[2cute2Bfat]

Lilion... CONGRATULATIONS !!!! Under 300 is Remarkable !!!

Gizmo/Vera ... good to see you back. Where in Oklahoma were you ?? Decluttering is a BIG CHORE ... but it feels so good when you get it accomplished. Next time you're in Okla let me know.

Catherine... I too have to say ...you have some pretty awesome posts lately.
You are an inspiration to many !!!!

Julee ... my daughter went to a Passover celebration Saturday night and she really enjoyed herself. She said she learned lots of new stuff and new foods. / I agree ... you should always take some food that YOU can eat too. Actually people usually like having some healthy options.

Kymberly... WELCOME !!!! I don't think I have greeted you yet ??
I have been gone more than here lately. I too think Richard Simmons is weird in his own way... but I like him. / That is cool that you work in Labor and Delivery.

Esmaude/Karen... don't let that fellow of yours sabotage your weightloss efforts.
You sound very creative to remake your swimsuit. I wish I could help on that strap you are seeking... but I am no Martha Stewart.

BarbPA ... I am sooo sorry. I sent you a couple of PMs.
We sure did miss you at the Fling. We had a wonderful time... but it would have been even better if you were there too like last year.

Terri... How appropriate that you had the BACK ROW SEAT on the plane too.
It kept snowing here all day after you left. It actually was beautiful. I feared driving home... but the roads weren't bad at all. My main problem was.... all the road signs were covered in snow ... so I did not know one highway exit from the next ... and there are a LOT of highways in Detroit.
Luckily I only had to follow my daughter so that did not end up being a problem.

Barbg ... I too took a nap when I got home Sunday afternoon.
I sure enjoyed all that laughing we all did.
It was fun teasing you about the snow ... but the REAL SNOW came after you left.
I woke up at 8:30 am Sunday and no snow was sticking to the roads... but by 11:30 ... the roads and ground and trees were ALL covered in a blanket of BEAUTIFUL snow. There were a good 5-6 inches on the ground by 2pm at my daughters house. I took some pictures .. I will see if my daughter can post them for me tonight.

Thinthinker... thank you for such a wonderful weekend. You were definitely "the hostess with the mostest". I really enjoyed myself. You were a saint waiting on us hand and foot.. and you were generous beyond belief. I hope you recover from it. LOL

Susie.. if you are reading ... thank you too. Between you and Thinthinker the tour of Detroit was totally entertaining. I loved how you were able to personalize it for us.

I willbe ... You asked about our trip... IT WAS WONDERFUL !!!!!
Thinthinker was a wonderful hostess. She spoiled us totally !!!
Here is a small summary ... not enough room to write about all of it.

Friday afternoon we ate lunch and then Susie and I bought Mega Million dollar lottery tickets. .. but neither of us won. Some lucky person won like $240 million dollars. Why oh why... couldn't it have been us. Grrr. LOL

Friday night we ate at a darling Italian place called Buca diBeppo .... MMmm good.
They serve family style so we each got to taste a little of a lot of different choices.
Then we went back to the hotel and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. .

Sat morning we headed out for the grand tour of Detroit.
Between Thin and Susie we saw so much and learned even more about Detroit.
I certainly had the wrong preconceived image of Detroit. It is a wonderful city !!!
We also went to Canada !!!!. To get there... you have to cross the Detroit River.... so we went both under the river via a tunnel .. and over the river via a cool bridge.
After a day of site seeing we took a break and played a game at Thin's home before heading to a cool place called BD Mongolian Barbeque for dinner. The atmosphere there is awesome. New experience for us all.

We ended the evening playing Scattegories in the hotel and laughing our heads off.
Sunday morning we woke up and all started heading home.
I really enjoyed myself the entire weekend. I know there will be a few pictures posted soon. I even agreed to be in one. LOL

Okay... I need to get. Just knew everyone wanted details... so... there are a few.

