!/145

Hi Lei - as usual, you crack me up with all that you do!! You are such a goer -- I love it! I ordered the pedometer and can't wait to get it. I have a cheapy one and one day it says I walk 4000 steps and the next day I'm doing 23,000!! Ha ha!! I'm on my way to my pilates class now, which I love. Maybe one day I'll be able to get up off the floor from the flat position without using my arms! The instructor is so sweet and says, thats okay, you're doing great. It doesn't help that everyone else in the class is 30 and were dancers!! It's a hoot, me doing it, but I'm there and that's more than I've ever done before. Yesterday was my seven month anniversary and I am officially at 183. I'm totally buzzzed by that since I started at 289! I hope to get to 160, but we'll see. I'm just taking it day by day and giving myself big hugs because I haven't seen this number for probably 25 years or more. One bad thing, well lots of bad flab hanging around, but the neck seems to be doing funny things that I don't like! I'm going to have to do something about that. Friday Greg took off and we spent the day at Fort Belvoir. We just had a few things to do there, but you know the military -- take a number and sit for two hours. That was us. But we had a beautiful lunch at the Officer's Club and sat outside. It overlooks the Potomac and was just really awesome. So that was our reward. Went to the PX and got some fun things. Saturday was boring, Sunday was the usual, and here I am getting late for my class so I'll go. See, I decided to make this a long post even though I could have said what I did on the weekend in three sentences!! love you!! donna

Happy Monday to you Lei. I had an bizarre weekend. Friday it was off to the gym, (had to force myself because I was exhausted and didnt' want to do anything), then to bed early because Saturday was moving day for one of my sisters. Well I guess it wasn't my night to sleep. First one of my sisters calls an hour after I went to sleep and wakes me to ask me a silly question, so then after I finally fall back asleep a friend calls me from the bar and needs a ride home, so off I go to pick him up, well while he was waiting for me a cab pulled up so he took it home and forgot to call me and tell me, I was so mad, and scared and worried, if I had gotten ahold of him I would have seriously hurt him. I get home and get back to sleep and then my neighbors start fighting, finally everything quiets down and I get back to sleep. So Saturday it is up early and ready for moving day. That of course took most of the day. I get home read and relax for awhile and then off to bed, well then the jerk upstairs who is having a party decides to start beating up the women. Needless to say after I called the cops and waited to make my statement etc. it was already Easter and I still hadn't gotten to bed. My Easter was beautiful. I went to church with my grandma and then we had a huge family dinner at my mom's. It was wonderful. Courtney

Happy Monday to you too Lei!!! My story's long! My weekend. It started out early Friday morning when the guys left for a hockey game on Saturday in New Jersey. Can we say Mommytime? It's all great until my head starts hurting from a horrible sinus HA around 11a.m.! I took some tylenol and went on, took a nap, woke up, decided to garden! Decided then I needed more pernenials, and some annuals, and some other schtuff so made out for Walmart. Figured I'd head to Blockbuster for some chick flicks for the evening. I made my purchases after walking around the store for an hour or two at which point I was feeling ILL! So I head home. I unload everything....and the rest of the evening I barely remember! I did end up taking some Dayquil sinus.....it didnt releive my HA until 1;30 a.m when i woke up to use the potty, at least that's when i noticed it had worked. THANK HEAVENS! So Saturday I had planned on doing some homework...taking college classes, two that I hate and cant wait to be over!....I set out in the a.m. on a walk with my goofy yellow lab, Sandi....we get home and I (with my adult ADD) decide to garden somemore. I had those plants left over from the day before! So I set out and figure out that two of the plants I bought were missing!!!! You know those Walmart bag turnstyle thingies?...I fell victim. I just knew I'd missed one of my bags in my phase of extreme illness! So I decide, what the hey....$5 is $5 and head back to Wallyworld! arghhh....day before Easter, not a good decision! Of course the plants had been put in customer service, are no longer there, they give me cash to replace them. I go to the garden center and can not find the species I'd bought!! NONE! And I really liked them and had one at home (typically with any kind of flower arranging, whether it be bouquets or gardens you use odds rather then evens. I"d had 3! But only came home with one. ...and wanted the 3! So I press on. I decide to go to Lowes and see what they have...made a few planty purchases. Then went to Wendy's for some of their chili. I get home, eat, and set out to garden. I get my plants in and look over at one of the shrubs we planted in early March....can we say DEAD? Well I live in Remington VA...I'd bought the shrub at Merrifields up in Vienna/Fairfax....wherever it's truly located----45 mins away! I call, they say bring it in, blah, blah, blah. I stop off in Warrenton to see a friend who's a master gardener....to see what she has to say, figuring it's a lot closer and if she has a suggestion of some sort of plant cpr or something I'd rather not drive all the way north! EHhh? DEAD I SAIDI! So I head up ole HWY 29! I get there, and if you're a gardener or plant lover in general this plac eis like HEAVEN for you! Back to the ADD sort of thing. There's no way you can stop in for one thing...say refund or replacement on your dead shrub, without making your way thru the vast expanse of all things horticulture! Nope, no way! I head to the info desk to take care of the deceased, and then head off to sheer delight! I was there for about two hours....go to checkout....search for keys to leave.......and NO KEYS! Yeah...NOT A GOOD PLACE TO LOSE YOUR KEYS!!!! especially when you've already walked over 90% of the vast expanse of all things horticulture! I go to the info desk...nope no keys turned in, go to the cashiers, nope......go to some of the stations out and about....no keys... retrace my steps....twice...no keys! I go to a girl who'd previously helped make a choice on shade type plants and ask her, nope, but she's willing to look with me(again). So we head out. Nothing! I figure maybe it's in the wagon that I first brought my dead shrub in. I'd placed the shrub in a garbage bag for the ride up. Maybe I'd dropped the keys in the wagon and when the guy looked at the shrub to diagnose it dead maybe they got covered in shrub droppings and bag!?! So we head back to the info desk where i 'd parked my purchases, I stand there and the girl goes out to he loadning dock where the guy might have placed the deceased! I'm standing there and glance at the counter....look at the tubs of live ladybugs....and what do I see? MY KEYS!!! Disbelief washes over me. There the evil keys sat the whole time. So I wait for the girl to come back, tell her she wont believe it, show her, we hug in thankfulness. (Remember I live 45 mins away and my hubby's in NJ! ) I had been pondering where i'd be sleeping.... which stone bench or patch of fallen leaves, petals? ) So I head home. And can a drive be so uneventful? NO! I nearly get in a car accident. Someone merging on to my road from a right side merge lane decides they're the only car on the road and heads left across multiple lanes, into MY LANE! I know what defensive driving is......luckily! OK so the rest of the drive home was quick and painless. I got home at 8:45 p.m. Mommytime? I guess! I need Jamaica! Umm exercise? Oh def! The guys came home Saturday late.....and my 13 and 9 yr old promptly reminded me of the need for mommytime! gotta love them. Sunday? more planting....finally got some homework done. Pretty uneventful as far as Easter goes! I WELCOME MONDAY TODAY! hallyloolly! Kirsten