Dieting with Obstacles - PHYSICAL CHALLENGES ~ October's Monthly Thread #002

PHYSICAL CHALLENGES ~ October's Monthly Thread #002
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WELCOME EVERYONE ~ this thread is for anyone with any kind of physical challenge like SB, CP, MS, PK, Lupus, Osteo, Arthritis, Rheumatism, or any other condition (whether genetic or acquired), that causes physical limitations and/or difficulties.

Please join us in this special thread ~ to give support and encouragement; and share ideas, or just chat with one another ... Rosebud. :hug:

Good Evening

Another one of my flying stops today but could not stop by and not make an entry seeing as we have been bumped up to a sticky. Many thanks to Monet for doing that much appreciate for her doing that. So a big thank you to Monet for making us a sticky from myself.

Well went for our longer walk today it is just about 1.5 miles oh boy was it a killer had to stop at a coffee shop and have a black coffee to get my second wind. It was my right leg that was not playing ball and it was hurting like heck. Often if I feel like that it walks itself off but not today it remained with me unfortunately.


Whilst we were having coffee there were police galore in all manor of vehicles and up above us was the eye in the sky the police helicopter. Do not know what all the police activity was about but it sure livened up our coffee. Mind you we were outside and it was brass monkey weather drinking coffee because we had our furry baby rizzie. He was as good as gold just watching the world going by.

Don't have time today to reply to posts so I am very sorry but I have read them. Will reply next time I am able to post on here. Not sure how much time I will have tomorrow during the day as it is the dreaded ironing day lol but I will have sometime I think in the evening.

Bye bye catch you all soon :hug:

YES, thank you MONET, for starting our new monthly thread and sticky for us; we appreciate your help very much ...

HEY PURPLE ~ you're our first poster on our new monthly thread; thanx for starting us off today. We had a busy day today as well; shopping and running errands, and I also walked til my feet were throbbing. I not complaining though, as I know that it's burning energy and it all helps.

I scraped my leg on my desk again; hope it clears up quickly cuz I sure don't want an infection. I had one before and don't want to go there again. I ran into the nurse who looked after me before; and she says that you have to walk about 50 minutes just to use up 200 C's of energy. :yikes: That's a lot of walking for a couple of hundred C's ~ LOL! I told DH, we'll have to up our walking, if I want to keep losing during the winter.

I have a guest in my home right now; a cricket ~ lol; I know he is following the lights cuz he was in the kitchen before; now I can hear him in here, so he must be in the hallway or very nearby. I think he came in with one of the furry babies earlier tonight; I guess he is lonely. Can't see him, but sure can hear him ...

DH and I played games earlier; had to put my legs up at the same time; then I came in to answer a few emails and check in here. Tomorrow's is supposed to be sunny and cool; sounds like a perfect day for sunning that leg. So we are gonna be outside as much as we can tomorrow.

PURPLE ~ sorry your leg is bothering you; maybe you can rest it a bit tomorrow; too bad you have to do so much ironing. However, you are using up a lot of energy; does that make you feel better? MO thinks you should iron less and just enjoy your life more ~ LOL; but, we don't know how wrinkley your clothes are ... haha!

DH tells me not to bother with his work clothes, but if it's his Sunday Best and it needs it, I will do it. We have a lot of permanent press clothes here and our dryer has both a cool cycle and a hot cycle so we can use both. I do hang stuff like my unmentionables on my indoor rack all the time as the dryer is not good for the elastic.

I purchased a new clothes line, but DH hasn't had time to put it up yet; will have to get on him about it, I guess; but, we have been very busy lately, and next week, he has to go help my uncle with some stuff; to pay off all the free labor on our car (we just had to pay for the parts). It may not get up until next spring at this rate ... lol!

ANYWAYS, we had a fun night at home, cuz we were both just too tired to do anything else tonight; and now it's time for me to hit the hay!

HI TO EVERYONE ELSE ~ MO, VAL, MYNXIE, and MARIA; hope to hear from all of you soon on our new monthly thread ~ take good care of yourselves, your friend ~ :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

good evening everyone

I am feeling exceptionally whiny today about MS, exercise and my lifestyle change. please bear with me for a bit (lol or skip to the bottom! :)

my parents came into town tonight... after I had already had a great dinner and invited my brother out to dinner. My Dad the RN called ahead of showing up and left a message saying he was going to 'stay away from me' so that he didnt make me sick since he caught something at work. He's convinced that my MS meds make me immunocompromised (especially easy to catch viruses etc) and tries to protect me..... but hearing this from him just made me feel miserable.

short version is. today I failed. and I'm so frustrated with myself and scared that I'm going to completly fail. so many things have been running through my head and I'm feeling pretty emotional and overwhelmed. My workouts have suffered the last week because of side effects from my ms drugs so I already felt discouraged before the '2nd dinner with the rents'.

I'm tempted to only eat fruits and veggies tomorrow, to make up for eating out tonight but I know that isnt healthy. If somebody could stay on me for the next week or so I would really appreciate it. End of complaints :)

Rosebud thanks for directing us to the new monthly thread :) I hope your leg is okay! I've been trying to find a new place to walk during the winter - our mall closes at 6... so I'm hoping to be able to do laps in the hockey arena along with some stairs. Will you and DH be able to walk outside in the winter safely?

Purple I hope you were able to complete all the ironing today. Have you been able to work more easily with your leg in the last couple days? I hope all is well!

hello to everyone else :) I hope you're having a great weekend.

I am going to bed. maybe tomorrow will be better!

Good Afternoon.


Well I never made it here yesterday as I had a busy schedule and by the end of the day I certainly took no rocking to go to sleep ;) But glad to report that all ironing is done now. Pity we do not seem to have the fabric that doesn't need ironing. Every thing here just about needs ironing. DH wears a lot of cotton or high cotton mix shirts or t-shirts and they sure do crease. But I fully understand his need to wear this cool fabric has he was extensively burnt in an accident and does not cool down like the rest of us and most of his sweat pores where destroyed.

Today I am having a lazy day to make up for a busy day yesterday and I am sure enjoying it. Had a walk last night and as much as I was tired it was a great relaxer and the weather was great for walking. Touch wood my leg seemed to hold up today so I was very pleased about that.

ROSEBUD :~ Aww sorry to hear about your car having niggly problems the only blessing was this time they did not cost a penny or is that a cent :dizzy: I can fully vouch how playing games can be a great way of unwinding when things are stressful in your life. For a few hours your concentrating on the games and the problems are not thought about.

Sending :hug: for you having such a rotten time with TOM, it is possible that it is the start of the menopause. I am fortunate that over the past say 5 years mine have got heaps better. But I use to have humdingers. But then for no reason "puff" they have been very mild in comparison. I maybe get one or two a year now that are rough. So I feel for you I know what your going through.

You seem to have the magic touch and are the jack of all trades. Your able to fix clothes, furniture and ornaments. You seem to be a person that can turn their hand to anything. That is a great talent to have. But I think that we are blessed with different skills I can cook, sew and embroider (well use to be able but a bit fine work for me now)

I hope that your graze on your leg heals without any problems of the past. It is horrid if you are prone to infections. Wow only 200 calories burnt for 50 minutes walking not a lot really when it is put like that. But the one thing for walking is that is free. But walking in the freezing cold, its blowing a gale and it is raining cats and dogs doesn't exactly enthuse you to go walking. So trying to find motivation in the winter is going to be harder and a test of my will power as well.

VALPAL :~ Sorry that your feeling down cos of your MS, life style changes and exercise. But hang in there your doing great look how well you have done so far. So what you if you fell off the waggon just hop back on. Not one of us has not done that at one time or another. But I think the trick is to get right back on. Don't punish yourself these things happen. Just start the day with your healthy eating regime. I try not to just go eating just fruit and vegetable for the day as I think you then might just binge and then your in this revolving circle.

I know families mean well and think they are protecting you. But Dad staying away just hurt you and reminded you that you had MS. (as if we did not have enough reminder every day) But in life you come across infections from going to the grocery store or going to work they all hold there risk. But you may have to take the bull by the horns and speak to dad and tell him how it made you feel. Say i know you were trying to protect me but I am willing to take the risk as it is my body.

I know that you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed it is tough going when you feel like this. Unfortunately as you know with MS you can get depression not because you have the condition but it comes along side sometimes as the plaques are in the brains emotional centre which can play havoc with your emotions. I use to consider myself has quite traditionally British stiff upper lip. But now I am in floods of tears most days over the silliest thing and i hate it. Try and tackle what you can for now rather than the whole package so to speak. Maybe just do the healthy eating and don't be hard on yourself because your not able to do the rest. Doing something is better than nothing. When you feel stronger then tackle something else and add that into your daily routine. If things are just not improving then maybe talk to one of your MS team and they might be able to offer advice or maybe a short spell on medication will get you on the right road again. You are not a failure your a winner because you have made the decision to life a healthier life style. Your body may fail you but your not failing your body your giving it the best possible chance. Remember we are always here when the going gets tough.

My dad was terrible it would not let me do a thing in their house when I visited could not make them a drink , wash the pots you name it he did not want me doing it. Till I had a chat with him and promised I would only do what I could manage and ask help for what I could not manage. i would not say he was perfect now but he is much better. He was just trying to wrap me up in cotton wool and trying to protect me. I think both mum and dad had a lot of guilt because i had been diagnosed with MS. It took me ages to persuade them that they were not to blame it just happens and that if I knew the reasons MS occurred I'd be one rich lady :rofl:

My legs been behaving itself over the past couple of days but I am thankful that I am back to normal. If I can ever be normal ;) But as I joke with my DH at least I have a brain I have an MRI scan to prove it :D It might be a bit slow at time but I still have one.

MO, MYNXIE Sorry if I have forgotten anyone. I hope you are both OK and look forward to hearing from you when time allows. Sending best wishes to you both :hug:

Right must go and wash a couple of dinner pots up. So catch up with you all later.

:hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ well, today was much better for me; it started out cool and damp with a few sprinkles, but right now it has warmed up and the stars are out, so I took my little (furry) baby for a walk outside.

DH caught another flu or cold bug, but I hope I don't catch it; it seems everyone we know has something. Boy, these flu & cold bugs are hard to get rid of this year. We decided to just stay home today, cuz the damp air bothers our lungs too much.

VAL ~ I am sorry that you are having such a rough time right now; your father just didn't want to give you a bad flu; we stayed home from church today for that same reason (not to pass it on to someone else and to help DH get over it sooner). I know that you would much rather have your DAD visit you than not; maybe you can explain to him that as long as he doesn't breathe in your face directly that he can still visit you.

MO suggested we open our windows more often, and we have been doing that each day; you could do the same when he comes next time if he is still concerned. As for the second dinner, just eat a tad lighter tomorrow; don't try to starve yourself cuz that can boomerang in the end. Try to just forgive yourself for the mistake, and be more diligent the next day.

Tonight, we had turkey legs with summer turnip, carrots, onions, celery, and one potato each baked in the oven in a medium roaster; DH just loved it. I love these roasting pan dinners; only one pot to wash and it's so much easier to prepare. I didn't realize til after that our Canadian Thankgiving is coming up next week, but we have a whole turkey for that day; and we are really looking forward to it.

I have those days too, VAL, when I get discouraged; we all do! Look at my week; double car problems and other health issues on top of that. But, we must forge on like good soldiers, and when the tough stuff is over (and it will all pass), we can move on and do even better ...

I did better this week staying on plan; but with renewed determination to watch what I'm eating a little closer. If I am hungry, I eat a piece of cheese or other protein or fruit. DH and I are going to try a new restaurant the next time we eat out, cuz we are trying to find a place that offers healthier meal options instead of foods all cooked in fat.

PURPLE ~ I was just teasing you about the ironing; I did mega ironing when I was in my teens (a family of eight with clothes all hung on the line); sorry, that you guys don't have clothes made of PP materials and your DH needs the cotton clothes, I have to wear cotton sweaters, cuz the other kinds make me itch and I get hives from things like wool.

Maybe when you walk in the freezing weather, it burns more C's; I'm sure it would, cuz your body has to keep you warm at the same time. My DAD just gave me a special cane that has a point on the end for the winter time; you push a button and the point comes out; DH says it looks like something out of a cloak & dagger movie ~ LOL!

Parents often feel guilty when a child had some major disease or illness, cuz they wonder if they did something to cause it (if they passed it on); but, what really matters is our quality of life now, and our relationship with them today. Glad your leg is feeling better ...

MO ~ I sure hope everything is going well for you and that you have found us in our new monthly thread. How is ERIC's schooling and therapy coming along; it has been a month now? Have you got all your unpacking done yet? Have you been able to get to Curves lately? Do you have more free time for yourself now? Are you having a celebration for Thankgiving this year with family or friends?

MYNXIE & MARIA ~ I sure hope you ladies are doing well; drop by sometime and let us know how you are ... I know that we had many other friends who visited here now and then; I sure hope you are all doing well too.

WELL, I have rambled on quite a bit; take good care everyone; chin up ~ things will look better in the morning, they always do. Remember that every new day brings with it, another chance to start again! Your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Morning all

Well this is early for me to be on the 3fc site I am usually rushing on just before I go out but not today. Wow is it really October all ready where do the months go. When your a kid they pass so slowly but when your an adult they go at 90mph :D When you use to hear your grandparents say gosh doesn't the months fly by you never think that will happen to you. But as you grow up oh boy it does creep up on you until they are going so fast it seems that a year goes in the blink of an eye.

It seems as though it is going to be a dark over cast day here but it at least it is dry so if it continues like this going for a walk won't be too bad. Went for a walk last night just at dusk it is nice to go walking at different times as that way you see the changing sky. Sometimes you see some beautiful sites. Which I could be up early enough to do a dawn walk like I use to but me up at dawn is a thing of the past. But past dawns I have seen have been glorious and I have seen many when working nights or getting up to go to work for an early shift.

ROSEBUD :~ I never thought of it of anything but a joke, hey living with my DH you need a great sense of humour and I am glad to say that I do have one. My DH is always joking around and it is him who keeps me going. I hope I did not sound that I did not take it as a joke, if I did I am truly sorry. I would hate to have offended anyone as that is the last thing I wish to do. All I meant was there are many creases in the clothes so there is no way we could wear them. So I have to iron. But DH helps with other chores that day like washing up the pots or hoovering (vacuuming) if I just ask.

A woman after my own heart I love dishes that can be cooked in one pot as like you I love that fact they have virtually no washing up. At least winter is great as you can do a variety of casseroles with everything in. I invested in a huge crock pot and that now holds loads. It makes another meal besides the one we are having that day. I do not put any gravy on it but when cold I put cling film around it and pop it in the fridge. Then a couple of days later we have the same meal and all I do is reheat some gravy and hey presto another meal. I just reheat the meals in the microwave until piping hot. So you can still eat healthly on a lazy day or a busy schedule day. The only thing is it takes a bit of preparation but well worth it for a home cooked meal.

Yes finding somewhere that does a healthy meal is difficult most meals come with chips (fries) and I just don't want those so it is difficult to find what you deem as healthy. I have found a couple of places where a couple of the meals of the menu are not too bad and do not come with chips. My favourite is vegetable curry sauce over a baked potato. That is really yummy and so filling. At the same place they also cook some quorn dishes which I have yet to try but I know I could not eat so much. My tummy has deffinately shrunk now I can now way eat the size of meal that I once did. Not that I am complaining. Since embarking on the healthy eating I have been more adventurous and trying new things to add to the menu. Plus doing new dishes. DH love sweet potatoes chips (fries) with chilli, black pepper and a touch of sea salt. As I use the spray oil I use a tiniest ammount and they are nice as a treat.

I have mum and dad coming over to stay for a couple of days for their car to have a service and MOT. MOT stands for Ministry of Transport which is a certificate that every car legally need for it to be on the road. You need to have one done yearly unless you have a brand new car then it is given 3 years with the vechile automatically. It is one of the documents you need to be legally on the road, like a small round piece of paper which is displayed in the front of your window called a tax disc, Then lastly but not least you need insurance for the car. So expensive things here to run never mind the cost of fuel.

Right time for me to go and sling the hoover around the house. catch you all later :hug:xxx

Hi Eveyone

I found you finally, l just had our page in my favorites and when l went there it was gone, so it took a bit of serching to find you guys again, My cookies have been reset on the computer so l couldn't remember my name and password for the 3FC but l just tried and tried and finally got it.

Wow everyone seems to be talking a mile a minute and there was so many posts to read.

First off l am doing ok, l seemed to have done something to the muscle in my groin and walking has been very painful, it's been 2 weeks and it is still hurting. Not sure what l should do about it, it's in a imbrassing area so l really don't want to go see the doctor but not sure how much longer l can do this, sleeping is so painful as laying down and then moving my leg is like someone pulling my muscle.

Eric is doing so great at school and theraphy, he is such a little tropper, he hardly cries as they are putting more and more demands on him, cause he is so new to all this theraphy they are taking it slow. he does 5 minutes of work ( example Eric put with same) and there are 2 cups the same on the table and he has to match the cups together, or socks, or blooks or bowls. He has to be able to do it 80% of the time before they can move on to another item to match, he has already mastered cups and bowls. So it is very exciting. After 5 minjutes of work he gets 10 minutes to play then goes back to the table to work again. It's a slow progess but the teachers say he is doing great for someone who has never had theraphy.

Still loving the house and l am so glad we moved.


Now to answer some posts

Rosebud Sorry to hear about your leg but l am glad to hear it is getting better, and DH l hope he is feeling better soon and that you don't get it, Eric had a bad cold and ear infection but he finally is feeling better and DH and I didnt catch it so l am thankful.

Purple You sure love to talk and l just wanted to say how much l love reading your posts. Your MTO sounds alot like our yearly stickers we have to buy to drive over here, in Ontario you have to have an emissions test every 2 years before you can buy your yearly sticker for around 75.00 but in Alberta were l am now they don't make you do that but you still have to buy yuor sticker it is 72.00 here and then you place it on your license plate.

So l understand what you meant, when we moved here we had to have a province inspection and even though our van was runnig great, they found over 1000.00 worth of repairs. So cars are very expensive.


Valpal l am sorry to hear your discouraged and please don't beat yourself up about falling off the wagon, as long as you get up brush the crumbs off you and get back on thats all thats important, We have all done it at some point but we all get back on board. Maybe you should write your dad a letter telling him how it made you feel to have him not want to coem around when he was sick, having MS is bad enough but having people think your weak is worst, and having a talk with your Dad might be hard but a letter might be easier. Telling them to bring over a bowl of fresh fruit instead of a cake will make you feel better and they will still feel needed by bring you items, Parent's only want to help there children but sometimes they don't see the big picture from all there love. I hope this makes sense.

Everyone else l hope your all doing good and that your healthy.

Have a great day ladies and keep smiling.

Love Mo

Thanks so much for your support ladies. It felt like the end of the world, but of course it wasnt. Life goes on... and I can even fit into a pair of pants.. ya know the kind you buy because they're on sale for four bucks! they were too small when I bought them but this morning they fit comfortably (works for me... another day to avoid doing laundry)

My brother and I tried to go swimming yesterday found out that the pool was only 71 degrees fahrenheit that day (21 C) so we didnt bother because I thought the water was cold at 82 F.

Purple Everything you said about my last post was so supportive - thanks so much. I feel 'right there' when you mentioned tearing up at the tiny things, trying to look strong and the fact that my parents ARE just trying to protect me. I really appreciate everything you said and I know it's true... I will have to work on not expecting perfection from myself and I will think about talking to my Dad. He's pretty busy/stressed most of the time.. kind of a tense guy.


Rosebud - yes... My Dad got a kind of superbug. Since he lives on a remote northern reserve and works in the nursing station there he gets the infections that go through the community that are resistant to a lot of things. So he meant really well. I get annoyed when my parents think they cant protect me still... it just seems to obvious to me with the whole MS thing that they cant do a thing but mean well. I'm sure it's not as easily done as I say and I may never understand over protective parents around the world.

I dont usually have the off days get to me like it did but you're right about moving on. lol I needed to take a step back and remember 'this too shall pass' but the emotional side had taken over. Are you feeling much better this week?

Mo - I know what you mean about the mile a minute. It is hard for me to keep up with this thread! Thank you for your suggestions with my parents. It is hard not to be overly negative about the habits we've developed as a family.

Do you have a family chiropractor or something similar that you can mention your muscle pain to? Mine is very professional and they see enough strange sport injuries that I'm sure it would be better than being in pain like that every day. It's great to hear about Eric too. It must be so encouraging to see him doing well with therapy!

Alright, I need to get some work done it was a late lunch break. I hope the week is off to a good start all around.

Take care :)
Val

Hi Valpal

Thanks for the advice about a Chrio, No we don't have one here in Alberta, but l bite the bullet and made an appt with my family doctor, l see him on Wed morning so hopfully he will have a suggestion. Thanks it is very encouraging about Eric, but then just getting threw each day with my medical problems is encouraging. :) I agree with you that would be cold water, we have a salt water pool here that we go to, that is for medical problems it is 92 degree's all the time, and salt water too so it is very relaxing, Eric is a little fish so we try and go once a week. Congrads on the pants, little things like that are hugh accoplishments. With all the weight l have lost l can't afford to buy new clothes till l am at my goal size, so l go to Value village and buy my pants and sweaters, when l started this journy l was a size 20/22 pant and a XXL shirt, now l am proud to say size 13 jeans are too big and all the new sweaters l got last week at value village are size Medium. So spending 50 bucks on 6 pairs of jeans and 6 sweaters is so much more rewarding that 50 bucks for just 1 pair of jeans. Once l am at my goal and have mantained it l shall treat myself to some new clothes. Especially undergarmets l can't wait and either can my DH. :)

Wow 2 posts in one day this is a record for me.