[VermontChick]

Oh Lord above...
I'm so glad you ladies had fun at Fling, it sounded like it was an awesome weekend, and I can't WAIT to see pictures.
I'm reeeeeally down right now because I misread my scale...I totally forgot that I had been adding ten pounds with its weight because it's ten pounds less than at the doctor's office. I don't know if it's because it's my TOM or WHAT...but apparently I've GAINED!! It just seems so absurd...do any of you ladies have experience with retaining a lot of water? Like five pounds worth??
At any rate, I'm back to being more strict than ever, I was thinking I could get away with not logging my food as long as I was working out five days a week...APPARENTLY NOT. I really REALLY hope I'm just retaining water.

Le sigh.

[futurediva]

Good morning ladies! It sounds like the spring fling was awesome. I cant wait to see the pictures!
MissMeliss: i have had the pre-menstrual wt gain before, sometimes it is almost 8 lbs! so dont be too hard on yourself, i bet if you increase your water, you will see a decreased wt when your period starts
Catherine: where are you? i have really missed your posts! They are always so inspiring for me
Hope everyone has a great day. i will check back later.

[Lilion]

Good Monday Morning Ladies!

Well, another weekend gone...Boy do I need another one! I really wish I could just retire...unfortunately, I'm about 24 years too young for that!

It was a busy weekend. Saturday DS spent the night at a friends. DH and I went to visit friends we haven't seen in a while. We were supposed to play a little poker and chat and be home at a reasonable hour. The poker players never showed and we ended up hope at 1 a.m. Not quite what I had in mind. And, of course, I ate all the wrong things there. We ended up getting gizzards and fried chicken and pizza from a c-store for munchies. I only had one piece of pizza and pulled the skin off my chicken...but I ate about 5 oz of gizzards! I know, many folks think they are disgusting, but it's a staple in Mid-MO. I can still feel the grease.

Yesterday, however, I worked it all off I think. I weeded, dug dandilions, shoveled and spread mulch, shoveled and spread compost, swept the patio, picked up down sticks and branches from the yard and then mowed the yard. I started at noon, took a dinner break at 6 and finished at 7:45. I was SO SORE! I actually ended up taking a muscle relaxer before bed to stave off the back pain that was starting up. Which explains why I'm still so sleepy. Ah well, it was a good, if tiring and somewhat off program weekend.

BarbPA: I'm sorry about your IVF efforts not producing results. But you have a wonderful attitude and I'm sure you will come up with other options. There are many wonderful children that need a loving mom like I'm sure you will be.

Iwillbe: I think Barbg flew over Missouri...'cause I think she jinxed the weather here too! It went from 70's and beautiful to cold and rainy here! There was actually a freeze warning last night.

Meliss: Until it can be proven otherwise - always blame PMS! I'm sure it'll come back off quick.

All you Spring Flingers: Sounds like you had a terriffic time! I can't wait for pictures too! I love having faces to put names to.

Well, Time to Fly....or at least sit at my desk while people yell at each other. Here's to a happy, healthy week!

[thinthinker]

Hi all! I wrote this up and then I see that 2cute has pretty much taken care of the subject, but I'm going to stick it in here anyway. If you don't want to read it, that's ok by me. I will certainly understand!!

Spring Fling rundown:
Everyone arrived at different times on Friday. Four of us were here in time for lunch so we went to Chili's and had salads. Then when Barbg got in about 6:30, we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo. For those of you that don't know about them, they are a wonderful Italian restaurant that serves family style. You order platters of food and share it around. The atmosphere inside is just wonderful. They have over 1800 pictures on the walls, lot's of them are people in various stages of undress. Most are definitely NOT pencil thin model types! There are lots of pictures of nuns and priests doing various crazy things. It was a great time.

The hotel we stayed at provided a full on breakfast buffet that was included with our rooms. They would even make you a "made to order" omlet if that's what you wanted.

