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Old 03-05-2007, 04:54 AM   #1  
Meg
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Smile Maintainers Chat - March 5 - 11

Good morning and happy new week! Winter has returned, the winds are blowing, and it's snowing. I am SO ready for spring!

Regardless of the weather, my spring cleaning frenzy continues and I'm taking full advantage of it. I tackled one of our attics yesterday and it was like an archaelogical excavation! 80% of what was there is going to the Salvation Army (a lot of old furniture) but I'm keeping the really good toys, like Playmobil, Brio, and all the educational ones. I want to be the fun Grandma to visit, not that there any grandkids on the horizon yet! I'd like to finish in there today, then do some serious house cleaning.

How's everyone doing? Is it spring yet where you are?
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Old 03-05-2007, 06:55 AM   #2  
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Good Morning everyone. Last week was a disaster. I had a relapse of feeling nauseous, I got a horrible headcold and my step brother unexpectedly died. ~sigh~ Today I will make a much more concerted effort to eat better. The last part of the past week was alot of cheese and crackers, chips and whatever else was handy. Onward and upward right!

No signs of spring here. Still have ice and snow on the ground. I am so ready for a little warmth. THEN maybe I'll feel like cleaning (yeah, right).
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Old 03-05-2007, 09:25 AM   #3  
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Lisa - I'm so sorry to hear about your step brother!

Spring isn't here yet but I keep getting teased! The snow and ice has melted thanks to a couple days above freezing last week, the sun is shining . . . but it's only 28 degrees outside and it snowed again Saturday. I am totally pumped for sping though -- I can't WAIT for farmer's markets!! And SALAD! I've been eating soups and stews for too long and I am ready for some warm-weather fare, but it's still too cold outside and all our produce is still coming from Mexico and Chile!

Is anyone else sad because of the freezes in CA and FL destroying the citrus crops? Our grocery store's navel oranges look very sad and cost a bundle. Since I grew up in Los Angeles, my favorite memories of this time of year are sitting up on the roof picking tangerines off the top branches of the tree and eating them still warm from the sun. Mmm. And fresh oranges off the tree too. Even when the crops are good nobody out here sells the variety of tangerines that grow at my parents' house.

Words cannot express how much I am looking forward to being able to go outside without a coat!!

In other news, my fiance and I are going to buy a house! Well, at least we are house-hunting. We're meeting a realtor this weekend to get things moving! Last weekend we drove around past a whole bunch of places to get an idea of what sort of variety there is in our price range. I'm totally excited!

My scale has become my enemy lately. It has the weirdest pattern -- 134 at the beginning of the week, 130 at the end of the week, then back to 134 the next Monday. Maybe I'm just not drinking enough water on the weekends? At least reading 130 on some days is better than 134 every day -- that's what I'm telling myself, anyway.
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Old 03-05-2007, 01:58 PM   #4  
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Yippee, WooHoo, she and kids are gone. They left to MIL's about 10 min's ago. MIL is going with her to DHS to apply for WIC and Emergency Child Support and Emergency housing assistance. MIL spent years working in mental health and has appt. for Samantha tomorrow for counseling. Hope it helps but somehow I doubt it. Found out this AM that no attorney will see her cause she has no money to pay for a divorce. Did speak with Legal Aide and they are gonna represent her and bill the cost of divorce to her EX. My DH took a vacation day from work tomorrow so he can go get her stuff from that apartment (clothes and all). Seems like things are finely looking up. We have had to push, prod and make tons of calls but it's worth it. Left up to her, she'd still be laying on my couch feeling sorry for herself. My DH is also going to the court house to talk to them about the warrants she has out for her for No tags, No insurance and hot checks. You can bet he'll make payment arrangements and pay this crap for her. Doesn't do us any good if she's in jail. Just gives me 2 more kids to take care of while she sits there. Thank God our income was too high for her to qualify for any assistance living with us, or she'd still be here forever probably. I trust my MIL that she'll push her to get out on her own with assistance as quickly as possible. MY DH wouldn't have. He feels too sorry for her.

BTW, I always said what a horrible pit her car is. Well she found a few clothes in it for the kids. We washed them, I bathed the kids,dressed them and packed her crap and sent her on her way. I was feeding , bathing, and packing stuff like I was in a mad rush. LOL.

My stomach is tore up and I've been having a lot of diarrhea. Probably just totally stress related. I should feel better by tomorrow. Good news is I'm back down another lb. to 142.
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Old 03-05-2007, 02:20 PM   #5  
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Silverbirch, Thank you. I am ecstatic. Having them here is too stressful for me and I just can't cope with it all. Her problems seem to always become Our problems. I know right now that she isn't happy with me or her dad for pushing her to go to MIL's. But, we went through this same crap a yr. ago with her. She didn't file for any assistance, any divorce or any child support. We totally supported her and at the time 1 kid for 6 LOOOOOOOOOOOONNG months. We weren't about to go through that again. It would have caused another divorce first, MINE.

