I am coming back to the challenge. I have been pretty much for the month of March. My exercise has been few and far between. My life is also full of stress right now. I need to get back my energy. The only way I can do that is by getting some exercise.

My goal for April is to walk 3 times a week and get on the ellip 2 times a week! Even if it kills me.

I think I love this new board. At least I thought I did until I had lots of trouble posting this reply!

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Susan
207/170/160/
size 16/12/8
LC since 4/03

Hey, Susan!

Glad to see you back here! New board, new learning curve! LOL! True for all of us, including our webmaster.

But you understand learning curves better than most of us!

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Barb - I'd sure appreciate that website address.
Alice - Maggie - morels and puffballs are also the only 2 I feel comfortable enough with identifying to eat some. It's funny how I got into mushroom hunting. I was walking in the woods with my dog and she was digging in some leaves and she found a cache of maybe 8 morels. When she started eating them I forced her to spit them out because I didn't know if they might be a poisonous mushroom that looked like morels. My curiosity was peaked though and I went online and did a lot of research and took some books out of the library. If I would have known then, what I know now, I could have had a mushroom hunting dog. Next step might have been truffles.

Shawny - welcome! Start with walking until you find your activity.

Jestey - sounds like a good start

Pongie - Congratulations on your new DIL! You did well to get right back on!

Maggie - Bit*****ss counts for sure. I can feel your pain. Spring keeps showing up and then deserting us. They are issuing a frost freeze warning for tonight. I feel it in my bones, old man winter is going to be permanently ousted as of this week! And April showers will begin in earnest.

Not much to report - only a 2 mile walk because of temps in the high 40's but 20 mph winds that made it seem freezing.

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A truffle hunting dog would be cool, Rob! I'll bet you already know that they use pigs to hunt truffles in France! I never had a dog as talented as a pig ... in that regard. :P

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LOL! OK you mushroom hunters, you need to come help me out in my own yard - we get ALL KINDS of mushrooms every year! None that I'd dare eat. I don't gotta CLUE on mushrooms unless they come with a label on them!

Maggie, I b*tched most of the day too but it had more to do with the fact that I LOST A PERFECTLY GOOD HOUR'S SLEEP DUE TO DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME! Man that just torques me ALL the wrong direction. And I'll continue to b*tch about it for the next two weeks, as I do every year. So be forewarned!

Now as to exercise - I came home and got on the elliptical and stayed on that puppy for 36 minutes! And I was crankin' at a pretty good pace too, but keeping the little green LEDs in the "fat burning zone" - felt good. I was actually tempted to go a little longer but good sense prevailed and I gathered up the grocery ads and a cat or two and hit the COUCH!!

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Yes, the sleep thing, TOO! forgot to mention that in my list of complaints!

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Good morning, everyone - already back in slugville as I missed my train home last night and didn't get in until late, then for some odd reason, I have no heat on the second floor, so my bedroom was frigid - short story, I blew off the hill program this morning - maybe, if I get adventurous, I will do it tonight when I get home.

When I was a kid, my aunt in Georgia used to sautee up some mushrooms that used to grow on her wood pile. I have no idea what they were, but they were fabulous. I'll have to ask her about it.

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Jen



179/179/120

I got up this morning with a stiff neck . I have been trying to stretch and massage it out, but it is still hurting. I have been working really slow at cleaning house. I have so much to do and so little time .

I have not done any formal exercise today. I am going to try the ellip later this evening. Hopefully my neck will feel better by then.

To get in the mushroom conversation...my DH had a brother who they think died from eating poison mushrooms (this was in the 1940s). I have never ate a wild mushroom. I would be to terrifed to eat them.

Maggie, I hope things have warmed up for you.

Have a great day!

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Susan
207/170/160/
size 16/12/8
LC since 4/03

I find I am cursing the weather channel regularly now. What's up with this Spring. It's driving me insane!!!!! It's 60 something and then we are headed back into the deep freeze for another week, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I'm heading over to Curves this aft. I was a tato yesterday.

Alice, I'll have to come over to the Foraging thread. Just a thought......hae you ever tried Cattails? They are completely useable, i.e., the roots are edible as are the "tails" while still young (before they fuzz out), the stems I believe can be pounded to make weaving fibers, the leaves can be used for basket making, and the fuzzy tails can be used to stuff pillows and things. The Native Americans used these indiginous plants to the US for all sorts of things..........interesting, eh? Oh and Burdock is edible too!!!! I don't know how many carbs the roots have, but they can be sliced and fried like potatoes. But watch out for the flatulence monster. They can be quite gas forming.