Take care everyone.
Love Mo

Hello All

Going to London tomorrow, well one of the suburbs of it. It is 145miles one way I think. So over all it will be a long day but it is ages since we have done a job for his brother. Apparently this is for a famous soft drinks company who want 50 bean bags so quite a big order. Very shortly I will be going to make sandwiches for the trip as it will be an reasonably early start tomorrow so what ever I can tackle today will help me tomorrow.

MO :~ Sorry to hear about the pain in your groin which you suspect is a pull muscle. I know it maybe very embarassing due to its position but sometime you have to bite the bullet so to speak and visit him/her. As I have worked on the other side of the fence in a medical capsity really and truthfully it never enters your head actually what your seeing but you always aware that it is not nice for the person concerned so try to perserve as much dignity as possible. Another way of tackling it is tell the doctor that your nervous as your embarassed by where it is. Often then they will take there time to put you at easy. For me I personally hate cervical screening which we have every 3 years. I told the nurse that I really hate it as the wrong speculum was used after that my fear grew worse. But the nurse is now great and takes her time and makes it the best she can in the circumstances. So never suffer in silence.

VALPAL :~ Nice to see that you are a little happier and more positive. Sometime parents do things because they love us so much and want to protect us. But in reality to us it feels like we are being put in between a rock and a hard place. In terms of how long you have been diagnosed it is still a short period of time and everyone is adjusting to the situation. For me it took several years before I was fully at easy with my diagnosis and not angry at everything. I also suppose it took my friends and family the same time to adapt to my diagnosis and that deep down I was the same person who just might need a bit more help now and again or was slower.

Bye all time for me to run as the dog need a walk and I need to do some exercise. :hug:

Good Evening All

Yikes I sound like a police officer :D Not long got back from London. We had a beautiful journey up to the delivery place. But oh boy it was not the same on the return journey. About the half way point on the way home we came up on traffic queued up and there we stayed for 2 hours only moving briefly during that time. Apparently there had been an accident and 2 lanes were cut off from a 3 lane road. There was also fuel (gas) spillage on the road to clean up. The only blessing was we had just finished from having a toilet stop and a food break. So at least I was fed and watered so to speak. Not the best food choices to make whilst on the road so I took what I thought was the best of a bad bunch and ate only about 1/2 of it to take the edge of the hunger. When I got home I went back on plan to healthy eating that is all I could do. After todays escapade I certainly would not feel like cooking.

Hope everyone is well and is managing to get some exercise in now that it has definitely turned colder. I hope you pain in your groin is being dealt with Mo and you are now started to get some relief.

I use a Tens machine which has 4 electrodes which you put over or around the effected area and then use one of the programmes which give different sensations to the area. It stimulates the body to produce its natural pain killer. I find it very useful.

Bye all, Going to get ready for my bed as I am extremely tired. Night and take care :hug:

Hi All

I am doing alot better, l sucked up my nervousness and went to the doctor and he prescriped a muscle relaxer and some cream, and last night was my first time in over 2 weeks that the pain did not wake me. I am so glad l went to the doctor. He also looked at my tailbone as it has been painful for away to take a bath or even sit on our kitchen chairs, he gave me good news and bad news, Good news is he is proud of how much weight l have lost, and bad news is the tailbone is exposed more because of the weight loss, :) So l have to live with having a smaller bum. He also said if l was still in pain in a few days to come back, but today l haven't had a ounce of pain.

Purple I understand being in a backlog of traffic, l am glad you had a bathroom break before you hit it, and don't beat yourself up about not making good choices on the road, you did the right thing by getting back to healthy eatting when u got home. I hope you had a good nights sleep and woke rested.

Valpal, Rosebud and everyone else I hope your enjoying the last week before our Canadian Thanksgiving.

Love Mo xoxoxo

Hi everyone!


Purple I took your advice and talked to my Dad. I did some more research (because I realized I was taking his word on what my MS meds 'do' - he's not an MS specialist) I ended up explaining that he's been wrong and the type of interferon I'm taking ISNT the type they use on cancer patients AND I'm not immunocompromised etc. The whole emotional side of MS and dealing with it is such a mess for me... so I do my best to avoid thinking about it now. The first couple years I kept myself absolutely miserable thinking about it...it feels like I wasted time but I know I did what I had to.

Your trip to the London area sounds like fun... and the important thing is that the not so good eating that happened isnt becoming a daily thing. You're still doing so well - keep it up!! I'm glad the tens machine is providing you some relief too.


MoI'm so glad you got checked out! The pain with your tailbone as well as the muscle makes it sound like you bruised the bone? I've done it (as I kid I rain off a 2 story high snow pile and landed on my butt). I had to sit on a donut shaped cushion for over a week. Would it help you?! I'm all about avoiding pain when it's possible. Please do go back to the doc if you dont see improvement!

I am alone for Canadian Thanksgiving for the first time in my life (little old 23 year old me). During my college years my friends and I would get something together... but my parents and my brother ended up driving south to be with my grandmother who isnt healthy. It's pretty quiet around here now! But I'm grateful for the long weekend anyways :)

Take care everyone - hugs all around,
Val

:wave: HI LADIES ~ boy, I missed some posts this week; nice to see you all found our new monthly thread! We have had one eventful week (hence the reason I have been absent). On Tuesday, our hot water tank quit or so we thought; it kept blowing fuses; so DH thought the elements were blown too
(as that happened before). So we went to town running around to find some; he put them in and it still didn't work ...

Well, that's a lot of work cuz you have to empty the tank; then take them out and the whole bottom was full of sand; he had to make a tool to clean it out; anyways, he was so upset so we called my uncle and he suggested we take another good look at the fuse box; and sure enough we discovered the connecting box was broken. So the electrician was supposed to come today, but I had to go to the hospital as my leg was swelling and throbbing and it was having trouble healing.

So off to the emerg for me and got some antibiotics and an antibotic cream; I sure hope this works, as I want it to heal completely. On Wednesday our hydro went out cuz of a wind storm; so we had to go in town to have dinner; I had fish & chips, but next time, I think I'll get pork chops and a baked potato like PURPLE suggested. It is hard here to get healthy meals of choice in our small town; there way too much fast food ...

THE GOOD NEWS ~ today we had spit BBQ chicken for our meals with aspargus, carrots, and new potatoes. I have been out walking for the last five days in a row, mostly at night when the weather has been nicer; last night the sky was full of beautiful stars and a golden quarter moon.

MO ~ I'm so glad to see you posting again; can you put your 3FC info in a file and save it in your MY DOCUMENTS area of your PC? Your DH should be able to show you how to do that; it is quite simple. I have this site down as a favorite as well, and on my home page as a selected fave as well. I'm glad ERIC is doing so well with his therapy; it must be so exciting for you.

Don't be afraid to go to the doctors when you are in that much pain; I'm so glad you are feeling better now; see, it was so worth it to go. That's why I went to get a doc to look at my leg; I don't want big troubles like I had before. A rumor is going around that my doctor is leaving; will have to find out if that is true; I hate hearing that as it's hard to get used to new ones all the time; last time, it took two years for me to get a regular doctor again.
As you know we have such a shortage in the rural and remoter areas.

PURPLE ~ not to worry about the ironing thing; I already know that you have a great sense of humor, and that you would realize that we were just teasing you about it. Yes, I just luv one-pot dinners; I make them all the time and am always trying to invent new ones. Our car is finally fixed up again and we are on the road again too; hope the same for your parents soon. Like MO says, we have similar stuff to do here as well.

VALPAL ~ I'm so very glad that we all can be a source of support and encouragement to you; and you are for us as well, you know. I ended up having fish & chips the other night; would have rather had an option instead of the chips but that is way the restaurants are here. So, I just made sure tonight was better and last night, I went for an extra-long walk to make up for it; everything helps, I think ...

You posted while I was typing. I'm sorry that you'll be alone this Thanksgiving; but you won't really be alone cuz you can come on a talk to us and all the others that will be here too. Some towns have community Thanksgiving dinners; does your town? That way you might run into some people you know and not be alone after all??? (ie our legion and some churches have dinners on special occasions)

WELL LADIES ~ I popped in here to get in a post and wow; now I have a huge page; hopefully, we'll get everything straightened out around here and we'll have some hot water again soon; maybe over the weekend. Take good care everyone; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi...

I'm Aimee, I'm 58 years old, and I have CIDP which is akin to MS... It is a peripheral neuropathy and, needless to say, I am having trouble getting enough exercise and eating too much because I am depressed with all the things I can't do... :(

I do have one bright spot... I have retired from teaching on a disability retirement and have just found out that my SSDI application was approved... I just need to find a way to get out and exercise more... :exercise:

I am thinking of getting a rollator (a 10 inch wheel one) so that I can go for walks... I live in the country with a long, gravel driveway... I am thinking about being able to go up and down it for exercise... We have 17 acres here in the Ozarks and a trail around the property... I used to hike on it and would love to be able to again, albeit, with a rollator... So any of you have these or know anything about one...??? I will be $300 out of pocket and really don't want to get one and then it not be what I want... I asked about trying one out but I just will have to order it and take it to see what it is like... Any ideas... :?:

Thanks...
Aimee

Hi Ladies and good afternoon.


Time seemed to run away from me yesterday so I did not make my usual pit stop to the thread. I have another trip to London tomorrow to deliver bean bag seating to a house to a famous television show which akin to American idol. So another fairly early start tomorrow. I have made sandwiches but if it becomes such a long journey it will mean we will have to eat in one of the service stations :o Just been watching who do you think you are. You may have an equivalent programme. It is where a famous person goes back and looks into their family history. You really find out some interesting facts about history and also their history.

AIMEE :~ :wel3fc: and especially to this thread. I will tell you briefly about myself. I am a 42 nearly 43 ;) and I was diagnosed with MS in 1999. I live in the England and was a psychiatric nurse until I had to retire due to the MS. It is very good to have you on board and your so welcome to join us with your thoughts, ideas and advice.

I am sorry if I seem to ask silly questions but as you maybe aware there are differences in our languages but I will always ask rather than sit in ignorance or guess. (in my case my guesses can be a little off) Not sure what SSDI is but I am pleased that you have been approved that must be a weight off your mind. With these things hanging over your head it is horrible.

Exercise for most of us is difficult on here due to mobility or just plain fatigue which prevents us. I do not know if you have though of doing exercises which are for people whom are wheelchair bound. You may have to think a little differently about what forms of exercise are suitable like I have. I am more fortunate that yourself I can walk with the aid of a walking stick (cane) or someones arm. So that has been my main source of exercise. I started off doing little walks every day or when my body would let me. In the beginning I would beat myself up because I did not exercise that day. But I found that of no use to do that, now I have the attitude so what if I can't do it today, tomorrow is another day and that might be better.

Have you thought of swimming, my local pool does several sessions per week where it is geared to disabled. There are aids to get you into the pool. With everyone in the same boat to a greater or lesser degree you do not feel that you are on "show" and folks are staring at you. I may not be the best person to give suggestions as I do not know if they are available over the big pond. So I will leave it up to the other ladies to suggest walking aids in order to get you more mobile.

Look forward to hearing more from you over the coming weeks Aimee.

ROSEBUD :~ Wow you have had a lot of trouble from the water tank, which has you say all becomes very time consuming. When I was about 15/16 years old my mum and dad had gone out. ( only round the corner within 5 minutes away) I was caring for my younger sister. My sister had just had a bath and now I was just bathing. I heard this bang from the airing cupboard. I shot out the bath and looked in the cupboard to find water pouring out of the tank. I called my sister to go to next door neighbour who fortunately was a plumber. I got dressed and fetched my parents. The end result was the water tank had burst which had to be drained and replaced. My dad had to put holes in the ceiling below the bathroom to stop the ceiling from coming down. It turned out to be expensive as the ceiling need sorting (fortunately dad was a plaster). The room adjacent to the kitchen the wall paper was all ruined along one wall.

:getwell: Sorry to hear about your leg. I hope the treatment prescribed will sort it out. It seems if your body has a weakness then it is always the point that seems to let you down. No matter what you do it seems to be affected. I used to get bronchitis as regular as clock work 2 or 3 times a year and then it was the devils job to get rid of it. I seemed to have it for 7 years then puff it seemed to have gone. Well fingers crossed I have not had it for years just ordinary colds. My dad said he had the same when he was younger but I look so like my dad so I suppose I have taken many of his quirks so to speak.

VALPAL :~ Sorry to hear that you will be alone on Thanksgiving. I have had several Christmases alone so I know how you feel, ( we do not have thanksgiving here in the UK so that is the only comparison I can make.) Maybe as Rosebud suggested there maybe a group or organisation that you may have dinner with. Or if that is not possible. Money permitting buy somethings for pampering yourself a new bubble bath/ shower gel. A nice shampoo and conditioner. I use to do this and made it a day for pampering myself. I also love reading so I would have a book ready that i desperately wanted to read. I go for a walk I had beautiful grounds in the hospital to walk in. So I would fill my day. Plus it was in the days when PC where not the norm for the ordinary person. So as Rosebud says you can come on here and leave a message on the thread. Catch up on emails and reply to the ones you need to. You can be surprised that if you leave a few mails to catch up on how quickly the time seems to go. Maybe plan some menus for the next few days so that you stay on plan. Even cooking soup from scratch and making a big batch and popping some in the freezer for future use. I hope this maybe of some use to you on how to cope on these days.

Do not feel like you have wasted your time with the misery. It is part of the process that you go through to getting to acceptance. The process we go through is the same as for grieving for a lost loved one. We go through 5 stages. Some maybe longer than others but they are denial, anger, bargaining,depression and acceptance. I stayed at the angry stage for a long time along with the depression. So do not feel that you have wasted your life it is so important that you go through these stage that is the way we get proper acceptance of what we have.

MO :~ I am so glad that you bit the bullet and went to the doctors. I hope that the treatment prescribed eases the pain. It is no fun when you are in pain and it effect your daily life. Unfortunate about the coccyx (tailbone) now that you get pain there due to your great weight loss. You do things for your health and well being and then you get that. Maybe after a period of time you will get use to it and it won't be so noticable for you.

I must go I have written loads by the look of it :D But I am due to go out for tea at a friends house. I have only add breakfast and a small portion of pineapple at lunch and now I am starving. But I know her food is healthy but I do tend to eat a little to much as it is so nice :o

Bye bye see you shortly :hug:

Hi Purple...

I am having a bit of "culture shock" here... I am in a virtual club that is made up of members from countries who refer to water pouring out of a tank in a cupboard... I am thinking, since you mentioned a bath, that it is a hot water tank..??? Our hot water tank is in another room, but not necessarily in a cupboard (a place for cups..???)... I think it is just a "cultural thing"...

Oh, gosh..!!! I am doing Quick Reply and there are no smiley faces here... Let me end this and do a proper reply with all the accoutrements... **S**

Oh... I clicked on "Advanced" and here I am with all the smileys... :carrot:

I also am able to walk with a cane, but it is very slowly...and I get a back ache or my right leg goes numb if walking more than from one store to another... I am wanting a rollator which is something that you can hang onto while walking (no cane) and it has a flip down seat, so if one gets tired there is an instant place to sit down... Are we allowed to put websites on here where such things are available..??? I am not encouraging anyone else to get one, but I know when I go to the grocery store and I grap onto a shopping cart, that I can pretty much keep up with my husband in the store.. On the other hand, if I am following him with a cane, then he is always haviing to stop and wait for me to catch up... I am thinking that the faster I can walk, the better it will be for me getting some exercise... I just cannot walk fast with a cane... I need to hold onto something for balance and then I can "walk on"... :running:

SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance... It is a federal insurance policy for those who work and pay into Social Security... The problem is that it is very hard for people to qualify for it... I am very lucky to have qualified with the first try...

Well... I was going to make a suggestion to someone who you commented to, but I do not remember what the comment was... I will "post" this and see if I remember... :)

Aimee

Hi Aimee

And welcome to our club,

Just a little bit about me, my name is Monique but everyone calls me Mo, l have CP and Epilepys and l live in Calgary, Alberta Canada, I have a wonderful DH, and a sweet little boy who is 4 and autistic, he is my live but is also alot of work, He is completely non- verbal and so cute. He has finally started in home theraphy and ABA in school.

I walk ok as long as it's not far distances and l like you push the grocery cart or my son in his buggy and it helps with my balance, the machine you talk about here in Canada is just called a 4 wheel walker, my Dad had one when he was in the nursing home. My Dads is a very good one, and it goes over gravel driveways good. but just a suggestion, before you pay out all that money, call the red cross in your area, and explain your situation, they might have one they can lend you. When my Dad passed away last year we donated his to our red cross and they lend them out to people who need them. It's just a suggestion and worth a try. Also try www.craigslist.com people sell them used alot.

Purple your hot water store sounds like a hugh job for your neighbour and your dad, good thing you got out of the tub and investiagted the sound. I hope you had a nice visit with your friend and that just company alone sure helps us take our mind off our health problems.

Rosebud, How's the leg today? I tell you between your car and the hot water tank you sure have your hands ful and both items are money hungry things, l hope you get them both fixed soon and they don't break the bank. I also hope your enjoying your warmest thanksgiving weekend in years in Ontario, out here today our high is 3 and snow. :)

Valpal HAPPY THANKSGIVING TOO YOU!!!! I hope your doing something relaxing while your alone this weekend, and l hope the food munchies don't get to bad for you, if they do remember to try to eat healthy, l buy russell strovers sugar free candys for our candy dish and on those days l need choclate l have 1 or 2 pieces and then no guilt cause they are sugarfree, Walmart sells them for 2.84 a bag and you get about 6-8 pieces in a bag, we bug a few diffeeent varietys. DH likes the reese peanut butter cups sugarfree, l like the chocltae mint ones. Just a idea for you to look into.

Everyone else l hope your having a nice holiday and staying on track with your eating.

Love Mo

:welcome: AIMEE ~ we are glad that you joined us!

Here's some info about me ~ I am almost 49 y/o (this month); married with two furry babies; I was born with Spina Bifida and had partial corrective surgeries at 4 and 11; I was fiesty and walked, despite what the doctors told my parents (that I wouldn't); sure, I fell a lot, but I would just push myself up again, cuz I wanted to be like my brothers.:D

I have a lot of back pain too (which is common for Spina people); so I have to take rest breaks a lot; and I have one bum knee and a bad leg, both from falls. Falling is a problem for me now, like for others; my right knee collapses on me, whenever it feels like it; takes me by surprise a lot ~ LOL! My legs swell, so I have to put them up every day; the doctor just reminded me again, so today I had them up for two hours today. I am hoping that losing more weight will help these conditions improve for me. I have heard others say this is very possible ...

Of course, getting enuff exercise is the biggest challenge for me; I have lost a lot by changing my eating habits, but I really need to increase my energy output so that I can lose more. I am still losing inches though, so I am glad for that; but, I really like the idea of the assistive walkers.

AIMEE ~ glad that you received your qualification for your pension; I am now hearing that there are so many neurological conditions similar to MS. I didn't realize before just how many there are ... I had heard of Ebstein Barr (sp) and Fibromyalgia, and other more well-known ones.

UPDATE ~ the hot water tank is fixed; the electrician came on Friday; and it WAS the fuse box on the wall. He rewired our tank to another box at the bottom; and checked all of DH's work and everything is fine now; yeah! We are only out the cost of the new elements ($45.00), but they should last us a good ten years, we hope.:^:

My leg is trying hard to heal; I'm taking the penicillan and it's shrinking in size; it's smaller than a quarter now, so I'm very happy about that. Yes, it seems that I have a problem with infections; so, I have to be very careful about that in the future. DH feels bad about it; so he sanded the desk corner and if we have to, we will glue some felt or velour to protect my legs.

MO & AIMEE ~ I like the idea of the rollator or walker, as we call them; I also find walking with a shopping cart much easier and faster than my cane. The carts seem to give me more balance as well; with one leg collapsing on me, the cart helps me a lot. DH and I were just talking about the idea; yes, the RED CROSS here may have them too. Thanx for the suggestions, ladies.:)

MO, we have the same weather as you; they must be talking about southern Ontario; we live in the north and it's freezing here; so far, there has been no ***, but I'm not sure some might find us during the night ~ LOL! I also like all those sugar-free candies; they would make great gifts for friends who also have to watch their sugar intake. You get better prices than us though.

PURPLE ~ your hot water tank story sounds a lot worse than ours; we did have a rusty mess to clean up, but yours was a bigger job to fix; in the end, things weren't as bad as they seemed at first. I think it's that UNKNOWN factor; OMGosh, how much is this gonna cost me now??? We are still doin' OK; I am just glad it's all fixed now. :D

DH says that he hopes this is the last of our troubles for awhile; I said yes, I want a break already! We took our turkey out early, as we are going to cook it on Sunday, and have leftovers for Monday and just take it EZ this THANKSGIVING weekend. We are indeed very grateful for all that we have, and this is a good time to just rest, relax, and rejuvenate!

Well, that's all the news for me right now; DH has his fiddling going, so I am going to go join him now. Have a great weekend everyone; and do take good care of yourselves too; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hey Rosebud

Next time your at walmart or zellers ect.. go to the baby section they have clear covers for corners of tables and so on so babies don't bang there head, very resonable and there clear so it won't change the look of your desk. They just stick on and when you feel it is safe to remove them they don't remove the stain or paint.

Glad you got the water tank fixed and it wasn't too expensive, So the electrician didn't charge you so it must be a family friend or family? My brother is an electrican and l miss not being able to have him come over if we need him. But my Dad was an electrcian too so l grew up helping him so l can do alot of minor stuff on my own, replace plugs, light switches and so on.

For some reason l thought you were southern Ontario, Sarnia today (my hometown) hit 31 degree's l am so jealous. But it ended up going to 15 here this afternoon so it was nice.