Now, back to life for me. I gotta get all my stuff to the tax lady. Not something I look forward to.
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Old 03-05-2007, 03:41 PM   #6  
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Lily - good news ! Congratulations!
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Old 03-05-2007, 05:30 PM   #7  
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Thanks 4rabbit, you all should know that I'm very happy today.
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Old 03-05-2007, 05:39 PM   #8  
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Lily, I am doing a little happy dance for you! Now you can get your life back to its nice normal routine!

Meg - check your local library. Even if they don't want/need the books, they likely have a Friends group that has book sales. We make a nice little supplement to our budget by our Friends group selling donated and discarded books.

For reading, I like John Sandford's books, and also a lot of British mysteries. Those by Peter Robinson (who's actually a Canadian, but his books are set in UK) and Deborah Crombie. Oh and if you like historical mystery stuff, Anne Perry. She has 3 series, two set in Victorian times and a third in WWI.

Paperclippy (do you have a "real" name? ) how exciting about buying a house! I love looking at houses even though I'm not in the market for a new one. A GF bought one about a year ago and we had a great time looking.

We had a great weekend trip to Fairbanks. Took the train (12 hours) with another couple. Had a lovely dinner there and stayed overnight. Then yesterday DH and I went to a hot springs for the day. www.chenahotsprings.com They had an amazing ice museum with exquisite carvings, and even an ice hotel! We spent about 2 hours in the springs. There's an inside pool (regular swimming pool sized) that's not too hot - and full of kids! - plus 2 indoor jacuzzi hottubs, one outdoor hot tub, and an outdoor rock lake. The later was wonderful. 146 degree water, and -25 degree air! Lots of fog drifting in and out, and lots of frost on the rocks and nearby trees. Very nice. I'll post a couple photos in a day or two. After that we went back to Fairbanks and flew home. This was our Christmas present to ourselves, and a very successful one too.!

to everyone.
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Old 03-06-2007, 09:14 AM   #9  
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Pat, my name is Jessica. I guess I never put it in my sig -- I always seem to run across 20 other people with my name! Maybe I will go put it in right now. Your trip to Fairbanks sounds awesome!

I found a book at half price books the other day about a stretching technique to relieve and prevent repetitive stress injuries. I'm going to try adding the stretches in to my routine and hopefully it will make my wrists feel better in addition to the splinting and anti-inflammatories. I did a bunch of stretches yesterday and they didn't hurt too much in the evening so it's promising so far. I was reading up on one of the tendon problems I have (ECU tendonitis), which is common among tennis players, and it said "be sure to warm up and stretch before playing." It made me think -- hey, maybe I should warm up and stretch before starting my work day at the computer, and then stretch afterwards too. I wouldn't play tennis for eight hours without a warmup and stretching, why should I type for eight hours without it?

Tonight's recipe from cooking light: mixed salad with hoisin vinaigrette and crisp panko chicken. I am totally looking forward to eating this! It will be my first salad in a while and will simulate those salads with fried chicken that I drool over without being unhealthy.

What I'm most exciting about in buying a house: I will be able to grow vegetables! Those of you who own your own homes -- how long did it take you to find the right house? After you found it, how long before you could move in?
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Old 03-06-2007, 11:27 AM   #10  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paperclippy View Post
Tonight's recipe from cooking light: mixed salad with hoisin vinaigrette and crisp panko chicken. I am totally looking forward to eating this! It will be my first salad in a while and will simulate those salads with fried chicken that I drool over without being unhealthy.
Ooh, I'm going to have to look that up! I have a package of panko with no recipes to use it on!!!

Tonight my cooking light recipe is beef empanadas (using won ton papers rather than the pastry) with black beans on the side.
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Old 03-06-2007, 12:40 PM   #11  
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Jessica, that is very exciting to be looking for a new home. It took us about 3 months to find ours. The actual move in took a about 3 more months because there was a land dispute over where our propery started and where it ended. Had to have surveyors out and prove where all the water and sewer lines and such were at. We have been here 8 yrs. now and I love our home and plan to always keep it in our family.

I did find one other home that I wanted when I was house hunting. It was awesome. The previous owner had defaulted on it and it went up for Sheriff's sale. Me and DH went and bid like crazy on it, but were finally outbid . The guy that bought it got it for only $500.00 more than my highest bid. I was sad. He was a realtor and all he did was turn around and sell it for a big profit.