We woke up to snow showers, thanks to Barbg who hails from Texas. She had kidded earlier in the week that she wanted to see snow so apparently the snow gods decided to make her wish come true. (Sorry, Barb, we really did tease you mercilessly on this weekend, hope you know it really was just teasing! )

So we started off Saturday morning having breakfast. Then it was off for a tour of Detroit. Susie is also from Detroit and she has actually lived in the city all her life so it was great fun, even for me, to have her with us to narrate the trip and keep me from getting lost.

We took everyone downtown where we saw the old Tiger Stadium and the new Comerica Park where our baseball team plays. We went around the new football stadium (Ford field), and some of the other landmarks in Detroit.

Next we went through the tunnel under the Detroit River to Windsor, Canada. The view of the Detroit skyline is magnificent from there, but with the wet snow coming down it made it very grey and hazy but we stopped along the riverfront to see it anyway.

A quick stop at the Windsor Casino was made, and yes, we each boosted the Canadian economy by a few bucks. The Casino has a lovely waterfall and fountain display. They have a choreographed, dancing waters, if you will, that is set to music.

Then we were off down the riverfront drive on the Canadian side and we crossed back over the river via the Ambassador Bridge, also a beautiful sight on a clear day but a bit of a disappointment on this grey day.

The girls were very disappointed that the Customs Agent did not want to see their birth certificates or any other form of identification when I had harped on them for months about making sure to bring them and some even had to send away for a new copy. Oh well, had we NOT had them ready, we would have been detained, I'm sure.

We were off once again down the Detroit riverfront side and headed up to Belle Isle, an Island in the middle of the Detroit River. We were able to drive all around the island and show various items of interest. We got out at the Conservatory. The Conservatory was full of gorgeous flowers. They have a room of orchids and tropical plants, a room of ferns, one of cactus and the main room that had a lovely display of azaleas, amaranthis (sp?) and other beautiful flowering plants. It was definitely a Kodak moment.

We left the island and continued up through what they call Lakeshore Drive and the Grosse Pointes. Yes, the same Grosse Pointe from the movie Grosse Pointe Blank. We continued along Lake Saint Clare for a ways and then a quick trip down a portion of the infamous 8 Mile from Eminem's movie of the same name.

We made a quick stop at my house for some hor duerves and a quick game then on to dinner at BD's Mongolian BarBQ where you create your own stir fry.

Back at the hotel we lazed around and had cream puffs with Sanders Hot Fudge for dessert and played Scatagories until 2:00 AM.

Sunday morning saw everyone leaving at different times amid more snow flurries. Some areas northwest of here got 5-12 inches of snow yesterday and it was 83 degrees here just last Tuesday!!!!

Hope I haven't bored you all to tears. I'll try and get some pictures posted in the next day or so but right now I've got a couple of jobs I need to get done and some paperwork that is on deadline.

You all have a great day! Love ya bunches!

P.S. I gained .3 pounds over the weekend, but am down 3 BIG pounds for this 2x2!!! Yeah, me, I haven't lost for a 2x2 in months! Time for a happy dance.
: : : : : :

[thinthinker]

Here's a cute cartoon for you.

[karen joy]

Originally Posted by thinthinker

Here's a cute cartoon for you.

that was great.....still laughing...thanks! and it also serves as a reminder to get my butt to the gym...I totally slacked off this weekend. But just an FYI my husband is still doing really well on his really strict diet! I will let you all know how he is doing come wednesday after his appointment!!!!

[JuleeCeeS]

Well it certainly does sound like Fling was a hoot. I have been to Buca de Beppo before..I actually prefer the food at Maggiano's...which is a similar type of restaurant. We went there for my birthday last year and had such a good time. Dangerous for me though!