We are doing our turkey tomorrow too, (l should say DH is) he does most of the cooking, and on ?Monday we are going to make turkey vegtable soup, so we can freeze most of it, l seemed to have picked up a head cold on Friday so l can't wait for a hot bowl of homemade soup with a big piece of crusty bread. Guess l better slow down, still have to have our turkey dinner tomorrow before my soup. :) It is going to be a quiet dinner just DH Eric and I, and since Eric still only eats baby food there will be lots of leftovers. WE are very thankful this year for our health and of course Eric finally getting theraphy we have waited almost 3 years for this.

Everyone else l hope your doing ok and l am thinking of you.

Love Mo

Hi ladies and good afternoon.

Well I have just finished hob nobbing with the rich and famous ;) Well back to reality :D Finished delivering the seating to the house which is used by the contestants who are in this singing competition. When we arrived the film crew was filming a couple of scenes for the show which will be screen this evening. So DH had to wait, so I just walked our baby (Rizzie) up the road. It was more for me than for Rizzie as my legs were feeling so stiff. Dogs are so intelligent he seemed to sense that I was stiff as a board and went at snails pace which helped me. He was wonderful. The journey was uneventful and was no hold ups. When we returned we went out for a walk as Rizzie had been in the van for a while so only fair he had pleasure. So now he is flat out sleeping like a baby.

To all our Canadian posters on here :happ3: for the 8th of October. ( well at least thats when I think it is) I hope you have a great time during this celebration.

Wow what of lot of posts for me to read it has been nice for me to relax to. I know tonight I will take no rocking to sleep as I slept really badly last night. But on a positive note had a wonderful meal last night cooked by our friend. Then finished off with a series of card games which took over 3 hours so quickly.

AIMEE :~ Yes you do not realise how many cultural differences there are but that all adds to the interest of knowing others from different nations. Even if it does mean explaining a few words now and then. Here in the UK our houses tend to me much smaller than those in Canada and USA so hence many rooms just double up with their use. Often the kitchen will house also the washing machine and dryer so not many will have a separate utility room which just houses the laundry equipment such as washing machines.

Yes I understand how the shopping trolley (shopping cart, another different word for the same thing) gives you stability and allows you to keep up with DH. I have used it for the same purpose. I am very lucky that my DH retired from work to care for me. So we are pretty much in each others company 24 hours a day. So he is there for me to take walks as I use is arm to steady myself. If I was not so fortunate I think for longer distances I would have to look at getting a form of zimmer frame (rollator). If I know there is a difference with words I do try to pop in the alternative. But I am always learning.

Thanks for letting me know about a benefit that you applied for and was granted first time. I am very pleased that you will now be receiving it. We have something that is also difficult to receive which is a benefit. This is DLA which stands for disability living allowance. This is broken up into 2 parts first care required and mobility. I receive both parts. When you are granted it you are also told how long you have been granted it, I have been granted it for life.

ROSEBUD :~ Glad that the water tank is now fixed and you have hot water. Lets hope the cost was not too great. When the water tank burst on me it was many years ago when I was still living at home and I left home 24 years ago so the dinosaurs were still roaming the earth I think :rofl:

I hope that your leg is on the mend now that you have had a few days of treatment for the infection. Thinking of you and hoping that things are improving.

MO :~ Have you got room for one more at the table ;) I love homemade turkey soup. There is something comforting about it and yet filling. But all importantly it is not laced with calories. We always make turkey soup at Christmas and have done as long as I can remember. I hope you start to feel better soon from your cold. Pity it has come at thanksgiving. Mind you there is never a great time to get sick.

Well rest time over with now I must think about preparing something for tea. Will be a cooked tea as we had sandwiches when we were out on the road.

bye bye ladies :hug:

Hi Purple

Thanks for your post, as you can see l am bored today so posting more than normal, just a question when you say Tea? is that like lunch? cause when you said hot tea l was thinking maybe you usually have ice tea? then my DH said maybe Tea means lunch, so l thought l might as well ask you. :)

Love Mo

:wave: HI EVERYONE ~ I have lots of free time today too, as DH and I are staying home this weekend as well. We have gone out for years for Christmas and Thanksgiving; but we decided to stay home this year. We have rain today and its only 44F outside.

MO ~ I was born and raised in southern Ontario, but moved up north when I was nineteen to go to college; and just stayed ... I like the idea of the corner covers you mentioned; we will definitely be on the lookout for those! We didn't have to pay for the electrician (the owner of the building did); it's an odd situation with this complex. We own the hot water tank, but not the fuse box; I know that is not the norm and we would prefer that it is different. The previous owner of the complex arranged things that way; we didn't find out until we got our hydro bills that we were paying for the tank and the electricity.

SORRY, that you have caught one of those nasty flus; DH and I were just talking about how many there are this year; esp ones that people are having trouble getting rid of ...

Like you, we have a lot to be grateful for; yes, life throws us curves now and then; but, I am most thankful for the lovely country we live in here, and all the many blessings we have received.

PURPLE ~ we have some pretty big houses here; but our washroom doubles as a laundry room in this building. It is actually very handy; and when we build our cottage, we will do the same thing there, as it is convenient and saves mega space and money.

Like MO, I was wondering the same thing; your TEA TIME sounds a lot like our lunch or dinner (supper/late meal); but then I realized that your time frame might just be so different from ours being that you are overseas in England; I suspect that you may be in another time zone ??? YES, our THANKSGIVING DAY is on October 8th, this year.

VAL ~ hello to you, my friend; I hope you come in and lurk around here this weekend and keep us company this THANKSGIVING weekend, cuz we are all at home this year, just like you. I'm glad that you had a good talk with your DAD, and I hope your grandmother is feeling better soon.

I know that I just couldn't even imagine what it feels like to be diagnosed with MS; well, one could imagine it, but that wouldn't likely even come close to reality. And, as I have mentioned before, I have some friends with MS; and I have listened intently, as they explained how they felt and still feel about their illness. I can see how it affects their everyday lives, and their hopes and dreams for the future (they had to rewrite them completely).

And being that you are so young, I think that must be so much harder; we have one friend in her thirties with two young children; we pray very hard for her. She returned to work just to keep her mind busy; thankfully, she has found a place that is very understanding. One friend is in her late forties and has an Autistic child and another with Aspberger's (a milder form of Autism); they can both still walk, but they tire very easily; they both struggle with anxiety and depression.

Last Christmas, I gave my friend an ANGEL OF COURAGE pin; and I know how much she really appreciated this small gift. Their Family, Friends, and their Faith are all helping them thru their daily struggles, and they try very hard to make the most of each day. It takes a lot of courage and tenacity to face this great challenge, and both YOU and PURPLE are wonderful examples for others too ...

Well, I'd better go check my turkey; we also make turkey vegetable soup from the leftovers and I also freeze it in stacking containers for later on. Take good care everyone; and thank you for your care and concern for me. I appreciate it a lot. Your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Ack! I didnt realize this thread was leaving me behind in the dust! Thanks for all the suggestions for the long weekend and :thanks1: I've had a productive weekend by myself - it's been nice to prove to myself I can be alone and do just fine.

The last member of my family left on Wednesday night... leaving me to do my friday injection alone. I was nervous about how it would go... but it was actually a lot easier than I remember. I think it was that much easier because of my current state of mind.

I made my own cranberry sauce with brown sugar splenda... and the 'famous' weight watcher pumpkin muffins because my fav pumpkin pie is 1500 calories a pie and I didnt want to tempt myself. It's been a really good weekend for feeling good.

When I started my lifestyle change in July - I couldnt fit into the largest size winter coats at Mark's Work Wearhouse in our town. My goal has kind of been to be able to buy a coat there by Christmas but I woke up to snow this morning so I went over to check the selection and see how far away I was from fitting into a coat. And I fit into the largest size!!.. lol kind of sad that all I did was get down to 'the largest size in the women's side of the store' BUT it made my day :D

:welcome3: aimee! I can so relate to your inability to exercise and eating more because of depression. Hopefully I can inspire you to keep visiting - I only joined 3FC in July and I've lost 40 pounds so far by eating about 1700 calories per day and increasing my activity level (formerly non existant). small changes can make a huge difference. I ride a stationary bike most days now. welcome again! :hug:


Rosebud thanks for thinking of me :) Things are going pretty well - I even had turkey yesterday - I hope you enjoy today with your DH. I'm sorry to hear about your leg and I'm glad it is healing.

Sometimes I laugh at myself when I think about the year I was diagnosed with MS. I thought the sky was falling, the world was over and I was going to die. Sometimes I think it's almost a blessing because it's completly changed my world and given me perspective I wouldnt have without MS. But thank you for your empathy - my own empathetic friends have made all the difference in my life and I'm so grateful!



Mo I've been combating the munchies with healthier alternatives - thanks for the encouragement :) I have seen the sugar free peanut butter cups around - I keep 100 calorie snack packs around the house in case I want something sweet. Those russel stovers sound great- I'm going to look for them! I hope you have a great weekend with your family :)

Purple Thank you for the encouragement :) I was way more sad to see everybody leave me during the week but I'm doing well now! (more sad/scared about doing my own medication again - backs when I used to do it myself only bad feelings came) I remember the five stages too... I think just knowing about the stages can help a person give themselves more grace when it comes to feeling horrible.

You've been fairly busy with the trips lately hey? Anything planned for this week? Sometimes I think our pets are more in tune with us than we think - my cat always comes to sit on my work if I break books home and sits with me when I'm sad. They can become like family pretty fast - do you have only one dog?

I'm sorry to contribute to the massive amount of reading here! hee hee... skim skim skim! Have a great day everyone :hug:

:thanks1: to everyone today ...

:thanks2: :turkey: :thanks2:

Here's a little THANKSGIVING Reflection that was posted in our local paper some time ago; thought you all might like it. Sure some food for thought, eh?

A True Thanksgiving ...

IF you have food in your refrigerator,
clothes on your back, a roof over
your head, and a place to sleep ...
you are richer than 75% of this world.

IF you have money in the bank, in your
wallet, and spare change in a dish
someplace ... you are among the
top 8% of the worlds wealthy.

IF you woke up this morning with more
health than illness ... you are more
blessed than the million who will
not survive the week.

IF you have never experienced the danger
of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture, or the pangs of
starvation ... you are ahead of 500
million people in this world.

IF you can attend a church meeting
without fear of harassment, arrest,
torture, or death ... you are more
blessed than three billion people
in this world.

IF your parents are still alive and
still married ... you are very rare,
even in the US/Canada.

IF you hold up your head with a smile
on your face and are truly thankful ...
you are most blessed because the
majority can, but many do not.

IF you can hold someone's hand, hug
them, or even touch them on the
shoulder ... you are blessed
because you can offer them
a healing touch today.

IF you can read this message ...
you are more blessed than over
two billion people in this
world who cannot read at all!

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING DAY!

I am very thankful for all my friends here at 3FC's; and my leg is really looking great; the meds are really doing their job ...

your friend, ROSEBUD :hug:

Good evening Ladies,

Well been a busy bee this afternoon, took Rizzie for a long walk and I managed not to stop once so I am proud of my achievements. It was just a shade over a mile but I will take it as a good improvement. I was on my last legs time we had finished mind you. Afterwards we tackled the garden which was long over due. We mowed the lawn, and generally weeded. Oh boy the weeds seem to grow like wild fire if nothing else grows. Hopefully the lawn will not need many more mowing's now till next year. But the mild winters we are having the break from mowing gets less I am afraid. My legs are very stiff and sore now but pleased we have achieved so much.

Well the big fare has been on since Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It is a large travelling fare with many rides. I do like to have a walk round but did not have time this year. On a roundabout there is a huge goose placed this is because the fare is called goose fare. Apparently originally many many years ago it was actually a fare for selling geese. But that was gradually taken over in the subsequent years with fare ground rides. I love the atmosphere even if I am not keen on the rides. Big chicken thats me :D

MO :~ Often "tea" is referred to actually a meal. Traditionally it was sandwiches, cake and of course of cup of tea with being British. But "tea" now is often a cooked meal now as many families have to work and it fits better into their schedule. We have many slang terms that refer to making a actual drink of tea, making a cuppa, mashing and do you want a brew are just a few. But as you move around the parts of the UK you will find different terms for different things. Where I live instead of saying " hello" we have a strange term and say " hey up me duck". Which must sound very funny to others but it is the norm around here.

ROSEBUD :~ Really pleased that your leg is on the mend with the treatment that was prescribed. That thanksgiving poem sure does make you gratefully for what you have and makes you think. The verse in the poem which was

IF you can attend a church meeting
without fear of harassment, arrest,
torture, or death ... you are more
blessed than three billion people
in this world.

Hit home a little closer today as yesterday when travelling to London we had the radio on and it said that vicars and priests had been to advised to remove their dog collar when they were not working. This is because that vicars and priests were being attacked. I find this very shocking I may not be very religious but I have the utmost respect towards religious persons. I understand how important a faith can be to a person. In mental health this was always addressed when some one was admitted to hospital as it was just as important as physical health or mental health. It came under psychological well being. The UK is not as religious as parts of the US or maybe Canada. I am not so sure why that is but it is just the way that it is here.

VALPAL :~ First of all well done for being on your own for thanksgiving and coping so admirably. You must have been proud of yourself how well you have done and especially giving yourself the injection. Sometimes these spells on our own proves to ourselves how strong we are and how resilient we actually are. I hope that you have gained strength from this because you deserve to.

Another congratulations is in order that you have made it in the clothing in that shop. I tell you soon that you will be going down in sizes very quickly that is what I found after I lost 40 ~ 50 pounds. Now I buy things and within about 6 weeks they are too big. So well done on your achievement. It may not seem big but really it is as it means that you have been committed to changing your life and now your reaping the rewards. You have now lived a healthier life style for over 12 weeks which is some acomplishment. It does get easier as you go along and add different dishes into your healthy eating plan which adds variety. It is great that you have found a nice alternatives of your favour dishes. Skinny cow ice cream has been my life saver if I want a chocolate fix I love their chocolate ice cream. This brand has just been introduced into the UK so we do not have huge range to choose from. Also here we are not very geared to many alternative such as fairy cakes (cup cakes) which are only 100 calories which would be nice for a weekend treat without blowing the healthy eating out of the water. I wish we would catch up on the health alternative it would make life a whole lot easier.


Time to go and drink my coffee. (not typically British I love coffee not so fond of tea :rofl:) which is starting to rapidly go cold.

bye bye ladies :hug:

Hi Ladies

Not quite been such an hectic day today as yesterday. But oh boy I am stiff from doing too much I never learn my lesson of enough is enough. My dad is exactly the same so I must take the trait from him, well that my story and I am sticking to it ;) Done the weekly shopping today yikes so much of my bill is taken up by fruit and vegetables before you add in the rest to the equation. I am bulk baking today, not baking in the conventional sense of cakes and pastry ( I will go and wash my mouth out with soap for those sinful things :rofl: ) but making a big batch of turkey mince (ground turkey) with vegetables. To make into many cottage pies which I will freeze some and eat one. It is starting now to smell delicious in the house as the turkey and vegetable with gravy cooks in the oven. If I can I like to do this ever so often to put dishes into the freeze which are healthy which makes for a quick meal if you are busy or not feeling up to par.

Had an accident with my freezer well my fridge freezer. I must have not shut the door properly the last time I used it so I lost a lot of food from there as it was defrosted. I have manage to save a little. If it had been my large freezer it has an alarm on it if the door is left open for more than 2 minutes. Which is great if you make an error. So last night even though I was tired we had to defrost the freezer has it had frozen up. This is not a self defrosting freezer like my other one so when things like this happens it ices all up. Well on the positive side I now have room in my freezer but on the negative side I wasted so much food i hate to do that.when so many people in the world do not have enough to eat..

I have 2 visits to the doctors surgery this week coming up. Well to see the nurse. Firstly for my flu vaccination on Friday, only one jab this time as last time I was roped into to have my pneumonia. Not that injections bother me. But last time for the first time both my arms very very sore and stiff for weeks. But even that discomfort is still better than actually getting the full blown flu. I experienced that once when I was I was 16 and there are parts of my times with that illness I just do not remember as I was delirious. That is horrid having blank time in your life that you just can not remember what you were doing or saying. So I am only too willing to have the flu jab. The same with the pneumonia jab, even though I have not had the disease I have nursed it on many occasions and often fatal. My second visit is for a cervical screening which is done every 3 years. Not so fond of having that done but I do know the importance as my sister was found to have precancerous cells and was able to be treated before it turned to anything more serious.

Time to shift my behind as I need to change to go out and get ready to play cards. But as per usual I need a rocket up my rear end to get a move on. :D

Bye bye ladies catch up with you all soon, I hope that you are all well and that your families are keeping OK. :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ We are taking it easy at home today too; it poured all night long (rain) and it's cold and damp out there; DH is in bed still fighting that flu, and I'm trying to avoid it. Right now in our complex, almost everyone is sick with this one dreaded flu that people are having a hard time getting rid of; sore throat, headaches, conjestion, indigestion, nausea, fatigue, and so on; some are even losing their voices. Now, I've had that one, so does that mean it won't come back???

PURPLE ~ You are as humorous as ever; sorry to hear about your freezer accident. I have to watch that too, as I have a tendency to overfill my fridge freezer and that pops the door open. We have been house cleaning again; getting rid of excess stuff ready for Christmas and the winter; best thing to do when the weather is so bad.

SOMETIMES DH and I want to get that vaccine, but it scares us too; you obviously think that it is a good idea. Maybe now that we are older, we should think about getting it. My Dad and step-mother get one every year now, but Dad says they still catch the flu anyways. I didn't realize there was a vaccine for pneumonia; I wonder if we have that one in Canada? Does anyone know?

:yikes: I really don't like those internal exams; hate them, as a matter of fact. You are such a brave soul; I have such a hard time with everything else that I have to deal with that I avoid these things. Every now and then the public health nurses hold a special clinic for them; I would much rather go to them.

MY leg continues to heal, but I have to keep putting them up to bring down the swelling; some weeks are worse than others; this is one, but I'm sure it will get better soon. I'm doing really great sticking to my plan, but didn't walk outside for two days; wish it would stop raining, as the damp air bothers me (esp my muscles).

VERY GOOD NEWS ~ I'm starting to notice lately that I am getting full faster than in the past; I don't like high fat foods anymore (they upset my stomach now). This is really a big bonus + plus; I think that our stomachs must be shrinking or something like that: I have heard others say that in time, this can happen. I made a change in my plan by eating a bigger breakfast, a healthy lunch, and regular dinner. I have a snack if and when I am hungry; and this all seems to really be helping me. Lately, I haven't been so hungry in the evenings, like in the past; I sure hope this continues.

WELL, I didn't lose any weight this past month, but I did stay the same. DH says that is actually good; but I'm going to up my daily exercise to 50 mins each day, as a nurse friend suggested last week, to see if this helps me.

THAT'S all the news for today; gotta go get my legs up now. I hope that you all are doing well; take good care ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HELLOooooo ... anybody out there, there, there ... ???

Hi Ladies

I am doing ok, but just been busy, some days are way more hectic then others, Eric is 4 and until the last few days has been very easy to watch, but today we were walking to the park and Eric has never run before, not sure why but he never runs, but today was different he just took off and ran, l started screaming for him to stop, and ran after him, and l can't run so you get the picture, l pulled the muscle in my groin again trying to stop my baby, but he ran out on the road and a car slammed on his breaks, he didn't hit him but came abot 5 cms from it, the lady started screaming at me calling me a terriable mom and such, and l was crying and hugging Eric, l turned to her and said, he is autistic and dos't understand dangers, l was trying to catch him but l have CP so running is not easy. She just called me a B**** and got back in her car and drove away, l just grabbed Eric's hand and came home crying, so now l am sitting here feeling sorry for myself cause today was a wake up call, my Son is not safe with me anymore. So l hope you all have a great weekend and l will be taking a few days off from the computer, so don't worry about me l will be back to check in next week.

Love Mo

I'm so sorry you had a bad day and horrible run in like that Mo! It sounds horrible and discouraging - you're doing your best given the situation and I can't even imagine how hard it must be. ((((((((( big hug for Mo ))))))))))))) :hug:

Rosebud- I havent heard of the pnuemoia vaccine in Canada... and I've yet to get the flu one... I've decided it isnt worth the extra needle if the people I live with dont get it as well... - flawed I know.

:hug: to everyone... and special thoughts for Mo.

:hug::hug::hug: MEGA-HUGS FOR OUR MO :hug::hug::hug:

I actually do know how you feel a bit; something like that happened to me when I was in my twenties. I was looking after my neice and we went up town for a walk. Just as we came out of the last place, she yanked her hand out of mine and ran out into a four-way traffic corner, with vehicles coming in every direction and no traffic light there.

THANK GOD, that day, all the drivers were alert and all stopped at the same time; yards away from her! I had dropped all my parcels right on the ground, running after her; the fastest I had ever run in my life. My heart was just pounding with fright ... I took her back to the sidewalk and explained to her why we don't run out on the road; she got it! Later on, her mother told me that she used to do that to her all the time, and just stopped suddenly; so she thanked me ...

MO ~ I know that your situation is different, BUT you are a wonderful mother; and there are ways to prevent this kind of situation in the future. My mother had to use it and teachers now use it all the time in Canada for outings with kids in the early grades. They use ropes with hooks and/or harnesses on very small children or others who are like ERIC, and don't understand the dangers of the road. We have two boys next door who have done this to their parents and their grandparents on several occasions.

These are available in some childrens' stores; or your DH could make one with a large pet harness and some rope and metal hooks available at any hardware store. It may sound odd, but it works; and your child will be safe, and you will have peace of mind again.