I learned last night that SD is going to be going to federal jail because of all the federal money and firearms that she stole. Her DH is getting emergency custody of the kids. She is also wanted for warrants in several counties for hot checks on a closed account and Arvest Bank is pressing charges. My DH is very depressed about all this. Since her soon to be EX works for Dept. of Defense and that is who all the guns and money was stolen from, I'm sure my DH will not be able to get her out of it this time. (She also stole and cashed 4 of his mother's Social Security Disability checks). Geez, she is in BIG, trouble this time. DH and I both think she has a gambling or drug addiction that no one knew about. She has nothing to show for where all this money went to. To top it all off I personally had $65.00 stolen from my purse while she was here. Of course she denies stealing from me, but I keep good track of my money and know that it is now "missing". Luckily, I hid mine and my DD's and DS's checkbooks from her.

Last edited by lilybelle; 03-06-2007 at 01:07 PM.
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Old 03-06-2007, 01:07 PM   #12  
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Oh my Lily! While it sounds like your SD is just paying the consequences for what she's done, it does seem as if she has other problems. I imagine it is hard for your DH to see is daughter in so much trouble. You usually love your kids no matter what they do. Glad that her husband is stepping up for the kids. to you.

Jessica (thanks for sharing your name!) we actually built our house, but it took us about 3 months of serious looking to find a lot we liked - and could afford - which was after about a year of deciding where we wanted to live. Since we built out-of-pocket it was quite awhile (2 years?) before we could move into part of it, and another 5 before we had the whole house done. But having no mortgage was worth it. And for what it's worth, I don't think I'd do it that way again. Of course, I was much younger then.

And I love the sound of that salad. Which issue of CL is it in?
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Old 03-06-2007, 01:48 PM   #13  
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Pat~I'm jealous! No mortgage--how would that be? DH and I bought our first two homes and then built our third one. Granted it is worth a whole lot more than we owe on it, but we still owe quite a pretty penny!!! I love looking at houses! We have so much building going on here--you can go see model homes every weekend and never run out of things to see! It's depressing, though--all the interior designers do such a better job than I did. I would love to be able to walk in and live in a model home! If only....

lily~wow. It does sound like SD has problems. My SIL has 2 daughters who are problems like that. The oldest dropped out of school and is constantly "traveling" meaning drug runs from here to there. Very sad that kids get themselves into trouble like that. When SIL and her youngest came for Christmas, my SIL told me to lock my purse up and tell my kids to do the same as she could not guarantee that her daughter wouldn't try and steal from us.

Jessica~when we started house hunting the first time (20 years ago!) it took us a long time. We didn't have a lot of money and the homes that were available in our price range were not in the best neighborhoods. I wanted to feel safe. We finally found a great one that was 45 years old. The second house was a bit easier only because we were still poor and there were hardly ANY to choose from in the city we wanted. I think we looked at less than a dozen houses before we made a bid. Then of course, we built, but finding the right lot! Wow, that was a job! We didn't want to pay too much, but we knew from experience where the better neighborhoods were. Not farther south than x street--not in city a, b, or c. I spent weeks driving around and looking at dirt!!! Finally, we found one that didn't even have a for sale sign--our realtor mentioned it and it was perfect! I love my neighborhood.
Once we made our decisions, it generally takes 30-60 days for the paperwork to be completed before you can move in. Best of luck to you!
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Old 03-06-2007, 03:20 PM   #14  
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DH just took SD over to her apartment to get her belongings. The locks have been changed. She called the apt. office and they told her to come at 4PM. My guess is that they will have the police there to pick her up. I'm staying home and staying out of the whole thing.

It truly is sad when you have to lock up your purse and checkbooks in your home.

I agree she is now going to be paying the consequences. I know my DH loves her no matter what she's done. He has resigned himself to the fact that this time it's out of his hands.

Allison, sorry your SIL has had to put up with type of stuff from her DD's too.

The really horrible thing is I still think SD is lying about not being pregnant. She looks very pregnant (6 months or so) and it doesn't at all look like fat.

Last edited by lilybelle; 03-06-2007 at 03:27 PM.
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Old 03-06-2007, 09:32 PM   #15  
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Hi everybody. I am having a really tough couple of days. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I just can't get myself in control of my eating. I had the closest thing I've had to full out binge in a long time tonight. Salty, sugary, cheesy, you name it.

I'm also exhausted, feel terrible, and my OB is trying to get in touch with me, but it has been phone tag, and I'm sort of wigging about all that. What could they possibly have to tell me--it is all over now.

Hopefully this is some kind of strange hormonal transient that will be gone in a couple of days. I keep telling myself I've been through some major physical changes in the last couple months.

I'm actually terrified because I'm enjoying this behavior. The feel of chocolate in my mouth. The rush of eating it all. And there is the rational me at the back screaming 'NO', but powerless to stop it all, because it feel so incredibly good. Whatever part of me is loose, it has no regret. Terrifying.

Am I insane??? I feel insane.

Anyway, go down to my self talk thread and help me with ideas. I can't even identify all the notions running through my head right now. I am going to beat this insanity down, starting with going to bed and getting some sleep.

My exercise is right on track as always. I had a great run yesterday and an awesome swim today. The extra sugars just made me faster. Go figure.

Anne
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