Pasover last night was also lovely. One of the girls I have become friendly with from my WW group wound up having her Seder plans fall through at the last minute so I brought her with me and we had a very nice time. This was also a home that is far more food-sensitive than others...so there were no issues. Plus, as good as the brisket looked it was sooooooooooooo fatty and it made it that much easier to skip. But at the end, for dessert, in addition to actual cakes, they brought out a fruit tray that had the most AMAZING strawberries I have ever had. I could have made my entire meal out of those.

So in a fit of curiosity, I decided to hop on the scale in the bathroom...just for kicks. Well I knew there was NO WAY it was right...because it said I was down 10 lbs since Wednesday. I don't think so. So I got on the scale in the other bathroom (they said it was more accurate) and it also showed a loss but I'm taking it all with a grain of salt.

I decided to have my haircut yesterday, and I asked her to blow dry it as well. We she went to town with the mousse and a little round brush and teased it up and put all these waves into it...I have very fine hair and we were both figuring that by the evening it would settle down some...no such luck. I mean it was really pretty but I looked like I had had my hair "done" for the occasion and I felt like my head was a big poof.

On the otherhand, last night was also the first time that I looked into the mirror and actually felt like my face was thinner. Between the short haircut and the v-neck tshirt...I felt god about what I saw...plus I was wearing a pair of pants that I had not worn in probably a year and a half. They are actually pajama bottoms from LB but they were too cute to wear to bed and they aren't the jersey material...so I wore them as real pants.

I tried and tried to post pictures from the wedding but they are all too big and I do not know how to make them any smaller. If anyone wants to see them, just PM me and I will send you the link to my Ofoto page and you can view them there.

In other happy news I got an email from my cousin today...she and her boyfriend got engaged last week. They started WW about 2 months before Jason and I did...she was also pretty heavy as well and she looks AMAZING! She got the same haircut that I did and she just looks not only physically fabulous but truly happy as well. The wedding is next summer...back home in Buffalo...ugh. But Buffalo in July is better than Buffalo in December.

I have the day off of work today and have no idea how to fill the day. Monday night is usually one of my late nights at work...but today...nothing. I was going to services this morning, but yesterday I was trying to shave really quickly before Jason came over and wound up not using enough water on one leg and have a horrible rash on my right leg...and no Cortisone cream. It's pretty uncomfortable and looks likes hives (even though i know that it's just razor rash) so I decided that I don't feel like going this morning.

Have a great week everyone!!!

[brandnewme]

Hello to all the new ladies! Welcome to our great group.

Sounds like all the spring flingers had a blast. Maybe next year I'll be able to come! Can't wait to see the pics!

I've been somewhat missing in action for a while. Between work and family issues, it's just been a zoo here. I check in, but haven't had much time to post. Plus, I've really been slacking when it comes to what I'm eating, and writing everything down. I'm amazed I didn't gain anything, because I really didn't do very well this week.

Anyway, need to get ready for work. This is my last week of evenings.. woohoo! Next week, I get to start getting up at 5am on a daily basis. BOOO! I'm not a morning person, if you couldn't tell.

Hope everyone has a great day!

[VermontChick]

Helloooo it's me again....some more fun stories about fling, hehe. I've had suuuuch a hungry day today, that happens to me once in a while. Unfortunately my PCOS makes me hungry at times when I shouldn't even be
Julee - Way to go, i bet you really did lose more weight than you want to admit...though i definitely understand the hesitancy to say you've lost X amount of weight only to be disapointed by it days later. That happened to me this morning
Brandnewme - I hope things start to be better for you and your family....I used to hate having to be up at six am.
Blah..I'm still hungry.

[CatherineM]

Sorry I've been out to lunch for a couple of days. The first couple of days of my TOM make me not play well with others. I am grateful to have made it through another month without becoming an ax murderer. When I was heavier, I went about 10 years without a cycle. The fertility gods are trying to make me pay for it now.

So you guys plan a spring fling with a foot of snow. I guess you could schedule one for fall down here in Florida, and maybe I could scare up a hurricane. For those of you who have never experienced one, it's like a blizzard where the snow is much more wet.

