HI GUYS!!!!! Can you tell that I actually have some time here today? I just spent the past 1/2 hr or so catching up on all the posts from the past few weeks. Kevin started ESY this a.m., Amy (youngest) is watching tv and Julie (almost 17) is . . . . of course she's still asleep!
Anyway, since I have some time I thought I'd post something other than a quickie (not that there's anything
wrong with a quickie!
)
Laura -- I know exactly what you mean when you're swimming in the pool and pretend to be somewhere - or maybe even be some
one - else. I do that all the time when I exercise and when I walk the dog. You know that commerical where the woman is walking w/her ipod and she passes John Stamos and other stars (can't remember who they are at the moment)? I do that constantly . I'll pretend I'm teaching a class or competing w/someone while running or am running/taking a class w/friends. Even though it's all in my head it does seem to help keep me motivated. As long as no one catches me talking to myself then it's all good!
And I wanted to tell you that I
love your "Jaws" quote at the bottom of your signature. Kevin discovered "Jaws" last year on tv one day. He just happened to tune into the part where Quint is getting eaten. I figured that was the most graphic part of the movie and he saw it anyway so I bought him a copy off of ebay. Can't tell you how many times I've seen Quint get eaten by that shark by now! And they use the "That's some bad hat, Harry" line at the closing credits of "House". Took me forever to figure out where I'd heard the line.
Wiffle!! Glad you're here. I think it's good you decided to hold off on the lapband surgery. Once done it's hard to undo (if at all) from what I've read. WTG on your weight loss so far! 12 lbs. is wonderful. Your diet sounds pretty good. I'd go bonkers w/out chicken, pork and beef but if it's working for you that is terrific! The no sugar thing -- boy sometimes I forget how good I feel when I don't consume mass quantities of it then eat too much and feel awful. It really zaps your energy and makes you feel just lethargic and drained. I try to eat it in moderation -- well most of the time!
I do the same thing w/ice cream too -- stock up when it's on sale. We bought a scratch and dent chest freezer a few years back from Sears (got them to knock off nearly $100 bucks on it. I just kept asking for more and more off and they kept agreeing.) I buy Turkey Hill (it's made in Lancaster -- pronounced LAN-caster not lan-CASTER, PA) when they have it 4/$10 per 1/2 gallon. Mostly I can stay away from it cause I buy flavors I don't really like or can ignore. The exception is Cookies and Cream and sometimes Dutch Chocolate. And never, under
any circumstances can I buy Coffee ice cream. I would truly make myself sick from eating it all in one sitting!
The local grocery store (Giant) has their brand of icecream sandwiches and fudgebars which are pretty good. Sometimes one of them will do the trick too and the calories are fixed -- unlike the "1/2 cup" ice cream amount. "1/2 cup" of ice cream -- don't think I've
ever actually eaten that serving amount!!
Clydegirl -- how are you doing? Is the funk lifting? How old is your daughter in ESY and what is her dx? Kevin was dx'd w/atypical autism when he was 6. And that was after about 6 or 7 docs all telling us not to worry, he's just a boy, no he doesn't need any special therapy or anything, blah, blah, blah even though we knew something was up w/him from the very beginning. Lots and lots and lots of different docs over the years, wrap around services (too little, too late as far as we are concerned w/that), even some meds for awhile. The lack of understanding and basically
caring from the docs has made us super leery of docs in general (no offense to anyone in health care). We kept thinking that someone was going to give us either answers or a way to "fix" him. Lots of anger towards the docs who just completely and totally misdx'd him and
didn't listen to us. They just kind of patted us on the head and sent us on our merry way, see ya in 6 months or a year.
Finally realized that
we were the only ones qualified to figure him out and we ignored whatever the docs said that went against what we knew to be best for him. Ok, ramble over!
Kevin also
loves the water. He'd go to the pool everyday too if he could! He was annoyed about having to go to ESY this year --more so than in the past. He just turned 14 and he wants to just stay home, play, and go to the pool. But even after 2 weeks of this I see the "sameness" of it all settling in around him and his anger level increasing. His behavior is his biggest problem by far. It's way better at 14 than it was at 4 but still . . . it's
there.