MO DEAR ~ Try not to beat yourself up; I think this has happened to every parent, auntie, grandparent, teacher, or daycare provider; at least once, if not many times ... anyone who knows young children has experienced or witnessed this. As ERIC gets older, he will slowly start doing things like all the other children do; my neice was four y/o when this happened.

As for that lady, she was plainly very rude, and responded out of fear; but, that is not to excuse her unkindness. This is not a refection upon you at all, MO; she will calm down and look back, and probably regret her outburst. In a few days, things will seem better ...

VAL ~ I think the vaccine is supposed to work for YOU, even if others don't get it; but DH and I haven't made our minds up yet. I'll ask my doctor what he thinks the next time I see him, as well as some nurse friends; it's hard to decide becuz there are so many contrary opinions about it.

HELLO TO EVERYONE ELSE: PURPLE ~ hope everything is going OK for you; and to all of you, I hope you have a great weekend. Take good care of yourselves; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies,

Seems that the site is playing up today (Saturday afternoon) and I can not get to read any posts. So I thought I would write this entry on word-pad so that I would be ready to put this on the site. Sorry that I have been MIA but I have had my parents over for a couple of days and the time has whizzed by. Did manage to read the posts on the site last night before I went to bed but I was way to tired to even attempt to type anything logical. My spelling is dubious at the best of times without adding tired into the equation, you would have thought you where trying to break a code in order to make any sense.

Has you can imagine it has been rather busy few days but nevertheless enjoyable. I think Mum and Dad enjoyed their time over here. We took them out in the evening to play cards at a place they had never been too which is run in a primary school about 14 miles away from our home. Mum won a raffle so was the only person to do any good. Dad at the minute has a bad back. For as long as I can remember Dad has suffered with his back. Ever so often he would have a bad session in more recent years he has been diagnosed with arthritis in his back. All Dad did was bend down to pick something from the floor and since then has been in pain. For many nights did not go out to play cards. But now he his going out but sitting all night as it hurts him to much to keep getting up and down to move chairs when he wins a game. I hope his back soon recovers, but one problem he has is that he his on warfrin (blood thinning drug) which has many restrictions as to which drugs can be taken with it.

ROSEBUD :~ Happy Birthday for tomorrow :bday2you:, I hope you have a beautiful day as you really deserve it. Are you doing something on your Birthday? You came up with some excellent solutions to Eric and giving Mo the slip. Well I have had my vaccination for flu on Friday morning and now it is just the cervical screening to be down. so one down and one to go. I have quite a late appointment for it at 5.45pm I think I would have preferred a morning one now to get it over and done with.

I noticed when I was at the Doctors surgery my doctor had been running a 10k race and a half marathon in recent weeks for charity. He will be doing a full marathon in New York later this year. He has already completed the London Marathon a few years back in a really respectable time of just over 3 hours. So as you can imagine he looks super fit.

MO :~ Don't beat yourself up for the genuine accident that you had with Eric. Some people are so incentive and open their mouths before their brains are in action. They never know what it is like to walk in your shoes and I think if they did for one day they would have their eyes opened for the first time of the obstacles we have to overcome on a daily basis and they take for granted. I know it is so hard not to take it to heart and feel that your a bad Mum to Eric but you do a wonderful job. Think of how much you have accomplished with Eric with your time and patience. These qualities can not be taught they are what make you up and makes you special. Rosebud made some excellent ideas of how you may feel that you have a more secure hold of Eric. There are always ways round problems you sometimes just need a few heads to come together to give you the ideas. Remember that Eric has a very beautiful Mom who is a very special lady and has raised a lovely little boy. So you will continue to do all the things with Eric together just maybe in a different way. So head up and be proud of yourself and Eric and forget the idiots who haven't got a clue.

VALPAL :~ I hope you are well. Is it recommended in Canada that you have the vaccination for flu and pneumonia. It maybe different health policies in Canada to the UK. I know different ailments are treated differently around the world. Here for example low blood pressure is not treated here but is in many other countries. Or different illnesses will be treated with different drugs. For the UK drugs prescribed many often be chosen as the drug of choice due to cost. But that is the price we pay to have free health care. Occasionally it ticks me off but mostly I am very grateful that I do not have to pay for such care.

Just had another look at the 3fc site and it is still not working properly so I think I will just have to save this ready to post. I don't envy you the longer it is off I reckon the longer this post will become so it will be reading a novel.:rofl: I hope everyone is well and managing to fit in some exercise now the colder months are upon us.

bye bye :hug:

Hi Ladies,

I ended up with a nasty chest cold this Friday which stirred up some more MS symptoms just in time for the weekend so I'm keeping a low profile. Time to focus on keeping strict discipline on my diet. I will be all right ... I know when to take it easy :) My goal is to go for a short walk tomorrow and start one of my anti vertigo medications if I havent seem a big improvement.

Posting from bed - so I'm going to get to resting and nap! I will come back and read through things on a better day.

Take care everyone,
Val

Afternoon Ladies

Just come to take a breather after having a busy morning with housework but it sure pleasing to have these tasks gone. No real cooking tomorrow as I have made a meal already that just needs reheating and same with gravy. So I think I will just have a lazy day tomorrow which is a nice reward for being very busy today.

Well fireworks have being going off at night time around here as they are on sale to the general public for the 5th November. Here in the UK we celebrate bonfire night on the 5th of November. It celebrates the attempt of the Gunpowder Plot in which a group of Catholic conspirators, led by one Robert Catesby, and including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in Westminster on the evening of 5 November 1605, when the Protestant James I of England (James VI of Scotland), his eldest sons, and the majority of the English Parliament were within its walls. The conspirators were later tortured and executed.

The celebrations, which in the United Kingdom take place in towns and villages across the country, involve fireworks displays and the building of bonfires, on which "guys", or dummies, representing Guy Fawkes, the most infamous of the conspirators, are traditionally burnt. Before the fifth, children traditionally used the "guys" to beg for money with the chant "Penny for the guy", although this is now rarely seen. (excerpt taken from Wilkipedia)

The fireworks frighten my furry baby Rizzie he just shakes from head to foot and sits rooted to the spot. It is so pitiful to see I hate it but there is nothing I can do. It would not be so bad if it was just on one night but you get it leading up to bonfire night and a few nights afterwards. Then again leading up to Christmas as fireworks go on sale for New years day. They never used to go off around Christmas as it was not the tradition to light fireworks at this time but since 2000 it seems to be a years occurrence. Fortunately I only have one pet to try and comfort but that is bad enough as you feel helpless to make them feel better

VALPAL:~ Sorry to hear the you are poorly in bed. Get well soon and wrap up warm. Yes when I am poorly it brings out more symptoms of MS for me also. It just seems part and parcel of what happens which is not nice for us. Chest infections are horrid you seem to spend you day feeling tired and then at night can you sleep, can you heck. You spend most of the night coughing only to drop of to sleep when in about an hour you have to get up. You get some well deserved sleep and I will be thinking of you.

Had to stop in the middle of this post as DH decided it was time to go for our walk so in many ways I am governed by when he is ready to go. I have learnt patience over the years that just because I want things done I have to wait for others to do it when they are ready. It is all part of my journey and learning to let go of part of my Independence and what is like for others to do these tasks for you.

Time for me to go, as it is about time for tea and things are on the go for the meal. So before I burn them to a cinder I say bye and catch you soon:hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ we have had yucky weather here lately; the sun actually appeared for us on the way home tonight; went out to the lot and my Dad's cottage to close it up for the winter, and bring home our tools and shovels; DH got caught off guard with that last snow and had no shovel here to clean off our deck.

I took advantage of being up there and walked four (4) times around the small loop from our lot to my Dad's and to the other side of the block. I even counted the steps to give me an idea how far it was; I was glad to be able to do it, as I started off the day feeling a little off. DH was just itching to get out and go somewhere today; and the long walk actually made me feel better.

It started to get pretty windy and cold; and then the car gave us a bit of a worry: just as we went to go home, it wouldn't start. One of my uncles just happened by and noticed that the battery cables were loose; DH felt pretty silly cuz I had already asked him that, and he said they were fine. Hmmm ... I shall say no more ... LOL!

PURPLE ~ thanx for the birthday wishes; that was sweet of you. At first, I was wondering how you knew when my birthday was, but realized that it was likely in my profile. We did get out and I did get my birthday dinner, but no cake this year; I'll likely have a little Vanilla Ice Cream with some peaches as I really like that too!

We have found a new way to comfort our furry babies during thunder storms, and it would probably help during the fireworks; we now put on some nice music (very loud) and distract them with dancing around. Last time we tried it, they didn't even notice the storm outside; and we also pulled our blinds down so she couldn't see the lightening; it worked very well.

VAL ~ so sorry to hear you're down with a nasty flu; I agree with PURPLE, just wrap yourself up in a nice, big comforter; go to bed and rest until you are better. When I am sick, I sometimes treat myself to a nice, hot cup of cocoa; and we have always found that some hot lemon Neo Citron (or other brand) really helps before bed, esp for those bad symptoms like cough and conjestion; as long as there are no conflicts with yours meds. You are in my prayers; hope you are better real soon!

MO ~ hope you are well now too, and that you had a nice weekend with your DH and ERIC. TAKE EXTREMELY GOOD CARE OF YOURSELVES, my friends; talk to you soon :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Evening Ladies

Just returned from our little evening walk with our dog. Just made it back in time and there was an almighty bang from a firework. Even though there was a nip in the air it was a lovely walk and even saw a couple of foxes.

Noticed on our wheelie bin (garbage) that there is a sticker letting us know that we are the next area to go recycling. So bins will be delivered in October and November. The road next to ours already belongs to the scheme and has done now for nigh on a year. My mum and dad who lives in a different county ( the UK is divided into counties which are called shires, I live in Nottinghamshire and my parents live in Lincolnshire) has been recycling for some months now.

Phew my cervical screening is over and done with. She was so quick with the procedure I could hardly believe it was over with. But afterwards we spent sometime chatting and only to discover that she did her psychiatric placement at the hospital which I did my psychiatric training. General nurses (these nurses deal with physical health) do all there training on wards that care for physical health but sometime during their training they have to do something like 8 weeks on a psychiatric ward. I as a psychiatric nurse had to to 8 weeks on a general ward. So the experience of the screening was positive. Just lets hope that the sample of cells are viable so I do not have to go through this for another 3 years.

Well it has been a sport packed weekend with the group qualifier for Europe in the sport of football (soccer). Then England was playing in the semi finals of the Rugby world cup. Fortunately we won both games. So a lot of men was in seventh heaven with this sport on at the weekend. The 3 main sports of our country is football (soccer), rugby and cricket. Football and rugby are played from about late August till about May. Then cricket takes over from that during the summer months.

ROSEBUD :~ Your welcome for the birthday wishes and it was my pleasure to wish you a happy birthday. Yes you guessed it Sherlock Holmes ;) I had seen it in your profile. I am too observate for my own good. It stems from my nursing days and having to watch everything and read simply everything. Peaches and Icecream sound nice as a birthday treat without blowing the entire daily calories in one dish. DH loves peaches so he would have joined you on that one. I made some sugar free jellies this weekend and put some tinned peaches in that I had drained and chopped up. I had divided it up into 6 small glasses and served with a couple of spoon of yoghurt. Creme fresh is nice with a spoon of vanilla essesence and sweetner to your taste. That is nice with different fruits and it is fat free. I have come up with several different versions with sugar free jelly which are low calories and low fat.

Well done on the walks that you have done. Sometimes the walks seem to do you the power of good. At times I don't really want to go but when I do I really enjoy it and feel lots better. There is only odd times that it really has a negative effect on me.

Yikes snow, I do now know how lucky I am that snow is not an issue to use. We might get it a couple times in a year but then it does not really stay for many days. But we are very ill prepared for it in the UK and it brings our country to a stand still.

VALPAL :~ Thinking of you, I know you won't feel up to replying as yet with this chest infection but I thought I would still write a few lines to you. Get well soon and stay warm. Look forward to hearing from you when your back on your feet.

MO :~ I hope that you have had time to reflect since the incident with Eric and realise that it was just a mistake that could have happened to anyone. So I hope you feel a little better. I know it is going to take time to heal emotionally and regain your confidence when your out and about with Eric. But you will get there as your as strong lady who is raising a beautiful son with your DH. Look forward to hearing from you when you have a minute or two.

Time to go and make a cuppa and watch a little bit of television. Catch up with you ladies soon. :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ well, today was very cold for us; 44F all day with a hint of sunshine a few times, and now it is already 32F; more like winter than fall; where is our fall this year??? It seems to be clearing out there now; if it lasts, we may have sunshine tomorrow, I hope. :^:

Didn't do much today at all; stayed home while DH had to go to the emerg as he re-injured his shoulder again (he still thinks he's 20 y/o and is always over-doing it); they did xrays to look at his past surgery results. He came home with anti-inflammitories and pain meds; has to go back tomorrow to see the physio-therapists; sure hope that helps and not hinders ...

FAB HEALTH UPDATE ~ when I went to bed last nite, my leg was still dark purple/black and I was concerned cuz after all the meds, there was some improvement, but it wasn't healed yet. So, I said a small prayer for good health for my birthday; and when I woke up this morning, my leg was perfectly healed; and I mean, totally! All you can see is a faint outline where the scrape was (just about the size of a quarter); wish I had pics now. DH is awe-struck and I am thanking GOD for answered prayers ...

PURPLE ~ I am so grateful to be able to go out and walk; sure, I have to really push myself sometimes, but I am always glad afterwards. Yes, peaches with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a real treat for me; and is very doable within my daily "C" count.

Just did meals and house stuff today (plus my hair and p/c); should be more active tomorrow; take good care, everyone; hope to hear from you when you are all feeling better ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Morning Ladies

Well after a lazy day yesterday I am afraid today is going to be a little busier. I have the weekly grocery shopping to do today which alway lightens the bank balance ;). For us the weather is much warmer at around 57F. That sounds strange to me now it is so long since we have had weather forecasts done in Fahrenheit as we now do Centigrade. It seems much brighter than yesterday is looked overcast all day and looked as though it was going to rain but never appeared.

ROSEBUD :~ I am really pleased that your leg has healed and especially after looking so bad. I am glad your prays were answered. Why do men think that they are 20 again and try and do things that are not in there best interests. Often resulting in aggravating an old injury. Strangely enough my DH has an old shoulder injury which flares up now and again. He received it when in the building trade carrying heavy loads. I hope that your DH is better soon.

Bye ladies was just a quick pit stop to the 3fc. Best wishes to the other ladies MO and Valpal. :hug:

Hi ladies... I'm back! hee hee kinda. the last couple days have gone by pretty slow for me.

Unfortunatly Friday's chest cold turned into a MS flare up. By saturday I couldnt do much because of dizziness and the resulting motion sickness. It was discouraging to say the least - part of me had still been hoping that I didnt really have MS.

I've been on my anti vertigo meds for 3 days now so I can walk around the house again and even hold down food so the worst is definitly over. I'm hoping to be back at work by Thursday but it depends on a few things. I am so happy I built up my 'banked hours' at my job so I could take up to another week off without repercussion. ha ha so much talking about my health always makes me feel like my 87 year old grandmother!!

57 F sounds like great weather, Purple - did you get outside much to enjoy it? It's been suprisingly pleasent here this fall. The mayor started wishing us 'fun days in the snow' last month but today it's 9 C (48 F). Thanks for the well wishes too :)

Happy belated birthday Rosebud!!! I'm glad your leg has healed the way it did - that must be very encouraging :) I just noticed your comment about the cold weather in Ontario - talk about beauty in the eye of the beholder... you're getting the weather we love to have up here.

anyways, I hope things are going better for you this week Mo. Again, I really appreciate having this thread to come back to. Take care everyone :hug:

Val

:wave: HELLO GIRLS ~ well we finally had a beautiful day of sunshine, for the most part; so we went for a drive (really just shopping in town) to get out there and enjoy it while we have it. I think our temps were around the 50F today; that's much better than last week (around 44F day; 32F night).

We actually do use both Centrigrade and Farenheit temps but I often use the Farenheit becuz it is an American site; I forget that England is the same as us now (but we still have both readings on our thermometers here). On our cars, we have both kilometers and miles as well.

:D Thanx for all the Birthday Wishes :D ~ I did get a little walking in today; hopefully more as the week goes on ...

VAL ~ I am so glad to hear that you are feeling better; good for you saving up those sick days! YOu certainly sound much better too. Val, you are still very young; but, when you get older, you do talk a lot more about your health, becuz when you get into your 40's; you start to feel all kinds of aches and pains (at least we do). When I was younger, I worked very hard, often doing more than twice as much as some of my co-workers (kind of regret that now); so, now I'm paying for that in aches and pains ...

Some days I do long for my twenties and thirties again; but, I know I can't have them back (I mean for feeling good in my body). My Dad says this happens to lots of people (including him) and that once he got into his fifties and sixties, he started to feel better again; I'm so glad to hear that!

PURPLE ~ DH has to remember that he isn't twenty anymore; and that he isn't Superman or the great Hulk. He says this is a common problem for all men as they get older; I know my Dad went thru that as well ... I remember my mom mentioning it too me at the time (about him hurting himself a lot). DH's injuries are always from trying to lift things that are too heavy for him, or repetitive strain (doing something too difficult over and over). Now, he is forced to take it easy, as he doesn't have any choice ...

MO ~ hope all is well; and that you are feeling OK!

That's all the news for today; take extreme good care of yourselves, ladies ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies.

Went out today to a city which is approximately 40 miles away from my home to a shopping centre (mall) there. We had gone to get so clothes, well cardigans for me and shirts for DH. We also made a start at Christmas shopping. Oh brother you do not half walk when you go to these places. This shopping centre is huge and has lots of shops under one roof. It has underground parking for days which is warm which is great for us as it allows us to take our dog. Today was suppose to be 10C (51F) although if you got out of the cool breeze it felt much hotter than that. Well I did manage to get one beige chunky cardigan and necklace which DH bought me. DH got 3 really nice shirts which suit his colouring. Then I found some T-shirts with collars and about 3/4 buttons for Dad. I asked my Mum what colours T-shirts was what he need to added to his wardrobe (closet). So I selected a pale green and a beige one. It is nice to have made a start to Christmas shopping. I like to have it done reasonably early as I feel I can not leave it to last minute as my health is not to be relied upon. My nieces and nephews we either give their parents money to get something or add to a bigger present. Or give a gift voucher. They are getting to an age now where it is difficult to buy for and they would prefer money to decide for themselves. So that stops a lot of traipsing around shops for presents as we have 7 nieces/nephews. I must admit all this walking has given me an appetite, I was starving when it came to tea. Fortunately I had pre-emptied this and had a chicken sandwich no spread on ready so I was not tempted to go on a binge. Then I had a banana to round it off as I have had no fruit to eat all day. Fortunately there was somewhere in the food oasis where I could eat something relatively healthy so I had a jacket potato with chicken curry (which did not appear to have cream or yogurt) seemed more tomato based.

VALPAL :~ Nice to see you back. It must have been a very difficult time for you with a MS flare up and a chest infection also to cope with. It is bad enough having either one but together is a double whammy. I am pleased that you had managed to bank up some hours when you are on par so it has been a slight blessing that it allows you to take some time off without repercussion. I used to have a torrid time when I was working as I used to have now what I know what MS symptoms but at the time I was not aware at this point. But when they knew that I was being investigated for MS they were fine but unfortunately I was never "fit" enough to return to work. I hope you have understanding employers as that helps when they are helpful.

Yes I do try to go and walk outside each day to be part of my exercise each day. That way I do get to enjoy this lovely weather. My doctors from the very point of dx have always stressed to try and walk each day. As once I have to rely on a wheelchair that will be my walking days over. Or as doctor put it use it or lose it. I have had no real flares like yourself I just get a general deterioration over the years. I have weakness down my right side which has never returned since the first big flare that I had. But if I have an illness it brings on more pins and needles, numbness and fatigue.

ROSEBUD :~ Like yourself our cars have kilometres on the speedometer as well as miles. But all road signs show miles to a certain distance. Yes like yourself I feel more aches and pains than I did say 20 years ago. But they kind of creep up on you before you know. Some of the pain in my back I think is due to all the manual lifting that I did 20 odd years ago and off heavy weights. But at the time you thought nothing of it as everyone on the ward did the same.

One thing I am dreading is the menopause, but fingers crossed I won't suffer too much. But I will cross that bridge when I get too it. As it maybe a few years yet before I have to worry about that.

Glad you managed to get a walk in and hope to do more during the week. For me it often makes me feel better. At the moment we are doing a longer walk but I have a rest on the pub wall for 10 / 15 minutes to get my second wind. But it is nice feeling that I have made a bit of progress in extending my exercise. Plus Rizzie benefits as well from a longer walk.

Time for me to get ready to go out. Catch you soon ladies. :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ well, the day started off with sunshine; then the clouds rolled in; but the expected sprinkles didn't show up til after lunch. We hired a fellow to move and set up our large bird feeder, as it is held up by large cement bricks and DH couldn't do it this year. I did get some laundry done again today, but other than meals and daily house chores; I did do a wee bit of walking today (mostly around the yard though). The damp cold air gives achey muscles; it just chills me to the bone ~ yuck!

BUT, they are calling for sun on Thursday and Sunday; so, that will be excellent. We had a Dutch dinner last night with coleslaw and sliced tomatoes (chicken franks fried with sliced onions, and tators w/skins); it's one of those quick dinners that isn't fussy, but we love it. Today is pasta day (sometimes with meat, sometimes without); I haven't made up my mind yet.