I don't even bother to weigh when I'm bloated. It just makes me mad. Of course right now everything either makes me mad or cry. Getting back to normalcy can be great most of the time, but some stuff I'd rather do without. 43 year olds should not be having to deal with acne. I didn't like puberty the first time, but my doctor tells me that when losing this much weight, your body goes through such hormone swings that it is very similar to puberty. Well at least I'm not feeling the urge to paint my hair bright pink.

[SusieH]

Hello Ladies,

It has been a very long time since I last posted. My life/work has been so chaotic that I barely have time to breathe.

But before I go into that, I just wanted to tell BarbPA that I am so sorry that the procedures didn't take. Prayers coming your way. I so wished you had come to Fling. I really missed you.

Terri, Thin, Barbg, 2Cute: Had such a great time. I feel recharged and definitely need the laughs.

So here are some things that have been going on in my life:

Work is chaotic. Budget cuts and more budget cuts. Looks like my department is merging with another department, which will mean more cuts. I am working more hours so that I can complete more work as I have less and less staff (with no overtime pay). Hopefully, after it is all said and done, I will still have a job.

Physically I am going through some issues too. Firstly, the pains in my stomach that I talked about several months ago, were found to be reflux and gallstones. I am taking Protonix for the reflux and meet with my doctor tomorrow to discuss the gallstones and what needs to be done. Additionally, my husband and I have still had no success conceiving baby #2. We met with an infertility specialist today and she says that my husband needs to see the urologist first and try to get the sperm (or lack thereof) situation resolved (if possible). She also told us that our insurance would pay for nothing other than some medication for me and that IVF would cost around $10,000 to $15,000 per try. I don't plan to go that route, I am putting all this in God's hands now.

I am doing much better with my choices today. I am eating slower and actually feeling full with a small amount of food. I am going to exercise in about 45 minutes.

Hello to everyone.

Susie

Highest Weight: 347
Current Weight (4/25/05): 312
First Goal (10%): 281

[Lots2loose]

Helle everyone~
Sounds like you all had a wonderful time at the fling, you all seem to know each other so well...I'll get there in time. Well this was my 1st official week on WW and I lost 3 lbs!!!!! WOW I cannot believe it. And I actually at real food...not pre-packaged food. So far...so good!!! Now once I get back into the swing of exercising all will be well. I was going to walk today...It's so pretty here, like summer. But when I got home there was so much to do by the time I finished it was almost dark. So treadmill it is!

Until tomorrow~
Jennifer

[Terri in MO]

Catherine - I've had those axe murderer days too. I've also wanted to use a sledge hammer on the scales before too. This year it was snow for the Fling. Last year we drove to Oklahoma and drove into tornado type storms. That was fun! So hey, hurricane's might be good too.

Susie - I'll keep you in my prayers. I'm sorry to hear what the infertility doc had to say. I saw your stats and good for you for getting accountable.

Jennifer - on your loss!

2Cute & Thin - Good summaries of our trip.

Julee - on your loss and especially on making that 10% point. You've done great.

Lilion - Did I say for breaking into twoterland? Good job!

Leanne - You still out there? I hope you're doing well. Is it fall there or moving into winter?

I'm probably headed off to bed soon. Its raining here today and much cooler. I won't complain because its NOT SNOW! However, it was farrier night at the barn as Ginger and Tanyah got a trim and reset. I'm chilled to the bone. Definitely no dog walking tonight.

I did log into WW online at lunch and switched myself back to Flex. I just do better on that plan. I've logged my food and have kept OP. I was too wiped out this morning (plus it was cold in the house) to get up for my morning exercise. I'll be back at it tomorrow. I may turn the heat back on.

to everyone!! Goodnight!

[2cute2Bfat]

Well it is time for a new thread... so instead of posting here... I am going to start the new one and post there.

Please don't post here... instead come join us in 300+ ... # 705.
See you there.