Diane -- did you crawl around inside my head or something? Everything you posted has gone in and out of my thoughts, especially the part about who we used to be b/4 kids. I really, really was feeling that about 10 years ago when the kids were 1 1/2, 4 and 6 I guess because "who I was" wasn't as far behind me as it is now. Probably what I miss most is the
not being responsible for anyone but me part of it. I absolutely loved the '80s and used to often wish I could go back to being 24 or so just because I had so much fun. That has changed alot for me over the past 5 years or so, as the kids -- and I guess as
I -- have gotten older. Because of all the problems we've had w/Kevin all of our friends have pretty much disappeared. These were people who I've had some of the very best times of my life with. We used to be able to go places w/him when he was littler until he was 2 1/2 - 3yrs. old. It was so hard because he would just not be or play like the other kids and would get into things -- like vaccuum cleaners, spray containers, anything fairly dangerous -- that we just stopped going places.
It was just too damn hard. After enough "no" replies, our friends gave up I guess. Everyone has their own families too but now that we're at a point where getting together is much more doable for us, it's been so long since we've had any contact that I wouldn't even know where to start. Oh, and then there's that whole "when I lose 20 lbs." thing.
Crazy but I don't want to see anyone until I'm down to close to where I used to be. Yeah, like no one else has aged or gained some weight!
Kim -- they catch the peeping tom yet? Cat and hairballs thrown at the guy -- stop, I can't see for the tears running down my face. I love your sense of humor! Hey, we switched our cat to Hill Science Diet Hairball Control crunchies and it actually works. He now throws up only once in a while vs. once or twice a week on the grocery store brand. Might give it a try for your kitty. Oh, and our cat has decided that he wants his litter box cleaned precisely on time or he will pee on your shoes.
I always put my shoes away now; hubby has not learned this lesson just yet. LOL! I was also laughing at your "guilt". Polish Catholic is right there with Irish Catholic, isn't it? YUP!!! I was raised Roman Catholic -- that's with a capital "R" and a capital "C" -- and when you pop out at birth, b/4 they swaddle you in the blanket they wrap you in a nice, fine layer of guilt. It comes with a lifetime warranty too! Too funny! Aaaccck, and you can't escape it either. How'd they do that anyway?
I've managed to "quiet" the guilt beast over the years but it still likes to rear it's ugly head from time to time. We do have much in common GF!
Ok and lastly I finally used my new TM. Oh, so
that's what an incline is like! I love this thing. It has preset programs -- interval programs for incline, speed, weight loss, training for a 5K and heart rate and a plain manual one. You can tweak it as you go along - like if the incline isn't right you can lower or raise it; same w/the speed during the workout -- and the program adjusts the next part of it. It counts down the time, which is a very nice feature. I never knew how bouncy the old one was. And on this one I can walk at a faster mph pace vs. the old one. I was like a weiner dog trying to keep up w/a lab walking at 4.2 mph on the old one but on the new one, I don't feel like that until I hit 4.6 or so. And the old one I thought I was a dork 'cause I HAD to hold on to the side rails when running cause I thought I was going to go flying off the thing. WHUMP! Now I'm thinking the machine was out of whack, not me!
Ok so I've rambled on here just forever. Julie just woke up -- it's 11:30am. Gonna eat and shower and go pick up Kevin at 2. I live 10 mins from the school. ESY runs 9am - 2pm and they wanted to pick him up at
8AM and drop him off at
3PM. Did I say --
I live 10 minutes from the school. Why would I put him on a bus for an extra 2 hrs. a day? If they had one more bus running it would eliminate these kids having to be on it so long. I talked to the bus company but they can't change anything so, chauffer it is!
Have a great day ladies! Glad I could finally catch up -- hope I didn't bore anyone to death! TTFN
Jo
and you can too!
I swear I have no privacy. 
...Well that is a good start! When is the retirement party and what type of used clothing stores do you have access too! Since I spend my day with many unruly characters (be it raccoons, children, babies, teens, peeping toms) I have probably at least 10 jean jumpers (Calvin Klein, Jones of New York, Elizabeth Claiborne) that I wear to work...I may have spent between 3-10 for each and I never worry it anything get ruined because they were cheap but fabulous names...my daughter loves to shop and she alway hits Value Village first as she likes to get all the designer stuff she can...My daughter's friend bought her wedding dress from in Hamilton ON that is just breath taking and she spent 120.00 and it is a Vera Wang (for Saks 5ht Avenue)...You will find something lovely I am sure of it!