We have fish and chicken as least 3-4 times a week; pork and beef one day each; and try to have one meatless as well. Our eating plan is based on our favorites dishes; we just healthize them as much as we can. This is the only way we would be able to eat so well, permanently. We choose lean meats; lots of veggies and salads; and I eat lots of fruit, plus whole grains (breads and cereals, etc).

I plan most things out ahead as this helps me a lot (one week). DH likes a more traditional style of eating; a square meal is what they call it, so I adapted our plan around that ...

Just checking in; time to go and put my legs up (my nap; I don't always sleep; sometimes just rest) for an hour, then it will be time to start dinner. Hope everyone is doing well today; take good care, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Evening Ladies

Right own up who sent a herd of elephants along with a few hippopotamuses for good measure through my bedroom last night ;) I feel that is who I have been trampled with after my walking marathon yesterday. I have had to have extra pain killers today so excuse my errors in grammar and spelling but I am in cuckoo land after all these extra tablets. Then just for good measure my trigeminal neuralgia decided to top it all off. Face pain is now until some sort of control but not the pain in legs and back. Right wingeing over with about my ailments.

Had a relatively lazy day today. But did spend a little time making a bunch of low calorie desserts with sugar free jelly and fruit. One also had fat free strawberry yogurt incorporated in it. This is my sneaky way of getting fruit into DH but in his eyes it looks like a dessert. I think with the quick calculation in my head they are coming in around 50 calories per dessert so not breaking the bank with calories.

ROSEBUD :~ Like yourself I have adapted several of my favourite recipes to be much more healthier. Like swapping minced beef ( ground) for turkey and maybe chopping very finely other vegetables to go with it hence making it go further plus adding to your vegetable in take for the day which must be good. I try to eat at least 5 fruit and vegetables a day, have many more vegetarian dishes, less red meat more white meat. I am not a fish lover which I wish I was more attracted to eating fish but I have never been very fond of it.

Going to have a rest now to recharge the old batteries before tomorrow as I am going to my parents tomorrow. bye bye :hug:

Good Morning Ladies

Feel heaps better today after a good nights sleep, so obviously my body need a rest after the hammering I gave it by going to the shopping centre (mall). But I did not half enjoy the shopping centre so I paid the price I suppose for over doing it.

It is a beautiful day today with glorious sunshine. Have had a little walk already and only need a cardigan on as it was so warm in the sun. But we have had a sharp frost in the night so part of the lawn is covered over white.

Going to mum and dad's for the day today then on to play cards at night in the next village. It is my sisters birthday next week on Wednesday so I am taking my card along so that I can give it to her or my mum if she is not in.

Tomorrow I will be cooking a piece of what we call boiling bacon. It is a small joint that I initially boil in water and then throw that water away. Then boil in water again if lots of white froth stuff on top I throw the water away again. This is as it is preserved by salt. So I take out as much salt as I can. I either then cook by continuing to boil or pop in the oven and roast for a few hours depending on the size of the joint. You can eat this meat either hot or cold. But I prefer it cold for sandwiches or part of a salad. If I have time or feel like it I will possibly cook a soup from recipe that I have spotted. The main ingredience are sweet potatoes and pumpkin or butternut squash. I will tweak the recipe a little to suit what I have in my cupboard.

Right time for me to just do the last finishing touches before I go to mum and dad's so that I am ready on time.

bye bye ladies catch up with you soon :hug:

Morning everyone!

I'm alive and kicking. :cheer: I started at work again yesterday and when I walked in today the other development officer commented on 'how much healthier I look today' so that's good to hear because I'm feeling a lot better too. It did turn out that my knee has been sore because of a partically torn ligament but I'm seeing a sports therapy specialist again today and it's helping. I guess it really is true that I can always find happiness at work on Friday :D


I have been working lean meat and seafood into my diet more often like you Rosebud and Purple. I dont eat red meat - unless my parents decide to take me out - and I use veggie burgers and substitutes when I can. My diet is especially important now that I cant exercise or even do pilates.

I hope you can take it easy this weekend Purple! And I know what it is like to want to plan Rosebud - I would plan everything if I could!!

yay weekend :carrot: have a good one!
Val

Good Afternoon Ladies

Well it has been a glorious day here with lovely sunshine the temperatures have been 12c (51f) and going down to 5c (41f) so a little chilly tonight. With the lovely weather I have been taking the opportunity to go for a walk to clock up my exercise for the day.

Made a big batch of soup today. This I find is a great way of experimenting with adding different sorts of vegetables together with onions and stock. Then hey presto a big batch of homemade soup. We have had the soup for tea along with one of the jellies (jello) that I had made. Vegetable soup is not a huge amount of calories as vegetable generally have very little calories but count to your vegetable intake for the day. I often put in lentils into soups or casseroles as I find that they help fill you plus high in fibre. I have just decanted the soup into freezer containers so I now have 3 soups for the future for quick use and a bonus homemade.

VALPAL :~ Will be resting this evening and not doing a great deal tomorrow. I have already cooked my meal for tomorrow just need to reheat it. I try to be as prepared as possible regarding meals so as to stop me going on the munches. We eat regularly so there is never too long to between meals.

Glad that you are well enough to go back to work and what a great comment from the development officer which must have boosted your confidence no end. It is so nice to get comments which are postive and noticing your weight loss efforts. Bit of a bummer about your knee but glad your able to see a sports therapy specialist to help it recover. I hope it does not hinder too much your ablity to do some exercise. I know that you do pilates is it stopping you from doing that ?

I hope Mo and Rosebud are well and are having a great weekend. Catch up with you soon :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ We had a lovely sunny day yesterday, so we went shopping and spent some time in town just enjoying the weather. DH had a physio-therapy session, so I went for a couple of walks to get my exercise in and enjoy the day. Except for some annoying nerve jabs, I felt pretty good overall yesterday; I so look forward to these days.

On Wednesday, DH and I had our weekly HOE-DOWN; we may up them to twice a week to see if that helps me (probably Saturday night). The adrenaline helps me to sleep without any pain in my legs, which can wake me up or stop me from relaxing enuff to go to sleep in the first place. I could feel the adrenaline in my body and could have danced and played my instruments for hours, but we decided to stop at midnight. We are doing this as an aerobic type of exercise for me; if I am careful not to overdo it, I can mix up the dances with playing the instruments. Now, these are just things like cha-chas, tambourines, clackers, spoons, and such, but it is so much fun.

DH and I always comment how we wish they had those old-fashioned HOE-DOWNS here; we think that organizers forget that the price has to be reasonable and a lot of people just want some good "clean" fun (non-alcoholic activities). There was one dance that was cancelled becuz the price was $30.00 a couple; people weren't interested becuz they thought that was way too expensive.

In days gone by, they used to have HOE-DOWNS in barns on Saturday nights and the price was nominal, if not free; they would usually just charge for refreshments and food that was made by the women attending. Boy, those were the days, eh???

VAL ~ I'm so glad that you are feeling better and are back to work again; your co-workers sounded glad to see you too. Planning helps me to keep on track; I did great all week but blew yesterday big time; I didn't make very good choices at all. We were rushing around too much and there is no place to get a healthy thing to eat quickly in our small town. We ran into the lady who had to close our favorite place down; she sold all her equipment to another guy who is going to open a similar place near our new arena complex. I sure hope he offers some healthy options there.

PURPLE ~ I'm also glad that you are feeling better too; that is one of my mistakes too. I overdo it and it takes me a couple of days to recover from a day of shopping or dancing or gardening, etc.

GARDEN UPDATE ~ that reminds me, we gleaned up our garden on Thursday; picked the rest of the tomatoes, summer turnips, and onions; it took me all the rest of that day to clean and process them into containers and storage. We are leaving the carrots in til the end of October as they are still too small; maybe by then we can get some decent four-inchers plus a few baggies of baby carrots.

It's very rainy here today; I put up some more small baskets on our garden fence for the birdies; DH took a board and nailed it (using his good arm) to a pole at the end of our deck, so the birdies have what is called a platform feeder. It's a bit big, but they will love that; and it so close by that I can go out and put the seed in it myself for the winter.

HEY MO ~ hope all is going well for you and yours ...

Well, that's all the news for today; I hope everyone is feeling well and having a great weekend. Take good care of yourselves; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

I was doing some fall cleaning early in the week and came across this little book called "101 Fast & Funny Food Jokes". Some of them are pretty corny (no pun intended); but some are kinda cute. I thought I'd share a few of them with you ...

1 -- What kind of food luvs money? ... A DOUGH-nut!

2 -- What did the hamburger say to the pickle?
... You are DILL-icious!

3 -- What kind of jokes do veggies like best?
... CORNEY ones, of course!

4 -- What is a vampire's favorite snack?
... NECK-tarines!

5 -- What is a witch's favorite dish? ... GHOULASH!

6 -- Why won't vampires eat Sirloins or T-bones? ...
cuz they want to stay away from any STAKES!

7 -- What are special days at Foodland?
... FRYDAYS and SUNDAES!

8 -- How does a hungry man eat a hot dog?
... With RELISH!

9 -- How would you recognize a vampire in the meat market? ... He's the one with the CAPE-ON?

10 -- How does a turkey eat a hamburger?
... He gobbles it!

11 -- How do you make a raspberry swirl?
... Send it to ballet school!

12 -- What kind of fruit is on a nickel? ... A date!

13 -- Why did the audience throw eggs at the bad actor? ... Cuz hams and eggs go well together!

14 -- Why did the donut shop close up early?
... Cuz it was tired of the HOLE business!

15 -- Which food makes the best music? ... The BEET!

16 -- Why do so many people like hamburger joints?
... Cuz it's a great MEATING place!

17 -- Why wouldn't the lemon loan the orange any money? ... He didn't want their friendship to sour!

18 -- Which comedian would make a terrible cook?
... George BURNS!

19 -- Why is a pizza joint the best business?
... Cuz you can make lots of DOUGH!

20-- Why did the jelly roll? ... Cuz he was in love with Apple Turnover!

21 -- Which president loved hot dogs?
... Franklin D. ROLLS-evelt!

22 -- Where do hamburgers like to dance?
... At a MEAT- BALL!

23 -- Why do chefs have to be tough? ... To MASH the potatoes, WHIP the cream, and BEAT the eggs!

24 -- What kind of foods stick together?
... Staple Foods!

25 -- What has a thousand ears, but can't hear a thing? ... A cornfield!

26 -- What happened to the cat when he ate a lemon? ... He became a SOUR-PUSS!

27 -- Who has a corner on the spice market?
... Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme!

28 -- Which foods are best for young people?
... PRO-TEENS!

29 -- Which foods get to go to the best schools?
... Grade "A" Foods!

30 -- Spinach made Popeye's arms strong, but what made his knees weak? ... Olive OIL, of course!

P.S. I also posted these in the "Lighten Up" section of the General Chatter forum, as I think that kids would like them too!

Good Afternoon Ladies.

Having my lazy day today as I was a little busy yesterday. But did eventually get round to cooking that piece of boiling bacon this morning. It is now in the fridge as it it cool enough and I am defrosting some cooked chicken that I carved for sandwiches. I have done these in preparation to go to Norwich tomorrow to deliver bean bags. So these will be the fillings for sandwiches. So at least I have something healthier for the road. I have checked out where the nearest Morrison's (supermarket which has some healthy options on the menu in there café) as they will serve salad instead of chips if you ask (fries) or you can ask for plain boiled potatoes if you wish. Also it is not too expensive which is another factor which I consider.

Been out for a walk this morning as it is a beautiful morning and gave us an appetite for lunch. Even though it was 11am it was very quiet hardly a soul about nor many cars on the road. You would have thought it was way earlier with the lack of traffic and people. The walk has settled down our baby Rizzie as he is sleeping heavily. We are planning to try and get a walk in tomorrow before we go to Norwich to settle Rizzie down before the long journey in the van. It will be one of our shorter walks I think but depending on how I feel that early in the morning (not very good most mornings) or time.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for the smile regarding the jokes. Good and simple but they still bring a smile to your face.

Hoe downs sound like good family fun especially if it is not priced to high. It is surprising what exercising like dancing does to release the bodies natural painkiller and elevate the mood. So glad that you find benefit and are able to get a good nights sleep after one of the hoe downs. They are great fun and an added bonus they must be burning calorie. We have nothing like this here in the UK but I have seen them on television.

Sound like the last few jobs of the season needs doing in the garden. We need to mow the lawns hopefully the last for this year but with the mild weather may not be the case.

Again this weekend a big sporting events taking place with huge interest for England or the UK. The first is yesterday was England taking part in the finals of the rugby world cup against South Africa. Unfortunately we lost this time but we won it 4 years ago. Oh well you can't win them all. The second big sporting interest this weekend is F1 or formula one as it is know. This is very similar I think to Indy car racing. Today we have a young man in his first season of F1 and he is leading the tables going into the last race in Brazil. He is called Lewis Hamilton and it has been many years since the UK has had a F1 champion. F1 is raced all over the world one race in each of the selected countries. So only time will tell whether he will be successful.

Tonight I will be watching the results of the strictly come dancing. (known as dancing with the stars in many places) This is only early stages yet as we have only had 2 people eliminated. For the first time this year we have a husband and his wife taking part (celebrities side I mean). I used to do Latin and ballroom dancing to a fairly high standard but gave up when I was nigh on 17. In many ways I wish I had continued but bowed to peer pressure and wanting to study to enter into nursing.

Also started this week was the live shows of the x factor the programme that took over what was called pop idol (Canadian idol or American idol) it has a slightly different format in that there are 4 groups 1) girls under 25's 2)boys under 25's 3) over 25's and 4)groups. Three are finally selected from each of these groups to make up the final 12. Each week one is eliminated. Each group has a mentor either Danni Minogue, Sharron Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell. The contestant with the lowest votes is eliminated from the contest. I think I have tried to describe it as best as I could without rambling too much ;)

Time to start packing up things that I need to take with tomorrow so bye for now and catch you shortly :hug:

PURPLE ~ hope you have a successful trip this week. Glad you were able to go for a walk; today was so beautiful and sunny. We had company over after lunch to play a game that I mentioned before (EXTREME CHASE); it was nice to have them and we had fun.

We had a nice lean roast beef dinner with onions and turnips from our garden with carrots and new potatoes w/skins. I made a light, fall-fruit crisp for dessert; I only put in 1/4 cup flour with 1 cup oatmeal; 2 tbl natural bran for fiber, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sunflower oil, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon; the fruits were apples, plums, and a handful of raisins tossed with 1 tbl flour + 2 tbl brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It's very yummy; my favorite dessert.

DH is outside building a bonfire with this weeks paper wastes; it saves on filling up the bins and it is pretty to watch. We have a fairly clear sky, so we can see the stars and the 2/3 moon tonight. They are expecting snow maybe by Wednesday and clear on Thursday. I hope it will be clear, cuz we have to go out of town to get our glasses on Thursday (eye exams). It would be nice if the roads are clear and nice weather for us.

We have seen the Canadian and American Idol shows; yours sounds very interesting, adding more age groups and bands as well. I do like sports a lot myself and I know that many European countries are into soccer big-time. Is rugby the same as what we call soccer here? We haven't been watching much TV as our antenna fell down in a storm earlier this summer and DH never got around to putting it back up.

Well, we don't have a ladder that goes that high; we have planned on purchasing one, but they are pretty costly (at least $150.00 for a good quality extension ladder of about 20 feet; and that's if you can get it on sale). We wanted one for putting up our Christmas lights, but the budget has been pretty tight this month, and we still have that trip to the eye doctor to make, so that will have to wait til next month, I think.

I'm not a great formal dancer; I just like sliding around to burn some energy and it's kinda fun too. We don't have those Hoe-downs here anymore; you would still see them down south or out west more. I just wish they did have them here, but they don't. So we just made up our own ~ LOL!

Anyways, I have made up a new plan for myself and I will share it with you ladies on my next post. I was able to stick with it pretty good so far. I am trying to find a way to tweak my plan so that I can lose something over the winter, as that is my most difficult time of year. So, I went back to the drawing board ...

Well, that's all the news for now; tomorrow I'm going to make a large batch of homemade vegetable soup base as I'm out; using some the veggies that I picked out of the garden on Thursday. So, I will be pretty busy this week as well, as DH has therapy on Wednesday too. DH has the tea on now, so I'll go and try some of that fruit crisp with my tea.

HELLO TO VAL AND MO! Take good care of yourselves, ladies; talk to you next week. Your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

SO, HERES' THE BASIC PLAN ~ it's similar to what I have been doing; but I am just stream-lining it a wee bit ...

BREAKFAST ~ Oatmeal with natural bran and skim milk (a bit of brown sugar)+ some fruit if choice; OR other favorite whole grain cereal as desired. Once a week may have eggs and one toast (like Saturday); optional.

LUNCH ~ Bowl of Veggie-Based Soup + one whole grain sandwich; OR sub a salad for the soup, if desired.

DINNER ~ Balanced meal of lean meat of choice, 2 x veggies, and one serving of carb of choice (like whole grain bread, beans, brown rice, beans, pasta, new jacket potatoes); salad is free with light dressing.


SNACKS ~ Fruit of choice; or cheese (alone or with w/w soda crackers); or yogurt; or a small low-fat whole grain muffin; or light popcorn on occasion. I am trying for no less than two dairy and 3 fruit servings a day. Veggies have no limit; it's harder to get enuff, but we use them as fillers.

SPECIAL ~ once a week, I can have whatever favorite dinner I desire; and once a week a nice dessert of choice. * Watch the portions though * I am drinking water and tea mostly; but have diet soda and coffee on occasion. Once a day, I have a mineral juice cocktail with 8 oz of water. I also take a daily multi-vitamin + mineral supplement.

So far, I am doing well with this outline; it is very balanced and I need the structure of the planning. Both DH and I prefer the healthy breakfast and balanced dinner, as we are both Country Bumpkins ~ LOL!

Morning... er... afternoon. It's my lunch hour :)

Rosebud - your joke list was suspiciously like a list of puns :P hee hee
Your food plan sounds fairly similar to mine just add a few lean cuisines and instant soups. I would like to eventually get to the point where I plan my meals out every week and have it posted on the fridge. Anyways, your plan looks good! I think it'll give you good guidance through the winter (it's so hard not to just hibernate!)

Purple Your vegetable soup sounds good - I've been adding vegetables to whatever I can because you're right. The fibre keeps me pretty full. Now that summer is over I've had to switch to buying frozen vegetables but I keep a pretty good selection on hand.

Sounds like you watch a pretty good variety of tv. I spend the majority of evenings resting too... but I stick with dramas like House, Heroes, Grey's Antomey and the Bachelor (they are all American shows). I like House because it is about a diagnostician trying to figure out random sicknesses that people have. They do a lot of autoimmune disease 'jokes' and it gives me a chance to laugh at myself.

I could say more but I have to get back to work now. I bought a tensor bandage for my knee yesterday (because my good knee was strained and started hurting too! ack) so things are moving forward. I'm trying to get by today without any prescription pain pills :)

Take care all,
Val

Hi. I'm taking heavy psych meds, lithium and some kind of an antiseizure drug. They help my memory and mood but cause weight gain. I have decided to get a diet delivery service, or slim-fast medifast, etc. to make sure I get good nutrition, and don't mindlessly eat junk all day. I guess if I eat tons of veggies to compensate for the hunger the weight gain will be minimized. I'm only on the antiseizure med short term, and the doctor says lithium weight gain should level off once you're on it for a while.
My family has been great, very understanding, and my boyfriend assures me he'll love me no matter what I weigh. When I woke up this morning, I was able to remember the date, and where I was, so that was heartening, things have been really stressful around here, lately.
I had a frozen waffle with strawberries today, and a slim-fast smoothy, and was even able to cook the fresh tuna, and hardboile egg and new potato for tonight's salad nicoise. That's more than I've been able to do all week. I'll be so happy when I can get out of the house again, and walk places, getting kinda lonely, though my friends drop by often. Feeling a lot more cheerful today. It's nice to meet you, and thanks for listening.
Amie

Hi my name is Linda and I was born with birth defect called spina bifida, as a result I use a wheelchair.My starting weight was 311 and now I am 177 my goal is 130. I am having a hard time getting my weight to budge I have weighed the same since last Christmas. I eat 1200 calories daily, do chair and floor exercise I am 5'3 43 years old. Does anyone know what my clories intake would have to be to lose 3lbs per week? I know some will say that is unhealthy but what about all those players on The biggest loser losing 10-20 pounds a week? Thanks Linda

Hi Ladies and good afternoon.

We had a sharp frost this morning so the lawns was beautifully whited over with frost but with the beautiful sunshine it has melted away. It has been lovely sunshine since so have managed my walk reasonably early.

Well did my trip to Norwich yesterday. It was a long journey down there. There were no major roads to travel on so on A roads or B roads all the way. So no motorways. We kept getting held up with traffic on the route there which was only 118 miles but took 4 hours. But took about 2 hours on the return journey which I thought was going to be far worse as it was travelling during rush hour. Next Monday going on a very long journey to Brighton which is about as far as we travel it will be about 10 hours. Next day as you can imagine I never plan doing much as I am shattered from the travelling.

:welcome3: to jazzmegirl and Lindie to this thread. I thought it might be best that I give a small introduction to myself I am a 43 year old (well very nearly ;) ) I was diagnosed with MS in 1999 and then about 4 years ago with TN (trigeminal neuralgia) I live in the UK and prior to becoming disabled I was a psychiatric nurse for 16 years. I am no longer able to work due to the MS as I have right sided weakness it can appear that I have had a mild stroke when I am tired. I live in a bungalow with my furry monster oops baby :D called Rizzie (Staffordshire bull terrier) and my DH. My DH has been my rock through out all this and has kept me strong.