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Well, I managed to get out of work a little early today (and, no, today was only a degree or two better than yesterday - weather wise :crying: and made a quick spinach & mushroom (from the store ) omelette since I was inexplicably starving.

Then, out of shear guilt got on my treadmill and did a mile and a half. Before I'd even cooled down, with makeup running and sweat dripping off my hair, a friend called who'd just lost a family member and needed some help. So, running a brush through my hair, removing the vestiges of racoon disguise (caused by mascara + exercise) and sprinkling on some shower to shower with fervent hope, off I went.

Now I must choose whether to start my evening chores late, or head bed-ward and hope to do everything in the am, before work. I think I'll go to bed and set the alarm for earlier.

(spoken like the inveterate procrastinator which I am... LOL!)

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Hi, fellow fauxtatoes,

I was really a tater today. We went on a field trip today - a driving tour of a local cemetery (lots of interesting historical stuff - the monument to and graves of the Haymarket Square martyrs are there, so are Emma Goldman, Billy Sunday, members of lots of fraternal orders, including Druids, members of cigar makers and bill posters unions, gypsies, Native Americans, and more).

I've been fighting a cold for several days, and when we got home I was exhausted - the cold has the upperhand for now. Hope I feel well enough to walk tomorrow.

Barb - do please join us on the foraging thread! I have tried cat tails once, they were delicious. I'm going to do as much Euell Gibbons stuff as I can this year, and catch up on other authors in the field too.

All for now, good night, taters

Alice

Evenin' Taters....

I had to run to the store after work to get spinach for salads and bell peppers for my anticipated dinner of fajitas - came home to a minor dilemma with Mom and the window which was busted by an errant golf ball on Friday morning - had to make some salsa to "mellow" for at least a LITTLE bit before dinner - and STILL got on the dang elliptical for 15 minutes at least! :great: So I guess I'm somehow addicted, hooked, or totally mesmerized by this piece of equipment - because I just can't seem to stay OFF it even when I'm trying like h*ll to give myself permission to do so! AAAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!

But I gotta say - I do feel rather good, and pious, about the whole thing....

Maggie, c'mon, you really expect me to believe you are gonna haul bunz outta bed early to do stuff? I know how like me you are in so many respects, and no matter WHAT good intentions I have - I know I will NEVER get out of bed early to perform any sort of CHORE! YUCKO! Hey, more power to you though, I hope you prove me wrong!!

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Charski - Nice going with the elliptical. What could be better than an exercise you like to do?

Jestey - Maybe Your Aunt made "hen of the woods" or "tree ears" or "woodears"?
These often grow on dead wood I think.

Susan - even slow house cleaning counts for a fauxtato!
Morels are very distinct looking mushrooms that have no poisonous look-alikes. Otherwise I wouldn't dare eat them either.

Barb and Maggie - Skip over the part below where I talk about my weather today. LOL

Alice - I must check out the foraging thread as well. I was eating wild violets today on my walk. Then I realized I was on the horse trail. No wonder they were growing so well. LOL

Question for mushroom hunters. I know the season for morel hunting is when oak leaves are the size of mouse ears (or squirrel ears). How big is that? In something i can look at closely without being bitten.

Today was an incredible spring day. I did my walk in the morning because by 10:00 it was already in the mid sixties and Sunny. By the time I finished an hour and 25 minutes later the temp was 72. The high ended up at 77. I estimate I did 5 miles.

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My activity for the day was house cleaning and grocery shopping, glad I can take credit for something.

I did do some "outdoor life" by sitting outside reading.

Rob, LOL at violets on bridle trail. We'd love to have you come forage with us. Just a guess, but I bet a squirrel's ear is about the same size as the tip of your thumb. Here's a website with lots of foraging links: www.foraging.com. At least one of the links is about mushrooms.

Enjoy life, everyone,

Alice

Well other than one hour's frantic activity this am (yes, Char, I DID manage to do it in the morning and I think I should get extra credit for THAT since it is SO not me) I've been pretty much sedentary today, and tonight is bookeeping night, since I missed it yesterday evening due to my unplanned mission of mercy.

I'm aiming at tomorrow. That would be three times this week, and on track for my goal, but I think I've subconsciously moved the bar a bit and am aiming at something closer to every other day. Whether I make that or just get 3 x a week of formal exercise, if I can do a whole month of it, it will be some kind of lifetime record for me. Stay tuned...

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