ROSEBUD :~ Love the sound of your roast beef dinner and the autumn fruit crisp sounds nice. I am a big fan of fruit in any shape or form. Yes ladders are very costly and you have to prioritise your spending sometimes when the cash flow is not so great. Ladders you can live without but you need food on the table, heating and a roof over your head. Plus you always must think about your health and you can not neglect that so that will alway come before things you can live without.

The new revised food plan sound pretty good to me and achievable for you and your DH. You have made plans now it is easier to work around that and make food that fits into that new plan. Nice that you have planned a small treat into the week that way you are more likely to keep on plan. I have several days a month were I do not stay so strictly on plan for one meal but the rest of the day I stay on plan so to minimise the damage on the scales so far it seems to be working. With having treats like this to look forward to I do not feel that I am missing out in anyway. Or feel the need to go binging on the wrong things.

VALPAL:~ I wonder if because your bad knee was hurting so bad you were walking to favour your good leg. Which is only natural as we all do that if we injury a limb. Sometime like you then the good one starts to play up. I hope that you did not have to take pain medication in the end and things are generally improving.

Talking of fibre when ever I make casseroles I do try and put in some lentils and plenty of vegetables. That way the casserole is as filling as possible. I often put lentils into soups as well to have the same effect.

I hope your chest infection has completely gone and your on the road to full recovery.

JAZZMEGIRL :~ I fully understand that psychiatric medication can have some nasty unwanted side effects. Your doctor is correct about the weight gain will level off after your on it for a while. Your being very good in being aware that not to eat junk and make healthier options. That will minimise the weight gain. I myself am on 2 medications which are anti seizure drugs but I use them for the pain killing properties that they have found to be useful in nerve pain. I have trigeminal neuralgia as I said earlier and I have found the nerve pain from that excruciating at times until I was put on these drugs. I am on carbamazapine 200mgs 4 times (plus I can take another tablet if the pain breaks through) so that is 800mgs to a 1gram a day. Then I am on gabapentin 100mgs 4 times a day. (plus I can take another 5 tablets in a day if the pain is bad) Fortunately with my background in nursing I am given enough rope to hang myself with :rofl: Really all the consultant says is I do not want you to go above a certain amount and I follow their instructions. That way I have manage to keep the pain in control most of the time. I am on 2 other medications as well again for pain. Sorry I digress. I document down on everything I put in my mouth and am aware how many calories I am eating so something like the web page www.fitday.com maybe useful. It might make you aware what you thought was healthy and not many calories has heaps. Says she speaking from experience. :o

It is wonderful that you have a supportive boyfriend and family whom will love you for you and not your weight. At times when things are stressfully and your trying to cope with illness they are so important.

I am glad that things are starting to improve for you. But you will gradually find that as the days go by you will start to get stronger and you won't be so forgetful. But it all takes time and you will see that one day that the good days will far out weigh the bad days. Look forward to hearing from you further. The people on here will help you and are a brilliant bunch of ladies who are so helpfully and will listen if your having a rough day.

LINDIE :~ Firstly let me congratulate you in your weight loss so far that is fabulous and one to be very proud of. I am now trying not to sound condisending, if I come across that way I am sorry it is surely not my intention. I would like to say that programmes like biggest loser are actually filmed over a much longer period of time than really appears on televison. I think it is filmed on closer to a year and they show it over something like 12 weeks. Which gives false reading. You probably found yourself when losing the weight at the beginning it was dropping off fairly fast but as you got nearer to 177 it slowed right down to 1lb to maybe 2lb per week. It is really not safe to drop below 1200 calories as it can damage your body in the long term. So unless told to do so by your doctor it is really not wise to go there. I would try and aim for 1lb to 2lb loss per week. I am not sure if 130 would be the right weight for your height. I only did a certain amount of phsycial health nurse training with being a psyciatric nurse. So can only advise so much. I thought maybe you might have to up your exercise programme if your body will allow. for most of us with phsycial challenges that is always the big problem. With coming from the UK I am not always the best to advise what is available out there as things I might suggest just don't exist in your country. I am guessing that your not from the UK as you have watched the biggest loser which is not shown in the UK. Could you add swimming into your exercise programme you might find that increasing exercise may start to budge the pounds.


Time for me to go as tea is nearly ready by for now :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ We had the most beautiful fall day today; it wasn't called for in the forcast, so it was one of those unexpected pleasures. DH had to take a trip out of town; I opted to stay home and get some things done around here, like laundry and other stuff.

:welcome: AMIE AND LINDA ~ we are always glad to have new people join our thread!

LINDA ~ :congrat: :broc: :dance: :carrot: :dance: :cb:

WOW ~ you have already lost 134 lbs; that's fantastic; you should be giving us tips ~ LOL. I have to admit that I agree 100% with the advice given to you by our PURPLE; she is a nurse; and my doctor gave me the same advice (1-2 lbs weekly, at most).

Your body may be taking a rest; you can't really afford to go lower than 1200 C's as that could endanger your overall health. I suspect that your body may be trying to tell you something ...

AMIE ~ I'm glad you have so much family and friends supporting you; and there are thousands of good, kind people here who are very supportive as well. We also have an area (forum) here that has a thread for those who suffer from depression and who are on meds for that specific condition.

I think your initial plan sounds fine; good eating habits will indeed help offset any weight gain caused by your meds. And as your doctor said, that side-effect may only be temporary. The SF drinks will make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need until you feel better. Will keep you in my prayers, dear.

VAL ~ Yes, those little jokes are kinda like humorous puns, aren't they? Sorry to hear you hurt your knee; I have a bum knee as well and have to watch I don't overdo it with my good leg; that would be disaster. I should look into those knee tensor bandages; that might help give some strength to my knee as well.

We do so love to hear from you VAL; you can come in and leave a post whenever you like. Ramble away ... that's OK with us. I realize that your lunch breaks are only so long though. Do you have a computer at home?

PURPLE ~ lots of very good advice there, girl; thanks so much for all your good thoughts and support on this thread. Glad your trip went OK, but sorry you have to rest now; I know what you mean. I have a trip coming up on Thursday out of town as I need full glasses now. They can be fun, but very tiring.

DEAREST MO ~ Where are you, my friend? You mentioned that you would have lots of spare time this fall; and we haven't heard from you in over a week. I am becoming a bit concerned about you. How are you? Please drop by and let us all know how you are; we really miss hearing from you!

TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF YOURSELVES, LADIES ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Morning. Doc decided to put me on abilify this afternoon, that'll be interesting anyway. Can't do medifast because of the meds, sucks, it's easy, and people seem to like it. So, I decided to go with ediets deliciously yours delivery.
Amie

:hug: all around

:welcome2: :welcome2: :welcome2: to Lindie and jazzmegirl I hope you find 3fc to be as supportive of a place as I have. Please do come back and post more about yourselves - where are you from? what does a day in your life look like and most importantly -- what gets you out of bed in the morning! (always good to remember)

I'm a 23 year old living in northern Canada with my 21 year old brother in the house I grew up in. I moved across the country for college and was diagnosed with MS during my final year of school after which I came home because it was the kind of situation where I could only impose on family. Now I work 30 - 35 hours a week in an office. Right now my reason to get up in the morning is to help my brother whose in chronic pain and to prove to myself and the world that my life isnt over. (I tell as many people as I can about MS)

Rosebud you laid out such a great welcome wagon you didnt say much yourself!! Hopefully we'll get some nicer weather here tomorrow too - it's supposed to go up to 5 degrees. The support I got for my knee was located in the Walmart pharmacy -- it's actually called a Tensor and it's one size fits all (most of the stock wouldnt fit my leg). It has really helped me be able to walk on the bad leg and stop straining the good one! I wish I had bought it sooner. Maybe it could help you too! Your puns reminded me of a good friend who liked to come up with 'groaners' like that :)

And I do have internet at home but the laptop I use in my room is having issues (I guess I dropped it one too many times as a student ) The thread is easy to catch up during lunch hours :) I hope you had a nice quiet day with DH out of town.

Purple Your are totally right about my good knee. I was putting all my weight on it and walking a little strangely to avoid pain in the bad knee. Talk about learning the hard way. I have a hard time with believing the worst. Once the pain spread like that I started picturing the worst case scenario. My doctor says that my lack of balance most likely has been making things worse so I'm really trying to rest.

I have a steroid inhaler for asthma that took care of the rest of the chest stuff - thanks for checking. And sorry for my ignorance - but lentils are the hard bean shaped legume things available in bags at the grocery store right? I've never known how to prepare those OR how to make them taste even half way good!! How do you always have them on hand to add to meals? I would like to try that!

I'm glad the sun has been warm enough during the day to take care of the frost - we had snow this week but it has been warm enough forw it to melt off by mid-day. A 10 hour trip would really take it out of me too! May I ask what are you making these treks for?




I am taking mornings off work for the next week. We've been having network problems at work (and I'm the 'go to' for all things digital) that are making the cognitive fog I get from MS much worse - makes it very difficult to focus, process conversations and think. Hard to explain ... but its making my coworkers concerned so I'm kind of taking time off for them. I know it's just something I have to deal with and hope to go away over time. Hopefully the IT consultant I called in today will have things nearly fixed by the time I get back and I wont go into 'over stimuli' mode.

Have a great night ladies. Mo I hope you are taking care of yourself! :hug:
Val

:wave: HI LADIES ~ we had another lovely day; but there were moments of light ***; and even a very small rainbow for a bit. So strange to have sun, rain, sleet, snow, clear, and a rainbow all in one day ~ LOL!

VAL ~ enjoy your time off; and I hope you are feeling better real soon. I know that persons with MS have some very unique challenges to face. Do hope that things improve for you; and I pray for you regularly as well. Sorry also to hear that your brother is suffering with chronic pain; will add him to my SPECIAL Prayer List as well.

HELLO TO PURPLE, MO, LINDA, AND AMIE.

AMIE ~ that home delivery system for your meals sounds nice; you are fortunate to have that available to you. I make all the meals around our home; DH isn't much of a cook. He can do eggs, frankfurters, and burgers though. He's not too bad with toasted peanut butter sandwiches either; which is one of his favorite snacks (he has no weight problem).

Well it's very late, gotta go for now; take good care all, and I'll be back very soon ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi and Good Afternoon Ladies,

Just a flying visit today, but hoping to stop by longer tomorrow to answer all the lovely posts, but I have just not the time to do it properly today. But I have read them all, the thread is going at full pelt at the minute away for a day and there is 3 or 4 posts to read.

Been a cloudy day today no sign of the sun but no rain either so perfect for walking in. Had a lovely walk today around the block with DH and furry baby Rizzie of course.

Went out a lunch time for a pub lunch unfortunately I did not select the healthiest meal on the menu but on the other hand it was not the worst somewhere in the middle. But for tea all we have had is a huge bowl of melon to fill up on which are hardly any calories. so that should see me till later. But I have already prepared something healthy for when we return to prevent me going off plan any more today.

Last night had a torrid time, don't know why but I started to itch head to foot despite having an antihistamine. I had creamed myself head to foot with my eczema creme and put steroidal ointment on selected areas. But oh boy it was so uncomfortable when the only urge you have to do is itch uncontrollably. Approximately 18 months ago this is how my eczema flared up last year when I was covered in eczema all over apart from my face. I was an oozing mess and my mood was low. Partially because the treatment was not working and secondly I was not sleeping. In the end I ended up going to hospital to see a specialist who sorted me out by putting me on steroids, cream and ointment. Plus 2 sorts of antihistamines. I was fearful that this was all coming back to haunt me. Touch wood today I am OK hoping I am OK at bedtime. Poor DH was kept awake until he suggested to go on a walk one to stop me itching and causing damage to myself. Also hopefully to tire me out. So there we where at 1.30am going for a walk. Well I was shattered by the end and slept the rest of the night so his remedy worked.

I hope you ladies are all well and so are your families and loved ones you are in my thoughts. Take care catch up with you soon xxx :hug:

Hi. Val, I have asthma also. I bind my entire head with a scarf, which helps a lot in the harsh winter weather. Lentils are the tiny little beans, brown, red, or green. I like them boiled until soft with a tablespoon of curry paste, onion and soy sauce over rice, but, they can also replace meat in part, I'm told. Experiment. Sorry your brother is in chronic pain.
Rosebud, LOL., DH! My boyfriend is a great cook, that's the problem, he makes gourmet meals, it's like, "Honey, we'll be ready to eat in about 3 hours." And I'm like, "I'm starving, haven't you ever heard of a frozen dinner?" It's good natured, and we compromise, he says he needs to learn to cook more healthy, which I'm good at. He's been so supportive, coming to see me every day, and calling regularly.
Purple, I hope the itching goes away. I only have eczema on selected joints, in tiny patches. I hear it can be miserable for people.
My food should get here today. Cleaned out my fridge and freezer. I went with the higher price, though I may go with Diet to Go, starting next week, because it's cheaper, and the food is really good, bessides, a lot of people on here are doing it. I'll let you know how it goes.
Took half a trazidone last night, and slept like a rock, must've really needed it. Still waiting on the abilify, should get it today.
Amie

:wave: HI THERE LADIES ~ Well, I can't believe it, but our FALL IS FINALLY HERE! YEAH and more YEAH! We had another day of glorious sunshine, and they are calling for more of the same for tomorrow.

Well, we didn't get to take our trip today; had to postpone it til later as the car has a wee brake problem. It was supposed to be fixed yesterday, but the wrong parts came; had to re-order them; and again today, only half the order was correct, and DH had to re-order some more again. Needless to say, he was getting a little frustrated. So I said "No problem, we'll just cancel and make an appointment for a later date".

The mechanic doesn't want us to make a trip til the brakes are fixed; so, it will all turn out for the better, in the end. Instead, we have decided to go to the city, so that we can get in some early Christmas shopping all at the same time; and that should be a lot of fun too.

PURPLE ~ sorry to hear about the eczema problem; we have a friend that has a terrible psoriasis break-out (poor dear); they have tried everything, she suffers terribly. I had a cousin and a close friend with eczema (both suffered mostly when they were young though); fortunately, it all cleared up for them. Specialists said their nerves were bad; but later on, both had babies, and haven't seen any eczema since; interesting ...

I hope it clears up for you real soon as well. I have these weird nerve jabs in my legs that keep me awake; if I do some dancing, the adrenaline takes them away (a wee bit of beer helps sometimes as well; just a tad though ~ LOL). ;)

AMIE ~ I think that's sweet that your DB makes you dinner; I would love that (but have a wee snack while waiting). Glad to hear that your meds are helping you and your food has arrived; do let us know how you like it. What kinds of stuff did they send you? My DH had asthma problems before big-time; but since he quit smoking almost five years ago, he hasn't had to use inhalers since. If he gets a flu, like he did this year, it flares up a bit with a phlem problem, but he's handling it OK.

VAL ~ you can get different kinds of beans in cans; just drain and rinse them and add to any favorite dish. I use red & white kidney beans, navy beans (we normally call pork & beans here), pinto beans, and sometimes black beans. Canned beans are already cooked for you; so really you are just heating them up. DRY beans, however, have to be soaked overnight; and boiled til tender the next day before being added to soups and others dishes. They are cheaper, but a lot of work; so, I prefer the canned ones myself. They are a very good meat substitute and I know that you are trying to eat that way.

Last week I did really well, but I had only a so-so day today; hope that I do better tomorrow and for the rest of the week. Had one of those; gosh darn pity party days today ~ LOL! Why can't I eat what my skinny husband eats? Why is he so danged skinny when we eat almost the same things? Sometimes, he eats a huge bag of chippies on top of his meals and doesn't gain an ounce; his genetics are way better than mine (family of skinny-minnies). OK ~ MY PITY PARTY IS OVER NOW ...

ONE thing that I have done, is that I have switched to drinking GREEN TEA, and have found it to be very soothing; I love it! And, you don't get that acidity problem that comes from other kinds of teas; I am trying mainly to drink green tea and water right now.

TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELVES LADIES ~ and talk at you again real soon, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:hug:Good Evening Ladies

Well calling in today to do the job I was unable to do yesterday and that was to reply to the posts. So great to see this thread taking off. Been a packed day of jobs to do today but now I have the time to sit at my computer. Been my dreaded ironing day today plus tomorrow. Broke it down into manageable sizes for me. Also nephew called around today (DH sisters son) to do something technical with his laptop which he had to jack into DH PC. Well lets put it this way it was way over my head, yet I have a fair knowledge of PC. But he is a PC whizz kid. Cooked lunch for all of us, then afterwards when Stephen our nephew had gone home we managed to fit in a late walk.

ROSEBUD :~ I have had eczema most of my adult life but until last year nothing to talk home about just small patches about the size of a dime or cent depending what your currency is. Eczema this size was easy manageable and not very intrusive on your life. But since the bout I had last year it has been an on and off battle to keep it under control. If I get too hot in any way the heat quickly dries out my skin which in turn leads to the itching. It is a constant battle which at times you feel that your in a revolving door never getting out.

Sorry to hear about your "nerve jabs" in your legs this must be painful. Nothing worse when it keeps you awake. Has next morning your grumpy or so tired which makes things doubly difficult to do. Lets hope they resolve themselves. But one little blessing at least you have found some methods of relieving them.

I really know what it is like having "skinny Minnie's" my sister has always been a stick insect eats what she likes and all the fatting things we only dream about or just look at and put on 2lbs. I have taken after my dad's side of the family and my sister my mums. So my sister and I look nothing alike. But her eldest daughter look so like me it is uncanny. Many people ask whether she is my daughter.

VALPAL :~ Amie gave you a good description of lentils and what they look like and uses. When I first used them I only put a very small portion but as I found I liked them in especially in soups and casseroles. Anything I am grateful too that keeps me full that little bit longer.

Yes the strange gait we can get with MS can give us pain. Mind tends to be by back and my hips. At times I look like a waddling duck for want of a better expression. I never really had what MSers call cognitive fog until the past two years the first time it happened I was at service station on my own at this point as DH was exercising Rizzie. When I had been to use the facilities I came out of the service station and I could not remember what vehicle I had come in or who with for that matter. I really panicked for a few minutes. Then I spotted my DH what a relief. I was in a real state when I came up to the van, I thought I had the starts of dementia. I have noticed more and more that it has hit my speech centre and will come out with the wrong word with some amusing results. Also when typing I found it difficult to spell the most simplest word than goodness for spell check.

AMIE :~ Thanks for your excellent description of lentils. I see that you have asthma as well as eczema. I have often heard said that they go hand in hand. Fortunately I do not suffer from asthma so something to be grateful for. But now the colder weather is fast approaching ( I still know at UK worse cold spells it it like the Bahamas to many people ;) ) I look like I am dressed up to go to the Antarctic :D I have a scarf wrapped around my face so as not to trigger nerve pain in my face and thermal gloves for my hand because if they get cold with having the MS you can get pain akin to frostbite. Not to mention my thick coat. I look a right plonker in this country but I don't care I do it for my comfort.

Yes it will be interest how this meal plan goes. Will be interest to hear the journey whilst taking it. Wishing you all the best for it. Your lucky your boyfriend can cook when my DH I first met I swear mind could burn water :D. So I had to teach him to cook from scratch, so now he can could but I usually do it whilst I still can. When I was working he even got adventurous and looked into baking books that I have. So one night when I had worked an evening shift I came home to his home made scones.

Glad you managed to get a good nights sleep with some trazidone which must have made you feel better in yourself. I hate sleepless nights. I used to be awful at getting of to sleep and was a light sleeper to boot. But one blessing that my medication that I am on now I sleep well nearly all the time.

Time to got and start to get ready for bed. Not that I will be sleeping just yet;) I got to get my daily fix of reading.:D. I love to go to bed to read, I hardly ever read anywhere else. Plus I find it relaxing and helps me to go to sleep. I have lost count now where DH has found me a sleep with a book in my hand:o

bye bye catch you tomorrow all being well ladies. xxx :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ We had another gorgeous day today; we have been blessed all week. The weekend may a bit different though. ;) We decided to go out for a drive and had to check on those car parts, which didn't come in; the guy made an error (DH's patience is being tested to no end ~ LOL!)

It was so lovely that we decided to go for a drive by one of our favorite lakes in the area (the water was quite high today). Gotta take advantage whilst we can, cuz it may not last much longer. We usually see some more permanent *** by early November, for sure.

I had a much better day today; that beautiful sun brightened up my day so much. I went out for a walk around the yard and filled all my feeders for my fine-feathered friends. I put little baskets all along our garden fence; and they sure do love them.

We had a real treat for dinner tonight (my favorite); PITA PIZZAS. DH is a bonafide fan now too! I had mine Greek, with olives; and DH has his with mushrooms. We are just staying home tonight and taking it easy; it's kinda cool out there.

HI PURPLE ~ as you stated; lentils are a smaller bean or pea, as we call them here; they come in green, yellow, orange, and beigy brown. I do like them all; you probably know how long they need to cook better than me, as I just throw some in my homemade soups with some barley; and cook til tender, then freeze the soup in stackable containers.

HELLO TO VAL, AMIE, LINDA, AND MO ~ take extreme good care of yourselves ladies; and have a great weekend too, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ here's a cute little poem I found recently; thought I'd share it with you ...

CLOSE TO HOME

HAPPINESS can be found
in your own backyard --

If a patch of flowers
thrives there
under the care
of loving hands --

If children laugh
as they build sand castles
and snowmen there --

If a doghouse stands
in the corner ...
With a little dog inside
who likes to romp
and fetch rubber balls
with his master
on the soft grass --

If a husband and wife
relax there in the evening
Discussing their day
and sharing the stars.

HAPPINESS can be found
in your own backyard.

by Blanche Weiss

:wave: HELLO EVERYONE ~ just taking it easy on this rainy Saturday; DH is bored out of his mind. DH just called to me that the rain has now turned to *** snow ***; so here it comes; he's even marking it on the calendar, no less ~ hehe!

I sure hope he finds a new hobby for the winter; and it hasn't even started yet ~ lol! Our birds are stocking up on food; those Blue Jays, they fill up there gullets and take off to the bush; probably to some knot hole in some old tree there. I love watching the birds, all their antics are so funny.

THAT'S why I posted that little poem above (simple, but true); watching them reminded me of it. We have all that in our backyard ~ flowers, two adorable furry friends, kiddies running around playing, and the birdies; we also have some goaties and chickens next door. We have one chicken living under our back shed; hope it doesn't get too cold this winter; DH went looking for it yesterday, but couldn't find it (probably hiding from him ~ lol!)

WELL, I'm doing better on my plan the last couple of days; YEAH! We are starting our fall cleaning now; gotta keep that DH busy somehow. Every fall we sort and clean and discard stuff that's not being used and is really in the way; taking up valuable space for nothing! This morning, I sorted out clothes, and cleaned out my desk.

GONNA go put some soup on for lunch now; take good care ladies. HAVE A GREAT DAY! Your friend, :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the information on lentils and beans all - what I'm looking for specifically is how to prepare legumes so that they're ready to just pop in dishes. All I know of these things is the hard little balls that come in bags.... with the idea that they have to be soaked overnight THEN cooked? Is that right? I really am from a fast food generation!!

Amie - I've got a disk inhaler that really helps me through the winter but you are so right about covering up! I have to keep my mouth and nose covered with a scarf and usually breath through my own mitten on top of that - but -40 calls for some extra precautions. Has it gotten very cold where you live yet?

Purple- sounds like your run in with cog fog was really scary! I dont let myself drive vehicles or go into stores alone/without a cart to lean on but it hasnt gotten as scary as completly forgetting my surroundings like that. I have taken injections on the wrong day because I was so confused - so I do them with my brother as an extra precaution.

Rosebud- Thanks again for reading all my recent rambling. Poor us! hee hee hee. We are overdue to change the trucks tires to the studded tires and will probably do it tomorrow. Do you and DH do a lot of driving during the winter? Maybe your snow will go away or melt?

That's all I've got for now! happy weekend everyone :)
Val

HEY VAL ~ you can find PRE-COOKED beans (a type of lentil) in the canned foods at any grocery store. I prefer red and white kidney beans, chick peas, white pea or navy beans, black beans, romano beans, or what is known as porkn' beans (navy or pea beans). Actually there are many more different kinds of beans and lentils; I just can't remember them all right now.

Just drain and rinse them with COLD WATER before using; and since they are already cooked for you, just add them to whatever dish you are making. They only need to be heated through. What could be faster than that? ;)

And at our local V-Mart, I have found quick BLUE MENU dishes (lentils and rice with spices) that only take about 12-15 minutes (the mix comes in a box); look for them (total vegetarian). And, you can also buy frozen lentil and rice dishes as well (just heat them in the microwave). Looking for all these will keep you busy for awhile ~ LOL!

P.S. Traditional LENTILS (which include DRIED SPLIT PEAS, are smaller) may not take as long as dried beans do to cook. I have a pack of yellow spit peas here, BUT the package doesn't have any instructions on it ~ LOL! That's why I just put them in soup and cook them til tender (I just don't know exactly how long they take to cook).;)

:wave: HI LADIES ~ Well, that snow is still here; we woke up to 28F and everything is frozen like a popsicle out there, so we are just staying home today. DH walked over to a nearby Church, but there weren't many people there becuz of the bad road conditions.

VAL ~ NO, we don't drive as much in the winter as we do in the spring to fall becuz of the harsher weather here. You have a truck and use chains for traction (which aren't allowed in Ontario ~ they are illegal here). Instead, we have what are called MUD & SNOW TIRES; they stay on all year round. DH says we may need to get new ones next year, so we better start saving now ~ LOL!

We do go into town about 1-2 times a week in the winter, but during the worst weather, we may only go in ONCE a week. We do stock a good pantry and have a 4-foot freezer, so we could be good from 2-4 weeks, if need be. I always have stuff on hand to make biscuits or bread, if I have to. I store my flour in the freezer too (esp good for whole wheat); it keeps longer in there.
We normally buy bread, cuz we only use about 2 loaves a week, as long as DH doesn't eat too many peanut butter sandwiches, that is ...

We find the slushy, then frozen weather at the beginning of winter hardest to get use to; once it's here and the temps fall, it becomes a dryer cold which is more bearable. It's the damp sleet and snow that gets to your bones, joints, and muscles. We managed to get most things ready this year; took out the air conditioner, put in a board and a sheet of foam insulation for the winter to keep the air out.

We tried to get the car ready, but the brake parts are now coming from a US factory, so that's gonna take at least two weeks to get here (oh, and the shipping costs might hurt a little ~ ouch). ;) But you gotta have brakes, and our mechanic is going away; so DH is gonna have to do it all himself. Thank goodness, he has a good physio-therapist. He has to go again tomorrow, but it's really coming along now. Each day, he can do more and more; we were a little concerned, but this man is helping him a lot.

All I have done today is thaw, clean, and fill the birdies' feeders and make meals today; am really taking it easy. I have to admit though that the new fallen snow does look really pretty on the fur trees out back. We were gonna go visit a friend who bought a new place, but DH says the roads are too yucky today; so, maybe next week will be better.

WELL, that's all the news for now ladies; hope you are having a great weekend. Take good care, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HELLO ... Am I the only one around these days? Everyone else must be on extended leave ~ LOL!;)

We had some snow falling when we got up this morning, but by this afternoon, it was almost all melted. I got out for about three walks today; and went out to fill all my feeders. I have them set up all around the back yard so that I have to go for a nice little trek to get them all in; I did this on purpose, to get in some extra walking each day. You really have to lift up those legs when you are dredging thru snow; but whatever burns energy is OK with me ...

Inside, I just did some laundry, tidying up, dishes, and meals; while Dh went to his therapy session. They say it's healing a lot faster than expected becuz he has been doing his daily reps faithfully; and that he's doing so well, that he may only have one more session, this Friday.

I kept on plan really good today but had to deal with a bit of bloat for some reason. I used to have other problems before, and now things are changing; neither is enjoyable, I must say; but I am feeling better now after having dinner and some nice, green tea.

Well, I came in expecting to have something to read, but all that was here was my own babblings ~ LOL! I hope some of you ladies come by soon and keep me company; that would be very nice ... Take good care, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Afternoon Ladies,

Well plans of mice and men got scuppered and just have not managed to get on the thread so I have been MIA. Thanks to everyones posts they have been great to read and even a bit of poetry from Rosebud.

Not up to full strength today as yesterday I went to Brighton which is right on the South coast of the UK. From where we live it is about a 400 mile round trip. The journey itself went extremely smoothly but nevertheless it has taken its toll on my body today and I feel quite tired.

I went out for a lovely meal with friend at an Indian restaurant, the food was wonderful. That day knowing full well we were going out in the evening I kept the calorie intake lower. The same for the next day just tweaked slightly the calorie in take to lessen the effects. But we rarely go out for a slap up meal like that so we thought we'd make the best of it.

Autumn (fall) has set in in earnest here the tree have started to change and the colours are glorious to look at down the tree lined avenues. I love this time of year for the splash of beautiful colours that nature throws up. I noticed on one of our walks the other day I am sure were about 4 inches of growth of what i think were daffodils shooting up. I am no gardener so I maybe wrong. I think the shoots were way to big for crocuses or snowdrops so I am intrigued to see the flower now. If it is daffodils they are way, way to early. But with us having milder weather now plants are getting confused when to bud and come into flower. We have had one or two frosts but nothing to talk home about. We have had no haw frost ( this is what we call a really sharp frost were every thing is whited over and it looks like a Christmas card image. It is that white over it looks like it may even have snowed but that is not the case.

Sorry I have not replied to the posts today but I am not feeling up to full speed today. So soon as I am fully recovered and I have time I will do so. Just wanted to show my face to prove that I had not fallen off the face of the earth.

Must run ( well not literally haven't got a run in me :rofl: more like a slow hobble ;) ) time to get afternoon tea on the go else we will go hungry before we go out.

bye bye ladies and take care. Hope your all OK and your families are well. :hug:

hello!

I was falling asleep yesterday and I realized that I've completly forgotten about 3fc... I usually get a chance to come by every day. My brother and I had a heck of a time changing the summer tires off his truck - a few months ago he drove 30 km/h into a 2 foot puddle and the vehicle hasnt been the same since. (we like to do an annual offroading/adventure where we push this 2 wheel drive chevy s10 junker through **** and back) Our adventures have affected the truck suspension so we couldnt get the jack under the truck frame.

So we spent a couple hours trying to fit the jack under... I wish I had taken pictures of the process. At one point we wiggled the tire we wanted to change off and wedged it under the truck frame to try and fit the jack beside it. Then we found some cement cinder blocks and wedged those under before being able to get a good jack point. We even jacked the truck under the driver side door (basically right in the middle) and tried to get the rear tire high enough to change. There was a lot of laughing going on.

Thank you rosebud to explaining what you know of these bean things to me. I really want to work with the bagged ones. less sodium

i have to run! purple take care of yourself and rest up. I have got to get back to work!

:wave: HELLO EVERYONE ~ nice to see some visiters today; thanx for coming by and posting. We had a lovely day; the sun prevailed and came to stay til dinner-time. I did some walking out back today and of course did my treks to fill the birdie feeders; they sure appreciated it, singing away to tell their friends "COME AND GET IT!"

DH got the car all fixed up today; with all that sun, the snow has melted again. I hope the forcast is wrong again tomorrow, as we've had two unexpected days with some sunshine. Tomorrow we are off for a shopping trip and just to have fun really, but I'll try to be really good.

Kept on my plan today, and I'm really happy about that. I think I should keep track of NSV (non-scale victories) like did I stay on plan today? And did I get my walking done? Plus maybe weights, stretches, aerobics, dancing, and so forth ... this could help keep me motivated better.

VAL ~ glad you and your bro had a good laughing fest whilst changing your tires; it's good to laugh at ourselves and life. Laughter is a gift that keeps on giving; it makes us happy at the time, and experts say it help our bodies heal and be stronger as well! So, get out those comedies! I'm always on the lookout for comedians and such for Dh as he love that.

PURPLE ~ sorry you are wiped out right now; glad you had a good trip and had a nice dinner out; hope you are feeling well soon. I used to read a lot too; but haven't found too many books of late that interest me much; maybe I should scoot over to the library this week and see what they have. We have some new birds this year, so DH wants me to see if I can find out what kinds they are.

HELLO TO MO ~ sure hope you can find the time to come in and say hello, however briefly sometime; you must have almost reached your goal by now. You have done so very well; but I know that your life is pretty busy as well.
Hello to ERIC and your Dh.

Well, that's all for now; DH and I are going to go play some games; so have a good night; and do take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

A friend sent me this lovely poem ~ how appropriate for me ...

THE ROSEBUD
--------------

A plain and simple Rosebud,
A flower of God's design.
I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret to unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
The flower that God opens so easily,
In my hands would fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
A flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

The solution is rather simple,
Trust God every moment, every day,
And look to Him for guidance
With each step along the way.

For the pathway that lies before me
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
Trusting that He'll unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose ...

:val3: ROSEBUD :val3:

:wave: HI FRIENDS ~ I'm back again to check in for the day. I felt pretty good today and got a lot of walking in as it was shopping day. Meal wise, I stayed on plan, but we did have a wee St. Hallow's Eve's treat today. DH got some Smarties, so I told him to go hide them in the TV room; that's my candy treat for the year.

I usually only ever have sugar-free candy; so I told DH is verging on sabotage with his candy. All in all, it was a good day; the rain held off til tonight, so that was nice for us. We forgot a few things, so we make another trip this Friday when Dh goes for therapy. Tomorrow, we get a day to take it easy and rest my feet; as they do throb after these trips.

VAL ~ you are correct that canned beans do have some sodium in them, so I guess you are just gonna have to learn how to prepare and cook dem old bagged things ~ LOL!

PURPLE ~ hope you are feeling better too! DH and I played games last night and I won the series 2-1 ...

MO ~ miss your company; hope you are well.

That's all for now; take good care, my friends :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Evening!

So I've gotten stuck with the truck a dozen times or so in town. We got a crazy amount of snow in the last few days and only a few routes are plowed.

Other than that.... I went to my sports therapist again today. and did 15 minutes on my stationary bike only to find out it's still too early to excercise without pain. I'm going to try again on saturday!

im going to bed, nite all! happy halloween :P

Good Morning Ladies

Wow this is quite early for me to be up and had my breakfast it is not like me at all. I bet come mid afternoon I will be crawling into bed as I can not last the distance.:D

:haphal: for yesterday. In the UK it is not celebrated the way it is in Canada and USA. Although in the past few years the children here have started to go trick or treating on this day. I think the lore of sweets and chocolates was the reason it started here.

I have quite a bit to get done in the kitchen today. I have been given some fallen apple so I would like to peel and stew them. I thought some stewed apple for dessert would be nice. I have a joint of gammon to cook that will be for sandwiches. Then of course I have dinner to cook. I think I will will be enlisting my DH in as trainee chef if he does not come up to standard I will demote him to head bottle washer (washing up the pots) :rofl: Mind you he does not know yet that I will be promoting him to trainee chef ;)

Gosh is it November already the month past by so quickly it is unbelievable. Still the weather here remains mild not that I am complaining. It is 59F during the day and a low of 51F at night. So walking is still very pleasurable.

VALPAL :~ Oh boy the changing of the tyre sounds really funny on your brothers vehicle something that should have been in the carry on films. ( the carry films were made in England by only a small bunch of actors, they did historical films like their version of Henry the Eighth or several set in hospital. They as you will have guessed were comedies who tried to get things past the British censor with double entendres. The British Censors in those days were renowned for being strict so it was a kind of game the script writers use to do so see how much they could get past. As it happened they got away with murder so to speak they got loads past the censors. The films were not R rated by any means. They were good family fun which attracted the adults to watch to see the other meanings in the words that kids just wouldn't get) Hope your leg soon gets back to its normal self.

The lady whom I met a few weeks back it really struggling at the minute because she has had an attack. It has left her hardly unable to walk. So I think in my opinion that she will end up going back on steroids to get her back to some normality

The weather for me seems hard to comprehend we never get weather like that as I have said so I keep trying to picture it in my head from images I have seen on television.

ROSEBUD :~ I am getting back to steam after my long trip on Monday. I have another long one on the agenda coming up again this Monday that is to Kent. Did an extra long walk yesterday but managed it with 2 stops and cuppas to keep me going ;) My right hip is a bit sore this morning whether it is due to the walk or just a muscle spasm brewing.

I have this mental image of you feeding your little feathered friends with all your feeders sounded by your beautiful garden. At this time of year it is a full time job keeping them feed I bet. We are luck at the minute the weather is still very mild so the birdies do have plenty of food. Once upon a time (nope not telling you a fairy tale even though at the beginning it sounds like it:D) it was said we were in for a harsh winter if there were lots of berries on the bushes. But that now does not seem to be true the past few years we have had tonnes of berries and not a flake of snow in sight. Still seeing flies and bees about although fewer I must admit.

Thanks Rosebud for all the lovely posts you have kept the thread going over the past few days when I went AWOL. Love the second poem about a rosebud yes as you say it is so appropriate for you.

Right I must get a move on and get some proper clothes on. Sitting here in nightie and dressing gown waiting of for the pain killers to kick in. Well they have done their bit so now for me to put some effort in.

bye bye ladies and take care. :hug::hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ Just a quick run-thru ...

Had a good day; went ski-walking tonight in the cool, crisp air. The sky was clear and full of stars; they seemed so close that you'd think that you could have just reached out and touched them. It was beautiful!

We stayed home and did stuff around here; mostly housework and cooking. Of course, I went out a few times and fed my birdies (a nice little walk). We didn't get as much snow as expected, but the wind was cold this afternoon. By tonight, it had calmed completely, so I decided to get those ski poles out, and I really enjoyed the walk.

Well, that's all for tonight; I'm off to bed now, but I'll do personals tomorrow ~ so, take good care; your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Morning Ladies

Well going to my Mum and Dad's today and fingers crossed that the traffic is not too bad. The route we have to take is having work done on it, several of the roads leading off this main road have been closed down and you need to find an alternative route. But the main thing that bottle noses up the traffic is going from dual carriage way ( 2 lanes ) to single carriage way ( 1 lane). It is a busy road at the best of times so we are just hoping at the time of day that we go won't be too bad. Over the years the road has improved vastly there are now 2 bypasses ( a road that goes round instead of through ) around two villages you had to go through. One in particular was very bad as you had a very sharp bend and I have lost the times that a lorry (truck) has lost its load around there. To this improvement to the road also cut 15 minutes from the journey from Mum to Dad's. They live about 28 miles from me and it takes about even now 45 minutes. but before it was always a good hour for such a short distance.

Went to play cards as usual last night I did no good but DH did well and won. It was a lovely night out as per usual and kept me out of mischief. I still have to be strong at each of these card nights we go on as tea/coffee and biscuits are served which is so tantalising close its murder sometimes :D But only once I have ever given in so over all I have been good.

Even though we went out on Saturday and had a meal that wasn't exactly on plan ;) I am really pleased that I managed any weight loss this week. DH at the minute is stuck at one weight and can not seem to budge. So it is hard at times now to keep him motivated. If I drop his food intake even slightly he is hungry so goes raid the fridge. But on the positive side he is not gaining. Not sure what to advise him next whether to up his calorie intake slightly or just leave it be and lets see what happens. I am sure you can sympathise Rosebud with his dilemma. He is not the most patience man in the world so keeping him on the straight and narrow and keeping him motivated at times is hard. But give him his dues he is trying really hard.

ROSEBUD :~ You ski walking under a starry sky sounds wonderful. I don't get that really clear starry view that you talk off with living in a build up area. Plus living close to an airport you have quite a bit of traffic up in the sky. Never really notice it during the day but at night it is much more prominent possibly as it very quiet so sounds like that travel. You might be able to sneak in one or two more of these walks if the weather stays good for it. Good thing you enjoyed it and your more likely to want to go again. I am sure it was a good work out for arms and legs "way to go you".

Well time for me to shoot and start to get ready to go out today as per usual nothing ready and all to do.

Hope everyone is alright and families are well also. Look forward to hearing from you went time and family committments allow. Plus also our bodies letting us feel up to sitting at the PC. to type.

bye ladies and catch you soon.xxx :hug:

:wave: HI THERE ~ well, we got into town and picked up the birdseed and a ladder, finally one came in; it wasn't the one we ordered, but it will do the job. Dh didn't feel like making another trip and paying another $40 bucks to get a different one; funny, how the price changes when you get to the store ... hmmm?

Now we can get our TV antenna hooked back up for the winter, and tomorrow morning, we are going to start on the Christmas lights; I just want to change the color of the bulbs on the building. We'll put the tree and other lights up at the end of November, but now he can do it without hurting himself.

DH went for his final physio session today; the therapist says he is pretty happy with how he has done his exercises. He will always have some limited range in that shoulder, but doesn't have any more pain now; but, the therapist has warned him to knock off the over-strenuous stuff ~ LOL!

PURPLE ~ hope your trip to your parents goes well and you have fun; you are lucky to have them so close to you. Yes, I can sympathize with your Dh about hitting a plateau; I think it will move in time after his body adjusts a little. I know, for me, I had to adjust my eating a bit ... I needed to streamline.

Now, I am trying to stay away from those extra unnecessary carbs that sneak their way into my house via DH ... LOL! I gave him a wee scolding this morning; really, just a gentle reminder. The biggest thing is to just keep going and follow my plan, even if I make a mistake. As someone else said, this is good practice for maintaining, later on.

YES, I just love the ski-walking becuz the poles give me more balance and security. I don't worry about falling as much, so I can even walk faster without hurting myself. Your arms get a workout at the same time, so you burn more energy; but I have to watch it in the beginning, or my right shoulder gives me a bit of a complaint (like today).

VAL ~ hope your knee is better soon; yes, you do have to go slow at the beginning, albeit you do have to keep using it to keep it mobile. I do light exercises for my knee as well, and I am starting to see some improvement now. I haven't had those horrible stabbing pains in a while now; oh, it still collapses on me, but it's just not near as painful as it used to be, and that's a great kind of improvement to have ...

Sounds like you guys got quite a dumping of snow up there; my sis in FLIN FLON is getting snow this week too, I think. They forcasted some for this week, but we only got a sprinkling that is gone now; they are calling for some for next week now, so maybe Dh will have time to get the lights up before the big snow falls ...

DH is listening to some new jazz records he picked up today; I picked up a couple of light exercise tapes, but I haven't got a look at them yet. I have to go for the gentle stuff right now, but everything should help. I'm gonna order that ERGOMETER this week; I almost forgot about it ~ LOL!

Well, this is getting pretty long, and I have to go put dinner on; so take good care of yourselves and have a great weekend ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies and good morning

Well just a swift drop in as i am in the middle of cooking so not got lots of time spare but could not resist a sit down and reply to the post.

We avoided what was potentially a black spot for traffic hold up we decided to use another route. Glad we did we went through it smoothly and saw some beautiful countryside to boot and a quaint village. Had a good evening and day at mum and dad's. I did no good last night at cards but DH got highest half and a raffle prize. Here they play for money not prizes of groceries. It is not a big sum of money by any means but just not too bad considering the number of people.

ROSEBUD :~ Glad that you have managed to get the long awaited ladder so that Christmas decorations can go up safely and the television ariel. Now that it is winter you may watch a bit more television with the weather not being so nice as spring and summer.

Glad DH is on the road to recovery with his shoulder. Lets hope that he keeps on the straight and narrow and does not think he is a twenty year old or superman :D

DH has thought of increasing his exercise of more walking but I will not be able to come with him as I am at my limit at the minute and we both know that. So that may help to persuade the scales to go down.

Yikes I really must run else the pans will boil dry and dinner spoilt.

bye bye ladies and take care all :hug:

Good Morning Ladies,

Wow I am up early for me there must be something wrong with me ;) I woke up about 7.30am and I have not been able to go back off to sleep since. Normally I would go back and sleep until 9.30am or later. Our furry baby Rizzie has decided it is way to early for him to get up and is still in bed. He really loves his bed and if he don't think it is late enough for him to get up it is like shifting a stubborn teenager from their bed :D

It is really cold this morning I know for some it still would like being in a sauna :D it is about 40F this morning suppose to warm up a bit to 51F and remain cloudy all day. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain which is not great travelling weather as we are going to Ramsgate in Kent. For us it is a 212 miles journey one way. we will be going under the Dartford tunnel which you have to pay a toll charge. We will have to use it twice I think so twice the fee. I will make the sandwiches etc later today ready to take with us. I am afraid I leave myself as little to do as possible in the morning as I am about as much use as a chocolate fire guard until I get going :rofl:

I peeled some cooking apples yesterday that I had been given and we had them for tea. I put a bit of Cinnamon on them to spice them up a bit. Mind you I love apples and stewed ones in particular. DH had a very small portion of low fat ice-cream and I had them as they came.

I cooked a piece of gammon yesterday and it seems to have come out lovely will be carving it for some sandwiches for tomorrows dinner on the road. At the moment it is in the fridge hardening off so that it is much easier to carve.

With the weather being so mild we have been able to get a walk in everyday if I am wrapped up. To stop me getting MS symptoms and more importantly Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) which is so difficult to manage once the pain sets in. The slightest thing sets it off and then I am taking pain killers like smarties (sweets with a crispy sugar coat and chocolate inside) to deaden the pain.

I have planned myself what I call a lazy day today. With going on the long journey tomorrow I want all my strength for that. So I have minimal things to do as such. Our meal just needs reheating in the microwave and gravy on the stove. Sandwiches etc to do for tomorrow and that is about it work wise apart from what ever I decide we are having for tea. But it is lovely to have a lazy day now and again to help recharge my batteries. I made a huge casserole yesterday (chicken and vegetables) There was as planned a good portion for DH and I for another meal so that has gone in the freezer for my not so good days. It is nice when you can bake/cook an extra portion or so to put in the freezer for another meal later. It allows you to stay on plan and have home cooked food. Even better with minimal effort for that day. Yesterdays casserole I served with 4 different vegetables so that we don't want a lot of potatoes. Vegetables have low calorie content so filling up on those is not so bad. I have a steamer I bought cheaply a few years bad and so I steam them with that. My friend steams so much more than me. She does rice, fish and even chicken. I have not been that adventurous.

Yesterday our dear friends John and Joyce went on the Orient Express to London and then on to a show at the West End ( equivalent to USA Broadway). They were going to see Billy Elliot a show about a young boy from a mining community who wants to be a ballet dancer. A lad from that background it is not the done thing to be interested in things like that so he has a difficult passage. I love the film so I would have gladly seen the show. I can not wait to hear all about it. It was paid for by their 3 children for their 60th birthdays this year. I thought it was a wonderful present for them and they will throughly enjoy it. John was 60 in February and Joyce will be 60 in December.

Bye bye ladies and see you soon, Might not be on for a couple of days as the journey will more than likely wipe me out. But will be thinking of you and your loved ones. :hug::hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ well, we've had some really lovely weather the last few days; I think the weatherman went on holidays, becuz his predictions didn't match reality at all. We decided to go shopping on Saturday and for a drive to the lake so as not to miss the fall days that have finally showed up in November. That's why I didn't get in to post; I was exhausted and went to be earlier than usual, but I did get my walks in.

We still have no *** out there, so DH and I changed those bulbs to red on the building today; him using his new ladder (he was kinda like a kid with a new toy; it was so cute). He's going to try and tackle that TV antenna tomorrow, but they are calling for snow (let's hope that they are wrong again ~ hehe)!

We spent Saturday evening playing games and I won the series 4-0; so Dh said he'd better not play anymore games, cuz if he lost five in-a-row, he would never be able to live down such a "skunk" ~ LOL!

PURPLE ~ glad you are feeling better; hope your trip to KENT goes well. I do the same as you; make double meals ahead and freeze one for those days when I don't feel my peak. Tonight, we had roasted chicken with lots of veggies (turnips, carrots, onions, celery, new potatoes); I eat more veggies and less potatoes; DH the opposite (a potato lover). He eats lots more veggies now that I changed our menu; but he says he doesn't mind that.

I eat fruit daily, but he doesn't like fruit unless it is in a pie; and I don't make many of them these days; his favorite is pumpkin and so I will make the next one at Christmas for him and I will have pumpkin custard instead. I still have lots of turkey left from Thanksgiving in the freezer, and I really like to use that in soups best; Dh loves that too.

Dh wants to know what GAMMON is; he thought that it was VENISON (which we call it here in Canada). I think MUTTON is lamb; I looked it up and my dictionary says it is what we call a leg of HAM; is this correct? Sometimes, I make a roast of beef, ham, or pork for sandwiches too; I try to find one that is as lean as possible. I like this much better than that store bought stuff, which has a ridiculous price.

On Saturday night, we had something different; it was kinda like SLUVAKI but not on skewers. It was lean, pre-seasoned pork tenderloin which I put on a hot grill and then simmered til tender. I served this with cauliflower, broccoli, and a veggie mix of carrots, corn, and beans; with a few small potatoes. DH really loved this, so I know we will be having that again sometime.

Dh just brought in our spare television set, so that I can watch my exercise videos when I like in our den (or livingroom). I'm trying to find more things to do during the winter to keep my activity levels up indoors.

Well, that's all the news here for now; we have just been doing stuff around here getting ready for all the snowfall that will be coming sometime soon. Everyone expected it earlier, but I am loving it that it is delayed; as long as it is here for Christmas, I am happy. So, take good care, my friends; talk to you again soon ~ :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HELLO FRIENDS ~ I just put a load of laundry on, and dinner in the oven; so thought I'd pop in while I am waiting on all that. It's really cold and damp out there right now; not comfortable to go out in at all. DH just has to set up my VCR and I'll be all set to try out some of those exercise videos that I picked up.

WELL, the morning started out fine, we got the antenna wire back up and the TV hooked in again. Dh also got his giant, eleven-foot, wooden Cross back up (I had to go help as it kept falling down on him); and some of his friends asked him to put it back up this year.

He had accidentally knocked it down with his trailer a couple of years ago, so he put it back up, but against the building this time (it's safer there); and that should brighten things up for sure. He just has to put the clear bulbs in now, as it started to rain on him and he got totally soaked right down to his skin ~ LOL!

We try to get as many things done in November as we can; we want to get an outdoor Christmas tree for the yard again this year; it looks so pretty, and it's nice for the kiddies next door too. My plan for this Christmas is to just have a nice Christmas dinner and only one treat this year, so as to avoid any problems this year.

I am already receiving Christmas emails getting ready for the season; people seem more enthused about the holidays this year. I think it has been a tough year for many people for various reasons, so I think they are looking forward to a time of celebration. As soon as the Thanksgiving stuff goes, out comes the Halloween stuff; and that was all pulled down, so now all the Christmas stuff is up in all our stores.

WELL, I guess I'd better go check on that dinner; to see if it is ready. Dh is miffed cuz our little furry baby went to get him to come to dinner; guess he was laying down for a nap. She has an internal clock, and she won't let him miss anything important, esp meals ~ LOL ... she is sooo smart!

HELLO TO PURPLE, VAL, MO, and all the lurkers out there; yes, I know that many people come by to read; I wish some of our past newbies would come back and post now and then. Maybe they lose interest after awhile; I like coming here, so I try to make a point daily or every other day, at the least.

TAKE GOOD CARE EVERYONE; talk to you late ~ :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good evening everyone!

So - I have a confession... I've been avoiding 3fc because I actually went up a few pounds at my last weight in. I had been sick/nasueated and unable to exercise..but I was still losing weight faster than when I could exercise/eat right and it kinda freaked me out.

anyways by the time the halloween candy hit my house I stopped passing by every single treat out there because I saw it as 'well I'm losing too quickly as it is anyways'.

I've still lost weight in the last month since I was grounded from exercise and got stuck with an MS flare so I've succeeded over all :)

Rosebud did you order/receive your ergometer? Sorry I'm having a brain fart.. what does that measure? I'm paying more attention to exercise infomercials because I want something new to do for the winter too. I believe Flin Flon got snow before we did in Thompson... but we may have got more of it later on....there was a 3 day blizzard a few weeks ago that did away with fall completly.

Purple I hope you are well and that your friend is doing better too - hopefully she got on the steroids and saw improvement! I'm really blessed that way.... I have never been hospitalized because of MS. I guess you could say mine is mild! We have smarties in Canada too and I hope your TN didnt get a chance to set in!

My knee is slowly getting better too - I dont always have to wear my tensor for support for support. I think the best way to imagine the weather here right now... is to think of Siberia. My workplace actually has our own customized fur lined ear flap style winter hats too. A lot of automotive companies are in town now to start their extreme cold weather testing of vehicles. Anyways I hope you take your time to rest up after your trip and come back when you feel well enough :)




Today was a big day at work - a new airline expanded to our city and held a fancy smancy 3 hour reception/4 course meal. This particular company does the most arctic flights in Canada - they travel all over Nunavut, the northwest territories and Yukon, as well as my city now. It is a big deal because for the last few years one company has had a monopoly. It was my first day back at work full time so instead of mingling I just sat down and saved seating for my peers.. I wanted to jump right in but also didnt want to scare strangers with a tipsy 23 year old (it was a dry event) coming after them. hee hee

it's past my bedtime. so off I go! Have a great week ladies and take care.

Good Morning All

Well woke up fairly early this morning by the council delivering 2 new wheelie bins to each home. We are going to be recycling now in this area so we have different bins for different purposes. I will take a while to get into the swing of things with sorting but I knew this was on the cards as surrounding roads were already on the schemes. So I now have 3 wheelie bins. Wheelie bins I am not sure if you know what they are but basically a bin (garbage) with 4 wheels on and a hinged lid.

Journey went really well yesterday but gosh it was long at 5 hours there and 5 hours back. We had to pay a toll charge to go on the Dartford crossing and tunnel.

DH this morning is poorly he has gone down with a cold. But this morning came up with the greatest excuse known to man why he won't lose weight this week, it is because he has a HEAVY cold :rofl: Unfortunately my plans of stopping somewhere to have a healthy meal did not pay off due to the time so ended up stopping and having some fast food. So calorie intake yesterday was about 600 over what I am normally. I did try to be good with the fast food I did only eat half of it to lessen the damage but I bet I was still over massively with calories. Oh well today is another day and I will be on plan today. The only good thing was about yesterday was I did take some sandwiches and fruit for another meal whilst out on the road.

ROSEBUD :~ sound like you have been a busy bee with your DH putting up the Christmas decorations and the wooden cross. I must admit before I started this healthy eating plan I was a big lover of potatoes. But now I have changed the ratio and have very few potatoes and heaps of veg. At the start it was a little difficult but now I am OK with it.

Gammon is ham so you win LOL Venison to me is meat from a deer. We call meat from a sheep lamb but if the sheep is quite old then it is called mutton and need to be cooked slowly to ensure that the meat is soft.

VALPAL :~ You may find that when you are able to exercise that your putting on muscle so muscle weighs more than body fat. So hence your weight loss is often greater when you do not exercise. But changing your diet and exercise makes you healthy. You could be the right weight for your height but if you do no form of exercise you will not be healthy as you are unfit. Plus exercise tones the body nicely. I think in many ways that I am healthier than my sister who is the right weight. This is because she does not exercise, she smokes and does not always eat the right things. She seems to lose weight without really trying but I have to work hard for every ounce.

Touch wood I have never been hospitalise with my MS, I bet this will be my last famous words now ;) So I class myself as very fortunate. At the very beginning I was having lots of attacks close together I did think maybe that is where I would end up. But now I do not have no defined attacks just a general deterioration of the years which you can not pin point to any particular moment.

Sorry I have not replied better to everyones post but I am playing "nurse" to DH as you know how men are when they have a cold there dying. So I do not have lots of time. but I wanted to stop by to keep me on the correct path.

bye bye :hug:

Hello my Dear Friends

I am so sorry l haven't posted in weeks, But l am still around and still working on getting to my goal.

Thank you for all your prayers about Eric's eposode with getting away from me, Yes l was really upset about it, and l took a break from the net for awhile. But the reason l haven't posted is cause l was hit by a car while crossing the street. I am ok now and healing, but it was scary for awhile. I ended up in the hospital with 3 broken ribs, a broken arm and a concusion. So l have been very sore and with only 1 arm it is very hard to type, sitting up has been very painful so as much as l wanted to come on and let you know l was ok, l just didn't have the strengh. I really can't type for very long as it is still hard, but once this cast comes off and 2 more weeks, and l get the strenght back in my right hand l will be posting m ore. As for my goal l am still about 4 lb's from it but until my Doctor says it's ok to workout again l will just have to wait. DH's boss was so nice, with me in the hospital for 4 days and then recouping at home and we have no family here to help, he told DH to take as much time off to deal with Eric and me. So he finally went back to Work yesterday and l am getting Eric to scghool, and his programs are all up and running still. Well l have to run now but just wanted to let you l have missed you all and hope to answer your posts soon, Keep up the good work ladies on your goals and remember your all dear to me.

Love Mo

DEAREST MO ~ am so sorry to hear about your accident, but I am so glad to know that you are OK now! Yes, that would be such a scary thing to go thru; not something I want to experience either. Take your time, and heal well; and thanx so much for letting us know what happened.

I was praying for you and yours, and wondering, 'What on earth happened to MO?' I thought after your scare with ERIC that you lost interest in coming here. BUT, I'm so glad that you will be coming back to see us now and then; we all missed you as well. Say hello to ERIC and your DH; glad his boss was so considerate and accomodating!

VAL ~ an ergometer is a exercise machine that can be used for the arms or feet sitting on a chair; I am going to use it for my arms, just to burn energy indoors during the winter months. It only costs about $40, so that isn't too bad; I have to order it thru SEARS. I know they have big fancy electric ones too, but I don't need one that elaborate.

Don't be too hard on yourself about a few pounds; been there, done that. You can get that back off in no time; and that could be partly water gain as well. I had a few smarties for Halloween and then made DH hide the rest in his special cupboard. Glad you are feeling better and got back to work full-time this week. Sounds like things are movin' and shakin' up there in Thompson, Manitoba.

PURPLE ~ glad your trip went well; I know it is hard to find places that serve healthy foods on the road. I wish more would offer better choices; but you can get back on track; and likely won't notice too much of a difference overall anyways. YES, our venison is deer here; but we also have moose and caribou as well. Moose is more common up north and deer down south.

Hope your DH is feeling better soon too; mine is pretty much back to health, but tonight he has been sleeping as he thinks that he is coming down with another cold or flu too ... oh well! He's also a bit down cuz one of my uncles has a shadow on his lung; DH hopes it isn't serious, so we sent out prayer requests today for him and his family.

WELL, we got blasted with fierce winds and snow all day and tonight as well. I went out to fill the feeders and had to come back in to get a hat and mittens, cuz those northern winds were terrible. I managed to make another trek out and filled them all for my little birdies and one chipmunk; they were all chirping away ... like they were saying 'Thanx, we needed that!'

I kept on plan very well today, eating more fruit for snacks and we had piles of veggies with steak + mushrooms and onions. I now only have one very small potato and DH has one a bit bigger; I have been cutting them down over time. So more than half my plate is a variety of low-cal veggies.

Today, I did some laundry and housework; and made DH his Blueberry-Oatmeal muffins with bran (low-fat); very healthy and a good snack for him. He doesn't like fruit, so I make his favorite snack which is muffins. I put some of them in a container in the freezer; and he can just take one out and nuke it for about 45 seconds to have with his coffee.

ANYWAYS, this is getting pretty long and it is already past my usual bedtime, so that's enuff gabbing for tonight. Take good care; so nice to hear from you all ... your friend, ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Everyone and Good Morning


It was a beautiful day yesterday but today is very cloudy and windy though as yet no rain.

Not been able to go on my normal walks at the minute as DH is poorly. I am afraid I am not safe enough to be left to go very far on my own. I would never thought I would say this but I miss my walk and can't wait till he is back to full strength. Unfortunately I feel a bit achy this morning and have a bit of the sniffles. I hope it does not go any further than that but will have to wait and see.

Well I have had a huge pause in the middle of writing this but plan A for lunch went to plan B. I though I had some ingredient in the cupboard to make sweet and sour and I did not. So fortunately I had a whole chicken in the fridge so went on to cook that. I prepared cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and swede (I think it is known as the rutabaga else where similar to a turnip but bigger) Plus a small portion of boiled potatoes.

ROSEBUD :~ My thoughts are with you regarding your uncle lets hope it turns out positively.

We don't have anything so exotic as moose and caribou. The most weird and wonderful I suppose is goat which I can get on the market.

Sound like lots of colds etc are going around. Has you know DH has one and we have just had a phone call from friends saying they are both poorly with a cold.

MO :~ :getwell: Sorry to hear of your accident but I am so pleased that your OK now and slowly on the mend. I can understand how frightening it must have been and will take time physically and mentally to recover. Take things slowly and gradually until your up to full steam

Wow your so close to your goal it is within your reach. I am so proud of you and an inspiration to me that even with our hurdles that life throws at us we can still achieve. Keep up the good work and you will be at your target weight within no time.

Right must get along things to do, I have more than normal with DH cos he got the man flu :rofl: and we all know that is much worse than what ladies get. But joking aside he is very under the weather and he is so rarely poorly. So today I am head cook, bottle washer and nurse:D. bye bye :hug:

Hi everyone and good morning

Well just a quick pit stop, well any excuse to keep me away from my dread ironing :rofl: But it is also a chance to stop by and finish my morning cuppa.

DH feels a bit better this morning so maybe he is on the mend. Fingers cross I still feel OK. Think maybe the aching was due to the long journey we entailed on Monday. Not so sure what the sniffles were from though but glad they are not here at the minute.

According to the weathermen and women we are suppose have rain today but I won't hold my breath they said we were to have rain yesterday and we did not get a drop :D

Just finish reading 3 books in a trilogy about a family. Unfortunately I started to read book 2 for many pages before I figured there must have been another book. So did a bit a research and found out that there were 3 in the series. So I read 2, 3 and then 1 so a bit out of order. But never the less enjoyed reading them. Just commence reading about a book set in the 2nd world war based at a airbase in the teleprinter centre and an ammunition factory. Two girls work at each place and they get to meet by chance at the local dance hall. It is panning out quite good so far.

My sisters eldest daughter who is 14 has been experiencing some bullying by 3 girls. It came to a head this week and all the children were confronted about their behaviour towards my niece. Lets hope this nips this in the bud. It was getting to the stage where my niece did not want to go to school and normally she likes to go. She goes to a school which is academic based and you have to pass a test to go there. At the end they take about 10 or 12 exams in different subjects and normally they get extremely good marks. My mum went to the same school but I just failed to pass the exams but not to surprised really as English wise I am good but mathematics it is a mystery to me :dizzy:

Well enough of my putting off my ironing I must get off my chair and PC and on to the job in hand ironing.

bye bye and take care ladies xxx :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ Have been busy the last couple of days; got in to read late last night, but waited to post today. We went into town today to do our shopping as the day started out with lovely sunshine and the wind was down. We had a good trip and got everything we planned this time.

I finally found a harness and matching leash for my little sweetie, so that she's not attached by the collar (neck area) anymore; my stepmother suggested this, since she's cockapoo and has a delicate neck. The terrier is bigger so we'll get her a bigger one next time we go in, as that store only had one set in stock today.

We had quite a snow/wind storm yesterday and parts of two sides of our small shed got blown off; so DH picked up some nails to repair it; he was happy to get it all done this afternoon. He also got some more pipe for his woodstove, as the last storm brought that crashing down as well; boy, did we get that ladder at the right time or what ~ LOL?

PURPLE ~ glad to hear that you and Dh are on the mend; there are days when I can't get out too, esp if I am not feeling well; sometimes I just do things indoors instead, like dance and upperbody aerobics. I'm glad that your family was able to help your niece from that bullying situation at her school; sometimes, just bringing it out in the open, is enuff to put a stop to it ...

My uncle and aunt went to the city for one test today and are on their way to see a specialist; they managed to get an appt for Monday, which is quite fast for here really (definitely prayers have been answered there). My uncle is only 60 y/o this year, and has already survived thru two different kinds of cancer in the last decade; but we are still hoping for the best ...

Yesterday, I did my walking in spurts; first, I went out for 30 minutes and then for 25 minutes in the evening when it was calmer; today, I'm sure that I did at least 60+ minutes, because I did a lot of walking around in three large stores.

I bought a bunch of fruit today ~ bananas, pears, Honeycrisp apples, and some frozen raspberries (which are supposed to be high in fiber as are the pears). I also picked up some mixed grain WW bread; two slices for only 110 calories (our regular bread was that for one slice).

I just finished answering a bunch of emails too, so now I can go and take it easy for the rest of the evening; and get these poor, tired feet up. Hope everyone else is feeling well today as well; take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

:coach: NOW HEAR THIS ... we are on the move again ...


:nono: STOP ~ DON'T POST HERE ANYMORE ...

Please go to the new PHYSICAL CHALLENGES NOVEMBER MONTHLY THREAD # 003 ... see you there ... thanx :hug:ROSEBUD :hug: