Dieting with Obstacles - PHYSICAL CHALLENGES ~ January's Monthly Thread #005

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 ...


*** IT'S TIME FOR OUR NEW MONTHLY THREAD ***

:D HAPPY JANUARY EVERYONE :D

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ we had a bit of a wind storm today, so we just stayed home and started taking down our Christmas decos; we got about half done, and we hope to get the rest done tomorrow.

Well, it's a new year and a new month; and that brings with it another chance to start anew and to make some improvements over last year. 2007 was really a good year for us in many ways; but as life does sometimes, near the end, some misfortune did arise for some of our family members.

At the end of each day, I ask myself ... what can I do better? I do the same on the first of each month now. I don't bother with resolutions, but instead try to look for ways to improve my life instead.

I hope you ladies all had a nice NEW YEARS, and we wish you the best for the coming year ... take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies

Well the weather has been cold here but no where as cold as the weather people predicted. Fortunately we have had no snow either. The gritting lorries were out in force last night gritting the roads for the forecasted weather.

DH is just about to reformat a PC of a friends son. This is because it keeps crashing. There must be a conflict in software on there and it is like looking for a needle in a haystack to try and find which are conflicting. It is sometime quicker and easier to wipe the PC clean and start again. So DH will be keep busy for the next few hours or so.

Must take our Christmas decorations down either today or tomorrow. I always think the home looks bare for a few weeks after they are taken down.

On Monday I have booked my first session in the diving chamber at the MS centre. I am just got my fingers crossed that it will be suitable for me. I contact the experts down in Portsmouth about whether they felt it would beneficial to me with having trigeminal neuralgia. They told me most people who have this condition and MS are OK in the diving chamber and do not experience pain in the majority of cases. If it goes OK then I have 3 other sessions booked for the same week. This is because I have to have 15 to 20 sessions in quick succession then thereafter once a week or once a fortnight depending on how I feel.

Gosh I can not believe we have started another thread so that means another month has whizzed by so quickly. They don't half seem to go by quickly.

DH changed his mobile phone (cell phone) yesterday with his type of insurance that he took out on the phone he could change it after 6 months. So he now has a nokia n65 I think they are called. We need one that has internet connection as our sat nav system relie on it for the traffic reports telling us of congestion and accident etc on the road. With doing our trips we have it very useful and it has saved us a many a long hour in queues.

Must dash I must start to make some head way in making dinner else we will not have it by tea time :D

bye bye :hug:

good evening!
I've tried to read over the end of the december thread to keep up to date so I know what's been going on with everyone.

I took down my Christmas decorations a few days ago.. spent new years on a reserve north of here with my parents and I go back to work on Monday.

Purple - have I read this right -- you'r going into a diving chamber? I'm getting a mental picture of you doing medically supervised deep sea diving?? I hope it goes well?

and you're right about my hair. long story short.. I was bored one day last summer.. and alone with a pair of sizzers.. so I started chopping at my own ponytail. Once I went to my hairstylist she had to ccut it pretty short to make things even...so I've got some short layers that wont stay up. I'm trying to grow it out.

Rosebud - I'm not making resolutions either. I 'recommitted' myself to my lifestyle change post holidays but it was nice to ring in the new year knowing I had already successfully lost 60 pounds. It looks like the dragonflys in your signature are starting to pile up too!

I'm going to head out -- we're waiting for my parents to come into town for the evening. I'll check in this weekend to catch up :)

Hi ladies

Looks a beautiful morning so far with glorious sunshine but last night it bucketed it down with rain.

I have never been one for making new years resolutions either don't think I have ever done so. The "naugthty" things I did I was in denial about but in the past years I have stopped biting my nails and stopped smoking. So my weight is the last one to master it is the one that takes the longest to rectify that is for sure. But when I embarked on this journey no one said it was going to be easy so steadily I plod along.

VALPAL :~ The diving chamber actually goes no where near water it is all done on land and is electrically done to create the pressure that you would have experience being at certain depths. The depths that I will try are 12 metres, 24 metres and 32 metres. Plus have 100% oxygen at the same time. No one depth is better than the other it is what is better for you and you tell them which one you feel better at and stay with that. It is suppose to help generally with tireness and help your mobility some find that they walk much better after treatment. So fingers crossed that I find some benefit from it. It is not available on the NHS but is run by a charity so we have to pay a small fee if you have MS but anyone else who wishes to use it will have to pay full price for treatment. Thanks for your best wishes much appreciated.

Must close now as I am feeling tired not yet had my medication and need the boost that they give. Bye ladies and take care :hug: xxx

Hi Ladies

It will have to be a quick stop by this morning as I am having my morning coffee as we have been invited out for lunch with friends.

I awoke this morning to a very sharp frost but it is sunshining so I would think the frost is going to disappear fairly quickly.

DH has finished the pc he was reformatting after a little struggle. Firstly because the keyboard was USB and we do not have a USB keyboard. So DH picked it up from them the next day. From there on it was fairly straight forward. Fortunately the PC whom it is, are going to put on the drivers for the sound and ethernet card etc. Normally we put them on but this is a Dell computer and he has never done a Dell computer before. Even going to Dells site you see an array of drivers but which is the right one that is the real question.

Well DH and I are slowly but surely plodding through our medical dramas that we had pretaped. Of which there where 40+ of them :o We I think are somewhere in the low 30's now. Well we are now watching recording of september last year :dizzy:

Time to dash wash a few pots up and get myself ready to go out. bye ladies catch up with you soon :hug:

Hi Ladies

I left it to post early evening then I could report on my high oxygen therapy (diving chamber). I experienced some pain in my ears like when you fly due to the pressure. But once I had resolved that by swallowing and pinching my nose and blowing. Whilst you are in there you have a face mask supplying you with 100% oxygen and it when they are on it sounds quite noisy. Something like darth vader but much louder.

Unfortunately after treatment I experience a nose bleed but nothing major. Afterward the staff there said that it could be the start of a cold. Oh great I need a cold like a whole in head ;) Oh well I will brace myself and hope it is not. This is because if you have a cold you should not go in the tank as it makes the procedure very painful. I feel achy at the minute and a little cold. I was told that I might experience some achiness so not so unexpected.
My arms feel like I have been carrying heavy items. Will keep you posted on how it goes. I am booked in for 10am tomorrow, 6pm for Wednesday and 12.45pm on Thursday. Will have to book further sessions.

Right now must go I have some pots to wash up and going to watch a film on TV for some relaxation. bye bye take care ladies hope you are all well. :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ GEE, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted; I thought I was in here on Friday or Sat. The memory plays tricks on you when you are busy, eh? It took almost all day on the weekend to get the tree and rest of the Christmas decos and boxes sorted out. We are using a new system that SHY from Christian Encouragers thread mentioned.

I marked all the boxes with a big number to keep them in order, becuz every year we lose track of at least one box somehow. With this new system, we shouldn't have that problem anymore; we also re-organized them to get more stuff in fewer boxes becuz we do have limited storage space here.

PURPLE ~ thanks for holding down the fort; I suppose you were wondering what happened to me. I like to come in at least every other day or more; just lost track of the days becuz we were so busy. I have been having a longer nap each afternoon to give me more energy. I have been doing a lot of reading lately too; just magazine subscriptions that we got for Christmas gifts and some a friend brought over for me.

I hope that 'pressure' diving chamber works out for you; I have heard of that kind of therapy before. Sorry you had a few small side effects though; but I will be praying for you that everything goes well for you, and that you find some benefits from it.

VAL ~ yes, I love to see all those dragonflies; I noticed that lots of other ladies go by 'five' lb allotments and thought that might encourage me just a tad more; it does look like an army, eh??? LOL! I got a new mobile this Christmas; it's a long string of lovely butterflies (8) that hangs from the ceiling beside my large pink & purple dragonfly; and I have many other mobiles across my livingroom divider. Yah, I love them; can you tell?

Just wanted to let you know that I am keeping on plan; hope my few little treats didn't cause me any problem. I am always amazed at some ladies who even lose weight over Christmas; I hope to at least stay the same.

HELLO TO MO; hope you are well dear. And, that's all from here for now; so take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ Well, we had another wet day today; it's raining out there right now (drizzling actually). So very odd for January here; we are usually down to -30C at this time of year. The backyard and our parking lot are sheer ice; and one of our neighbours slipped and fell on it, so Dh went out to the side of the road and brought back some sand to spread around the front area for added safety.

We hope to go into town tomorrow for errands and small pick-ups; will have to be extra careful (Dh put some sand around our car too). It's no good for walking at all; have to do indoor stuff for awhile. Never go the snow they predicted ~ lol!

We just did housework today; laundry and stripping the beds and such. Had some of that nice homemade turkey soup with homemade w/bran biscuits for dinner tonight. Had a baked apple for my snack too.

PURPLE ~ hope you are feeling OK after your special treatment today. Why do they have to do so many in a row? Do they have to try and figure out what level of pressure you need? I hope this will help you in some way; still keepin' you in my prayers, hon ...

DH is listening to easy listening rock and roll while I'm playing on here; that's kinda nice to listen to now and then. Gotta find things to do inside when you have yucky weather like this ~ lol!

HI TO VAL AND MO ~ have a great week, ladies!

ANYWAYS, that's all from here for now; take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

hello ladies,

Purple I hope you're relatively well and that those cold symptoms didnt get a chance to really creep on you but if they did.... you must be resting as much as possible to nip it in the bud eh? Have you experienced any of the positives from the chamber yet?

Rosebud Time does fly when we get busy! My first priority online is journalling my daily food at fitday.com but sometimes even that get's left behind nevermind 3fc. Right now, I have a chance to read the forum because I cant sleep! ha ha I decided to stop laying in bed trying to sleep and actually 'do something' though :)

I changed one of my tickers around a bit too to be more encouraging to myself.. I was doing the self sabotage thing because it felt like I had come so far and still had so far to go. Sometimes the little things really can make a difference like that.



As for the reason that I'm still awake -- today I bought my first brand new vehicle. It's a 2007 Chevy Optra..... I got a great deal... and everything worked out amazingly well (I went in the dealership thinking I could only get a stock generic no options model but came out with my 'ideal fully loaded car' for the same price) Something about clearing out last year's models combined with a 'recent graduate' student bonus along with a christmas promotion that is ending this week.

It's been invigorating but scary at the same time. Anyways, my nerves always get the best of me and kill my appetite AND ability to sleep so I've got a feeling the next couple days till I sign all the car paperwork will be kinda tense.

I'm going to go sit in my bed again -- I've still got to work tomorrow. lol take care all!

Good Morning Ladies

Sorry I did not stop by yesterday but my treatment was at 10am yesterday so up reasonably early for me to attend the appointment. The treatment takes about 90 minutes then I had a drink at the centre and had a chat to a couple of people whilst I was there. By that time dinner had rolled upon us fortunately I had prepared a lunch already so it was just stick it in the microwave to warm up. I then had a rest on the sofa for a hour as I am tired after treatment and also I had been up for about an hour. We then went out for our daily stroll in the neighbourhood. Watched a little television and tea time was upon us. After tea it was a day for playing card so not much time for sitting at computers. Today treatment is at 6pm so will not get back till around 8pm.

Well that day is upon me again the weekly shopping so out in a short while to pick up the groceries and such like. We are going out for lunch today for a break for me from the kitchen and cooking.

ROSEBUD:~ I am feeling a little tired after treatment but other than that nothing to report on that front which I am grateful for. Yesterdays treatment went a whole heap better maybe as I did not wear my mask until I got to depth and was able to clear my ears of the air pressure that you experience. You have so many to build up in your system I think but more importantly it is so that you can see which depth is the better one for you as every day there is a different depth. I must admit I am reading quite a bit of my books as I am taking it into the tanks. This is because you can not hold any real conversation in there as the mask is over your face and with you breathing the noise when your breath goes through the mask it sound like Darth Vader amplified so actually quite noisy in there.

VALPAL:~ No cold as yet I am so pleased to report as like you they really wipe me out thick and fast. So I am still hoping and praying that a cold does not materialise fortunately after years of working in hospitals I have a good immune system against such bugs. No real positive symptoms as yet from the tank but they might start very shortly at different depths. The treatment yesterday was quite enjoyable if that was the word for it. The people in the tank were great fun and chatty. This is more my sort of people where the previous day they were OK but I love the much more jovial fun that we were having. My DH said he could hear me laughing which he had not heard on the previous occasion as they were more straight laced folks.

It is good that you recognised that your where sabotaging yourself due to your ticker and have nipped it in the bud. I have a secondary ticker which is my main goal now the weight is not dropping so rapidly and they are in increments of 14lb or stones to me. When I have achieved the 14lbs it also represents another stone lost and into a new stonage such as 18 to 17 stone. Which is such a boost to the moral and confidence. It also then gives me more motivation for the next stone from say 17 to 16 stone. I know that sounds so complex to you as your weight is alway known by the amount of pounds. This is because I know what it has been like trying to use the pound system. I still have no idea of peoples weights unless I convert them to stones. Although I must admit now it is coming easier and I can envisage more and more weights by pounds.

Time to skip off get some clothes on and get myself off to shopping this week ;) Hi to Mo :wave: bye bye ladies and take care :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ nice to hear form you both! We didn't get to go into town afterall becuz we got hit by a terrible snow storm; up to 60 kilometer winds and it's a mess out there; the police are warning people to stay off the roads as they are icy as well.

Dh wants to go in tomorrow morning if the roads are clear enough; we'll have to see. The travelling Vet is supposed to be coming tomorrow; sure hope he doesn't cancel becuz of the weather. We are getting somewhat anxious about what's wrong with her; hope it's not too serious.

PURPLE ~ I'm so glad your therapy session today was so positive and the workers were so enjoyable too. I hope the rest of your treatments go just as well and they have moocho benefits for you.

VAL ~ We're just staying in today; couldn't do much else. I used to do FITDAY.com all the time; later I cut down to once a week or month now, just to make sure I'm keeping on track. I used to just write things down in a regular journal, but Fitday gives a better breakdown of food types.

CONGRATS on the new car, VAL ~ I understand what you mean about scary; a new car with it's monthly payment is a big commitment, but if you are careful to budget correctly each month everthing should be OK.

All our bills come out the first two weeks of the month; we always leave more than enough in our account to pay for everything, so we never have to worry. I always recommend a savings account for backup; a bit off each pay.

I found this article about 'Keepin' the Winter Blues at Bay' and I'm posting it for you in another post as it is long. I know that you mentioned SAD before and we also do whatever we can to deal with the lack of sunshine. Some of the ideas are really good; hope they help ...

HELLO TO MO; and take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

KEEPIN' THE WINTER BLUES AT BAY ...

Strange, we never look within ourselves where the cold emptiness begins. Ironically, the solution exists inside where we can find greater control and empowerment through positive perception. Seeing every day as a good day with its special distinguishing moments creates peacefulness and clarity.

And for those of us who demand immediate gratification, we can change our perception immediately whether at work or at home. It can be as simple as: rearranging a few knick knacks, where we usually sit at the kitchen table, or moving a chair or lamp from here to over there.

Here are some more tips to help you change your perception of winter and bring warmth and light into a chilly life:

-- Raise the blinds and let the light shine in. Sit by the window look out and gaze, or read. Feel the warmth.

-- Try eating more hot soups and stews. Add beans and lentils to your diet. These hearty meals are both comforting and nourishing. (If you use canned soups pay attention to the amount of sodium as many ready-made soups are high in sodium.)

-- Go outside to reset your biological clock. Let natural sunlight counteract SAD. Appreciate the winter landscape: the “tree architecture” that we never notice when the leaves are flourishing, or the feathery ornamental grasses swaying in the wind.

-- Exercise to stimulate and bring warmth to your body. Many of us are bored with treadmills and stairmasters that go nowhere.

-- Change up your routine. Dress warmly and go for a brisk fitness walk. If you can get to the shore, a walk on the beach is peaceful and inspiring. Try some new classes in Pilates, Yoga, Belly Dancing, Salsa and Weight Training. Join a league to participate in fun team sports. Get a buddy to exercise with or make friends in fitness centers.

-- Connect with sunny people. Do volunteer work. We tend to get isolated in the winter and keep to our igloos. Get out and see positive people who appreciate you and if you can’t get out, use the phone or email.

-- Bring tropical plants into the house. Their gracious leaves and greenery will lift your spirits and give you a taste of eternal summer.

-- Look at the color orange which is cheering. No need to repaint your home; just put something orange on the desk or your coffee table. (Note: we did repaint our place off white with 'French butter' cupboards; and winter sunshine yellow; pearl blue; and lilac; and the difference was amazing. People constantly remark how bright and calm our place is now)

-- Try a warm glowing candle light meditation. Light a candle in the evening and stare at the flame for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then close your eyes and breathe to your own natural rhythm and see what comes up for you in meditation.

-- Give yourself an auto-massage. Warm some inexpensive olive oil in the microwave and massage your body from head to toe. Long strokes for the limbs, circular strokes for the torso. Make sure to massage the temples, and using your thumbs, do windshield wiper movements under and over your eyes. Feel the warmth pervade your body. (*what a great idea*)

-- If I change my seat at the kitchen table, I really see things from a different perspective. I might notice something new in my field of vision. If I rearrange paintings or furniture, I see them with a fresh eye and appreciate them differently. When we are beset by winter doldrums, long nights, clearly we need to let the pendulum swing the other way to restore the balance.

-- Try adding bright things to your home; red or yellow roses; other pastel-colored flowers; pretty mobiles; bright cushions and pillows. I find this really made a difference in my home.

-- Simplify your home, room by room. Clean out the clutter and donate what you have not used in years. In winter we tend to contract and go inward. Use this indoors time to organize your home. Sharing the extras with the needy will give you an inner glow.


:hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

Afternoon Ladies.

We decided to do our daily walk early to today as it really looked like rain. Phew we were lucky just as we open our garden gate on the return journey it started to spit with rain. Then the heavens opened and we had a downpour of rain.

I have just returned from my oxygen therapy. So that is my first four down. I have booked in next weeks sessions today. Next Monday we have to take Dad to have his preoperative checks so he will be there for a while (hours) and have tests done. He will be admitted on the 20 January I think the date is. Although he will have stopped his warfrin (blood thinner) on the Thursday as per consultants instructions. His operation is scheduled for the Tuesday. So during the time he is in hospital mum will be staying with us as it makes it easier all round. The hospital is not their local one in town but one 30 miles away. Mum does not drive a car so hence easier to have her as a guest for a few weeks. So it looks like a will be busy for the next couple of weeks visiting day having my oxygen treatment. Oh for a few more hours in the day ;)

ROSEBUD:~ Thanks for the tips to keep the winter blues away. I do hope you get to see the vet to put your mind at rest regarding your furry baby. I appreciate how much of a worrying time it must be for you. Your like us Rosebud our bills come out in the first 2 weeks then that way we know where we are and don't get things mixed up. At the end of the month monies left over goes into the saving account for emergencies. We have done that for a long while now and it seems to work well for us.

Just wrapped up my dad's birthday present as it is his birthday on the 16 January so I will take it with me tomorrow when we visit mum and dad.

Well time to put some pots of vegetables on for dinner as we have had to swap our hot meal round today due to treatment. bye bye ladies catch up with you soon :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ well, we had beautiful sunshine all day today; what a nice change for us (was able to catch a few Vit D's after all). We did get to go into town too; the travelling Vet was there and we took our little SWEETIE, who was a bit nervous but handled it OK.

PURPLE ~ sadly, the prognosis was the same one the other Vet guessimated; he thinks she has a large tumor, becuz she is 15+ y/o and female; and this is common at that age. But he did give me some antibiotics to give her for any possible infection and told me to continue the vitamins I was already giving her. He estimates that she could have another 3-6 months after this; to just make her as comfortable as possible and we promised to spoil her even more too. So, she had TUNA for dinner tonight ~ lol!

Will be praying for you DAD for the 22nd of January; hope all goes well for him for his surgery. That's nice that your mom can stay with you so she can keep an eye on him too; that will be such a comfort for her. Yes, with your treatments too, you will be one busy gal.

Good thing I am frugal and have a good financial plan becuz just after we left the VETS, our car broke down again. Thank GOD my UNCLE ANGEL happened along and brought SWEETIE and me home with the groceries. But we had to have the car towed home (we live 10 miles out in the country); so with the Vet fee and meds, plus the car and a gift to my Angel, it was one expensive day for us. But we are still solvent (in the black) ~ lol!

Now Dh has to fix it himself; but I am confident he can; it's better than a car payment at this point for us. We are saving up ourselves for the next one; as we know that this one will not last forever. We are just going to make it last as long as we can; we'll squeek out every mile we can, then go looking for a better one (and we do have a list already) ~ LOL!

WELL, we have had more than our share today, but maybe a good night's rest will put a new light on things for us. I am so glad that I have MY FAITH in GOD and his beautiful Son, in my life; I just don't know how people make it through times of trouble and stress without them. I'm just grateful, that's all.

Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

HAPPY FRIDAY LADIES ~ we had lots of snow again today. DH worked on the car all day; got one thing repaired and then discovered something else had blown under the engine. :yikes:

ANYWAYS, DH had borrowed my DVD player, but tonight I got him to set it back up in the livingroom for me so that I could try out my WALK OFF THE POUNDS EXPRESS dvds. I did the 1-mile tonight; watched the 2-mile also, but did all the muscle toning with the stretchie band (arms) for both. The music is very peppy and I loved it. At first, I thought it might be too hard for me; but I was able to do it OK.

I think that this is perfect for the winter months; our weather here is really crap this year. Don't even want to venture outdoors as there is so much ice out there; it's not safe anyways. At least I found something that can really burn some energy and tone too. One lady lost 60 pounds from just doing the tapes alone; that's super ...

WELL, other than the car not being fixed as we'd hoped, today was a much better day for us. Had a nice Spit BBQ chicken with rice and veggies dinner tonight. Take good care, ladies; your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi Ladies

Well yesterday was horrid not even fit enough for ducks as we say. In other words it was raining, blowing a gale and it was a cold wind. Today it is lovely sunshine but DH said there was black ice on the road as he went to do a delivery on his own. The delivery was local in our home town so was gone under an hour. So whilst he was out I did the hoovering and mopped kitchen floor. So housework is just about done for today. Just to clean up the kitchen after cooking lunch as you have lots of pots and pans out when cooking. Will make a jelly in a bit for tomorrows tea I think.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for holding the fort for the past few days whilst I have been tied up and out of action. Thought I would stop by today and maybe early tomorrow as I have mum and dad coming tomorrow. We are taking them out for lunch at a local pub which does a lovely sunday dinner with plenty of veg for me to fill up on rather than the more fatting roast potatoes etc.

Thanks for your best wishes and prays regarding dad. He has got to the point where he will be glad to have the operation done as it is getting him down a little.

Gosh you do have a grand old lady there in your furry baby never realised she was 15 that is a good age for a dog by any standard. Sorry the news maybe was not better but if she is not in much pain then that is a blessing and has a good quality of life that is something to be thankful for. I pray that her condition remains that way and she is still enjoying life.

Good for you doing the exercise video/tape I am sure that it will help improve your fitness. I also have a walking video which I think I can do if things are not fit for me outside. If I can't achieve the walking video I have some pilate ones which are easy and not to taxing on my body. Fortunately the weather in general has been good enough to venture outside even if you have to wrap up well.

Grr cars can be the bane of our lives especialy when you live in more remote areas like yourself and need transport. I am more fortunate if our car was out of action as we have a bus service within 200 metres of my house running into town or up to the local shops. The trouble with cars they cost money either way even when they are running smoothly they still need fueling and road tax paying plus insurance. The list goes on and the money goes out of your purse. You are a little fortunate that your DH has some knowledge of what is under the bonnet and how the engine works. I really did wish that you were living in the UK as here you would automatically qualify for a brand new car every 3 years and you pay one of your benefits (the one you get for mobility) for the car. This then gets you the car, insurance, you get road tax for free and RAC (breakdown service). So all your car worries are taken care off. Every year the car is serviced as well so keeps it running smooth. The car we have at present is our 3rd car on the scheme and we have been very happy. You choose your own car the only ones that you would not be allowed was if the mobility expert though they were not suitable for your needs. The more expensive cars you have to pay a lump sum off straight away. Though there are many which do not have anything to put down on them. Your allowed to do 15000 miles per year is the only restriction but we never do that anyway.

Time for me to go and look at the dinner before we have burnt offering. :wave: MO and VAL. bye bye ladies and take care.

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ it seems we are getting alternating weather this week; today we had sunshine again, so I did venture outside for a short walk. I pushed a bit of snow off the deck for DH, and took out some bread and seed to the bird feeder for the birdies.

PURPLE ~ we don't have a car program like that here; wish we did. Anyways, DH wants to buy another car instead. I hope that this will be the end of a trail of breakdowns where we were stranded all over the place. Hope you have a really nice dinner with your parents tomorrow.

Not much going on here really; some of DH's friends dropped by for a bit tonight. We are just having a quiet weekend ourselves. Take good care ladies, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HELLO FRIENDS ~ We had another beautiful, sunny day today; it was so loverly. We spent a quiet and restful day at home. We had fish with veggies and salad for dinner. I took some pics of the snow with my digital camera. The snow drifts are up to the top of the garden fence; if it hadn't melted a couple of times, I think that we would be buried by now ~ lol! Now I just have to learn how to down-size them a bit so that I can post them on here or somewhere else.

GREAT UPDATE *** ~ My Aunt sent me great news last night about my uncle TOM; we have seen some wonderful answers to prayer. 1 - the cancer has not worsened since first diagnosis. 2 - it is totally isolated in the lungs.
3 - it has not spread anywhere else in the body. 4 - the cancer has been down-graded from stage 4 lung cancer to stage 1 colon cancer. 5 - this kind of cancer cell isn't as serious. 6 - that means there are treatment options available. 7 - a lower stage cancer like this can be totally cured with treatment. 8 -- He will be starting CHEMO-THERAPY next week in our nearest city so he won't have to take any more longs trips, once the connecting tube is installed early next week. 9 -- My Aunt sends her thanks to everyone for their prayer support; she says this has given her the strength she needed to continue supporting the family through this ordeal.

Well, that's all the news from here; we hope to have a another car by this week. Will let you know what happens there. Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi Ladies

This today really will be a flying visit as we have just got back from my dad preoperative checks at the hospital which all went very well. There were a lot of people there for the preoperative staff but I must say they are very well organised there and every thing was done and dusted in 2 hours flat. So after that we all went to lunch in the hospital restaurant. Good thing with being a hospital restaurant there are plenty of healthier options to choose from and a selection of fruits or low fat yogurts if you have room for a bit more ;)

I am so pleased Rosebud about your Uncle Tom's news regarding his cancer and that there is treatment available to tackle it. It is the best outcome that could be hoped for I suppose under the circumstances. I will hope and pray that the treatment is a 100% successful.

Well must finish my coffee as I am now off to my oxygen therapy. I will certainly sleep tonight i have had to walk the length and breath of the hospital today or at least it feels it like it :D bye bye ladies catch up with you soon. Plus also big big thank to Rosebud for keeping the thread going whilst I have been tied up and busy. :carrot: bye again :hug:

Hi Ladies and good morning :wave:

Well it is early in the morning for me and I am not exactly at my best in the morning so my grammar and spelling could leave something to be desired. Oh well fingers crossed it don't turn out too bad this post.

Well the rain seems to have set in it was raining when we went to bed and it is still raining now. What a miserable day. I don't know for 100% but it sure feels to me from past experience I could be getting a chest infection. My chest feels tight and my throat. But not started the awful coughing that goes with it. I really hope it does not go any further else I will have to postpone my treatment in the tank. When I was in my twenty's bronchitis was the bane of my life I would get it at least 3 times a year for weeks at a time. On several occasions I would get breathing difficulties and require an inhaler.

I am off to treatment this morning hence I am up early for me. Two mornings in a row that I have been up early will be glad when tomorrow comes when I can go to my normal time of getting up. I bet you cos I do not have to get up I will wake up dead early :D

The hospital that we went to yesterday parts of the hospital are old and by old I would say built in the early part of last century and over the years they have expanded the hospital until its present state of being very big. At the moment it looks a maze of corridors which all look alike but I am sure next week when visiting dad we will get to know them a whole bunch better.

Well time for me to go and get dressed to go for treatment well if I am in the same tank as last week with the couple of men who were right funny and I did very little reading of my book as I normally do. Bye bye ladies and take care :hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ I was so busy yakking on the phone for six hours last night to family that I didn't get in here to post. Well, it was a busy day for DH going to pick up our new car: a Mercury, Grand Marquis, Crown Victoria. It is fully loaded with a great heater and an air conditioner and automatic everything (it's not brand new, just newer and better than the last one we had); it only had one owner from manufacturing. Tomorrow, I go for my first ride in it; DH has been driving it around getting a feel for it.

So, that's very good news; and today we also got some more great news about a house that we may be able to get in town. Hope the weather is good, as we have to go see the lady about it tomorrow.

PURPLE ~ I'm glad that your pre-op appts for your Dad went well and you had a nice lunch. Hope your therapy treatment today went well too. Thanks for coming in and posting while I was so busy. I hope that you are able to put off that chest cold. I used to have a hard time with bronchial flus years earlier myself. Those big old hospitals do seem like mazes, but they can also be interesting in some ways; the architecture esp. The newer ones here have color-coded lines down the walls so you know where to go, which is handy.

I agree that the news about my uncle TOM is fantastic, however the appt to put in the connecting tube won't be for about two weeks (which is actually good for here); so we'll pray that everything will be OK in the meanwhile, and/or maybe a spot will open up for him sooner.

We had a good day today; just had a light and easy dinner tonight. Dh has been going over the car with a fine tooth comb to make sure everything is OK for the inspection of it. He is much happier about having this car and he says it rides really nice as well. ANYWAYS, that's all the news for now; take good care, ladies ~ your friend, :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Good evening ladies :wave:

I'm glad to hear the 'good news' about your Uncle Rosebud I hope everything works out - the new car sounds good too. Have you two been looking for houses in town for awhile now?

Purple I'm glad you were able to find healthy choice in the hospital ;) and that the pre op for your Dad went well. When will you be done with the diving chamber, or are you finished treatment now?

I was able to catch my best friend from college on the phone last night. It was past my bedtime when I noticed I missed a call from her on the weekend -- she lives in the pacific time zone, and I am in the central time zone so I called her for an update even though it was nearly midnight my time. I love having a good friend like that - we can connect over thousands of miles and end up laughing at life no matter what time of day it is. I think we're going to plan to take a cruise together this summer to catch up and visit (my ms medications earn a lot of air miles for me so I can travel virtually anywhere for free -- or in this case -- go on a cruise with my best friend at no charge!)

And my office has finally managed to hire a general manager so our workloads should be significantly reduced for the first time in months. I'm looking forward to some more free time :)


Hopefully I'll be back 'soon' :) take care all!

Hi Ladies :wave:

Well all we seem to have had for the past 24 hours or more is rain. Unfortunately now there are flood warning out. This mean that certain areas in the country could be flooded. We are one of the very fortunate as we live about 5 miles away from the river Trent which is our nearest waterway. I just hope that the rain ceases and no-one actually gets flooded. Saw the river Leen today and it was the highest I have seen it in a long time and looks very dirty due to all the soil it has brought with it. The river Leen is next to the supermarket which I shop at weekly.

ROSEBUD :~ I hope you and your DH enjoy your car that you have purchased you will have to fill us in when you have had a few journeys in it to test it out for comfort etc.

Yes I agree that the old hospitals have much more interesting architectural features than modern box shape ones. To be honest I prefer them and it reminds me of my training hospital way back in the 80's which was built in the 1890's. The hospital is no longer in use as it was though big psychiatric hospitals were not the way to nurse people. I must admit I disagree the hospital like many was in the countryside so was peaceful and added structure to peoples life's who are chaotic due to there mental state. To see these patients now breaks my heart as they are so unkempt and it is suppose to be better care in the community. I think as time goes on we will end up going full circle and have patient cared for long term in hospital. Well I digress the hospital now has turned in to luxury apartments but at least they did not knock the hospital down as so many have been.

VAL:~ I still have 9 more sessions in the diving chamber left and then I go as often as I feel I need to top up and make me feel as well as I possibly can.

I hope you it makes life more easier now the new post has been filled. How are you enjoying your new car?

Glad you could catch up with your friend shame about the time difference. Well the free cruise is a nice "side effect" from you medication. You may as well enjoy the air miles you accumulate from purchasing your medication.

Time for me to go as I am at treatment at 6pm and have to leave fairly early due to the traffic at this time of night. Hello :wave: to MO and hope you and your family are well. bye bye and take care all

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ We had lovely sunshine for the morning and then we went into town. We saw the lady; but there was some mix-up becuz she was only there for some buildings that have the tiniest apartments I have ever seen. That wasn't what we were looking for; we were told it was for small houses; a misunderstanding, I guess.

VAL ~ we have been looking for years; the housing market here is terrible. We have very few available places to live; so many people in need of affordable, ground-level homes and apartments that it is ridiculous. We live ten miles in the country simply becuz we can't find any other place suitable in town. No-one is building anything; and the few places available are either upstairs or basement; or 3-4 bedroom houses that cost $1000.00 or more a month; and most have restrictions on them, like you can't have any pets.

DH says we might as well just stay where we are then; at least here, we have a yard and a deck and it's one floor, which I need; and the present landlord will tolerate pets (although she doesn't like them). We live in a free country that has so many housing rules it takes some freedoms away; and it is very hard to buy a house here, as they are so expensive now.

DID you get your papers signed for your new car? How do you like it? Our car is large and Dh says it feels like a boat on the road ~ lol! It does have a very comfortable ride; the heater works fab too. The last car road well, it just kept breaking down and leaving us stranded; it was very frustrating. I told DH, I just want one that runs well; has good heat and an air conditioner that works, a speedometer that works, and looks decent (that should be the basics at least).

PURPLE ~ I'm glad your sessions are going well; we sure hope that they give you some of the benefit that you are looking for. Yes, I think those nice hospice-like places in the country settings were esp nice for people who were sick; a peaceful and serene place to heal. I think places like that are more rare these days; too bad.

WELL, we had spagetti and meatballs tonight for dinner; we haven't had that in ages, but I do measure the cooked pasta though. Our little SWEETIE is mad about spagetti, so we always save some for her and PIN PIN too.

ANYWAYS, that's all for now; take good care ladies; your friend, :hug:ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies :wave:

Well the rain abated for one day but we are back to rain again which is disturbing as this means more flood warnings and actual floods for some people.

This will be a quick visit as I yet have lunch to prepare and also go for treatment later this afternoon and have to leave here 30 minutes before to arrive on time.

ROSEBUD :~ Glad you are enjoying your new car good to have one that works properly and not going to leave you stranded.

You have the same problem as us about property being very expensive to buy and trying to get a mortgage because of me would be very difficult as the letters MS scare them off. Fortunately I am able to rent a council bungalow which allows pets as long as they are not a nuisance to the neighbours. The council rent also is cheaper normally than private rent per month. I also have the added bonus of having a pull cord system in the bungalow and a fire alarm which is attached to the on call team for a very small price per month. Well worth it for peace of mind if I fall when DH is out I can get someone to me and sort me out. Mind you I have set the fire alarm off a few times cooking :o but DH tells them no problems the wife is burning my dinner which makes them laugh. Some of the properties that are being built today are being built on a handkerchief well not literally but you get the idea. So hence the rooms are so small you can just about stretch your arms out and touch both sides of the room. I know compared to many places UK homes are small but that is ridiculous. I wish more bungalows where built as there is always a need for homes with no steps for elderly and folks with physical challenges.

I also make a dish which we had this week also of meat balls and pasta. Like you I have to weigh the pasta to make sure that I do not go over board. DH bought me some measuring spoons and scoops and I now notice that they have the measuring system of cups. This will make life easier for me when trying out new recipes instead of trying to covert to the imperial system of pounds and ounces.

Time to go and start looking towards putting the dinner on else I will be starving going into the tank. bye bye ladies and take care :hug:

:wave: HEY THERE CHICKIES ~ just a quick one as it's late and I'm tres, tres tired! Just did housework, laundry, and stuff like that today while DH worked on the boat ~ lol! Just kidding ... haha! No, it was a quiet day. Snow is falling again; not surprising. ;)

PURPLE ~ that's cute of your DH to say you are burning his dinner when the fire alarm goes off! Humor can make someone's day. We have subsidized housing here for families and those mini apartments for the elderly and/or infirmed. DH says he would feel CLAUSTROPHOBIC in one of them (we have viewed three of them); and that we are better off staying here for now.

Hope you all have a good night; take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HAPPY FRIDAY, LADIES ~ Wow, another week has gone by already! We woke up to another snow storm, so we just stayed home today. This is the most snow that we have had in the 15+ years that we have lived here. It is now up and over the garden fence and we cannot see the greenhouse anymore. We did get a bit of sun this afternoon though; and it's clearing up becuz I saw a bright two-third's moon out there a while ago.

Just went outside long enuff to clear a wee abit of snow from the deck for the furry babies. It's really heavy stuff and hard for them to pull their leash through. Anyways, nothing much going on here; had a regular housework day. Did keep on plan well again today though; had Cod fish with salad and veggies for dinner, and baked apples for my snack.

Last night, we played games (I won the series 2-3); tonight is movie night! Hope you all have a great Friday night and a wonderful weekend as well, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hello, I am new to blogs, postings, etc. but I am here at work with 24 hours to kill. Today the clients have left, so I am here by my self. I have been diagnosed with MS since 1994. In the past 5 years my mobility has be slowly getting worse and my mental feelings about it are draining me. I really must loose weight in order to get around better and help my husband's back when I fall. I am really trying to keep smiling but sometimes it is hard. I go to a TOPS (Take off pounds sensibly) group but have only lost 4 lbs. in a long period of time. I get discouraged because I cannot get out and walk much. Sorry about the boo hoo factor, but I just needed to vent. Thank you for reading and hope to make new friends. Whoo Hoo:carrot:

Hi Everybody

Dad has been admitted in to hospital today and this is a few days earlier than folk normally would have but he has stopped his warfrin (?spelling) and now he is going to start on heparin (spelling) both are drugs to thin the blood because after his heart bypass operation he developed a blood clot and was rushed into hospital. So what with my oxygen therapy treatment and visiting dad in hospital I will not have a lot of time left in the day. Mum is staying with me at the minute so we can take her to visit dad as she does not drive herself.


WHOOHOO :~ :wel3fc: whoohoo to 3fc and especially to this particular thread. I fully appreciate how you are feeling as I am a MSer myself as is Valpal. Although others on here do not have MS they will certainly understand where you are coming from as they have their own challenges with mobility.

When I started on this journey of healthy eating way back in March last year I was 300lb as you can see by my ticker I have lost a fair bit. When I weighed 300lbs my mobility was going down hill fast and I was realistically looking at a chair within a year I think had I not changed my eating habits. Please don't feel alone in this journey of weight loss you are doing. I was fortunate and have a very supportive DH who every day when ever possible we had a little walk sometimes twice a day. When the weigh fell off I was able to walk a little further. So that has been my form of exercise on my weight loss journey. Don't look at the big picture for losing weight I break it down to small portions of 14lbs some do 10lbs or 20lbs and tackle that. Take your body measurements such as waist etc. That can be very encouraging when the scales seem to be stuck as you may find that you have lost inches instead of pounds. It is understandable that you get down but here is the right place to tell your troubles and people to listen and help if they can.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for posting in the thread when I have been unable to do so. Good for you keeping on plan, it sure does feel nice when you manage to do that. That baked apple sounds nice I like that but not had it in a long time.

Time for my bed I am so tired matchsticks needed to keep my eyes open. Sorry if my post is weird in any way it is not meant to be but when I am shattered I can puts some strange things. nightie night ladies catch up with all soon. Take care all :hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ Well, the really cold winter has finally arrived here; down the to -30C's; but I bet VAL has colder temps than these even. It's hard to get used to and my furry babies are a hoppin' from one paw to another; think I'm gonna have to get them some booties for their paws. I wonder if baby socks would work? Could at least try that, I suppose ~ lol!

:welcome: whoohoo ~ that's an interesting moniker; does it have any specific significance? Make sure you come often and post lots; and tell us something about yourself. PURPLE and VAL both have MS and have done a great job losing weight; wish I had a sample of PURPLE's daily menu. She has been loosin' steady from the start. These ladies will understand your disease and feelings about it very well.

Everyone here has some challenges to face physically; but we keep trudging along. I was born with SPINA BIFIDA; had some surgeries, but my back and walking still give me problems. I think a positive mindset helps; and my goal is towards a new healthier lifestyle. We just know that eventually things will have to get better; the scale isn't the only indicator for us. I have lost many inches and sizes; which makes me very happy.

We had a good day of relaxation; and had a nice roasted chicken dinner tonight with lots of healthy veggies. I have to keep pushing myself during the coldest winter months; am trying to do walking around the inside of the house. Did do my arm weights and chair aerobics today. The colder temps bother my legs right now; I'm sure this will pass soon enough. Heck, it is almost the end of January already and Dh is pining for spring; don't blame him really ...

PURPLE ~ am praying for your DAD that all goes well for his surgery; and have a wonderful time with your mom. Talked to my DAD twice this week; and they are doing well, thankfully. Yah, I really feel good when I have days that I stay on plan well; it gives me a bit of a boost to my morale. My biggest goal is not to gain anything this winter; but I would prefer to lose about 1-2 lbs a month??? :^:

Maybe my legs will feel better tomorrow (not so much pain); I'm sure it's the cold causing this. We had a great day today; Dh has a bit of work to do on the car this week (all minor cosmetic stuff though). I hope everyone has a great week; take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO MY CHICKADEES ~ pretty quiet around here these days! We had another lovely sunny day; and there's a lovely full moon out there, but the clouds are crowding him a bit right now ~ lol!

Anyways, just did stuff around the house today; it's crispy cold out there pardners, so I'm sticking to the indoors. DH has been busy playing with his new(er) car all day; and that's always a good thing. ;) Had a good ON PLAN DAY; very happy about that. Had a wee nap earlier, but thought I'd just drop by and say hello ... hello ... hello ...

I did my crossword puzzle for the night; and I also like to do those circle-a-words; DH loves them. I try to do things like that to while away the winter nights. WHAT DO YOU LADIES LIKE TO DO TO PASS TIME IN THE WINTER? Any hobbies besides games and the like. I know PURPLE plays a lot of games and goes out a lot; but what do you do in the wintertime??? hmmm???

Well, that's all for now; talk to ya'll soon, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: I'm still kicking :)

:hug: purple and strength to you while your Dad is in the hospital. How is the situation now?

Rosebud It's good to hear you're pushing yourself with exercise during the colder months. This is my first winter where I've found exercise I can do on a daily basis and it really helps me feel better.

:welcome:!! to whoohoo :) :hug: I have RRMS but the first year before I began a disease modifying treatment was very hard energy and mobility wise. I did find that a windsor pilates beginner tape helped me a lot because of the stretching and deep breathing. (I have a problem with mental sharpness and when I do pilates in the morning it helps combat the cognitive fog I feel). Even now, when I'm in 'remission' I wish I could do high impact exercise but I stick to treadmill walking.. and a stationary bike because my balance isnt the best. You're at the right place to make positive life changes. Come back and post more about yourself when you have time :)




Ever since I changed my ticker to get past the '62 pounds lost' hump I have been losing steadily again. I'm fitting into smaller clothing so that feels good too. I really want to wear a shorter jean skirt this summer in a size 14 or 16... so that's my next goal. Anyways back to work for me!

Take care all!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ I took advantage of another day of sunshine; went out ski-walking today three times. The first two were short to feed the birdies in the backyard; in the afternoon, I went out for a longer walk around the front parking lot, which is quite large. I just had to soak up some of those gorgeous rays; but, had to bundle up good though becuz it is a nippy cold out there right now.

HI VAL ~ nice to see you pop in; glad everything is going well for you right now; how's work going? Got any special plans for the winter like a SNOW CARNIVAL, or something like that? We have one coming up in early February and we are formally opening our new arena complex at the same time; lots of big wigs expected from the government and media. I hope our town does its very best to shine for the occasion ...

AND YES, VAL, Congrats to you on your continued weightloss success; you two are pretty busy on a regular basis and I think that helps. I have also continued to lose inches and sizes this year, so some are of the opinion that I never was in a complete plateau, and I did lose three pounds. They kept taking my ticker off becuz I wasn't losing fast enuff for them, I guess; so I just switched to the dragonflies for now. I'll just keep track with XXX's instead ~ LOL!

Well, I think all that fresh air made me tired, cuz I fell asleep after dinner tonight; did my puzzles first and then dozed off 'til 10:15 pm; ha! Oh well, I must have needed it, as DH likes to say.

PURPLE ~ hope all is well with your DAD tonight; keepin' him in my prayers for success and a speedy recovery too. I realize that you are busy with lots on your mind; best wishes ...

TAKE GOOD CARE ALL, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ well, we have been blessed with so many days of sunshine and what a difference it makes when it's very cold outside. I was able to go SKI-WALKING yesterday and today; I've been pushing myself to go out and using feeding my birdies as the excuse to do it. I noticed that the more I do it, the faster I get; the key is to start small and work my way up by extending 5 minutes at a time.

I took some more pics; one of the low-lying lake behind our place; I have to figure out how to shrink all my pics so that they will fit in a post. This will likely take some trial and error, on my part. Besides that, I just did laundry, housework, meals, and such. Did have a wee nap after my walk and did my daily puzzles; I'm trying to stretch my mind and make more brain cells work harder; well, that's the theory, and it sounds good ~ LOL!

PURPLE ~ hope all is well with you and your treatments; plus for your DAD and mom too. I'm hoping to have an update soon. ^Prayers^ continue for you and yours ...

HELLO TO VAL ~ your workweek is almost over again!

Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ we had lovely sunshine earlier today, so I went out for a walk using my ski poles again (called Nordic or Ski-Walking). Did a little over 30 minutes today, but the wind started to pick up and was quite nippy.

We are just staying home today and taking it easy; our SWEETIE is under the weather, so we are taking extra care: she's on meds (antibiotics) for three weeks and she only has one week left.

Our Winter Carnival kicks off next week, so there will be lots of activity going on in our town then; our winterlude, they call it! It helps to make the time go by faster in the winter. Kept ON PLAN really well this week; hope next week is the same.

HEY PURPLE ~ hope everything is OK with you and yours! Still praying for your Dad too; for a speedy recovery!

HELLO TO VAL AND MO TOO ~ have a great weekend, ladies ...

Well, just a short visit today; gonna go have some tea, do my puzzles, and maybe have a wee nap too. Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

First of all, thanks Justwant2Bhealthy for directing me to this sticky! It will be nice to chat with people who understand what I am going through.

I was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy called "Myotonia Congenita" at the age of ten. In the past 5 years I have been diagnosed with Fibro, CTS, Myofasical Pain Syndrome, Patella Femoral Syndrome, and Osteo in knees and spine.

The funny thing is if you saw me you would never know. That what makes me feel so isolated ,because no one understands what is going on inside my body.

I look forward to getting to know you all!

Hi Ladies

Sorry I have not been able to post here but been so busy.


Firstly thanks for all the well wishes from you all and your prayers. I am glad to report that Dad has come out of the operation well and is still in hospital recovering.

I do not have time to reply to all your wonderful posts today as I am so tired with visiting and fitting my treatment in.

:welcome3: crbowles to this thread here I am sure your will find the help and support. I do not have your health issues but I do have ms. Here you will find people who will understand what it is like to have things going on with their bodies that no one else understand. It is good to come on here and tell people who have physical challenges things that are difficult and we understand where you are coming from. Even maybe able to offer a solution or way round that you had not thought about.

bye bye all catch up soon. :hug:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ We had a busy day today too; made a turkey for dinner and that's always a lot of work but Dh helped me this time. Our little SWEETIE needs extra attention right now; so I was running around with her (will explain it more later). Baked some pumpkin bran muffins for this week as well; DH's favorite snack is muffins of any kind.

:welcome: CRBOWLES ~ I'm so glad you found us; sometimes it can be confusing for newcomers how to maneuver around these forums and threads, but we all catch on after awhile. Boy, you sure do have a lot going on in that body of yours; and I do know how you feel. I have multiple health issues (not all specific diseases) that act up at different times or all at once, if they decide to ~ lol! Come back and post often!

We had lovely sunshine early this morning, then it warmed up and started snowing just a wee bit, while Dh hollered out the window: stop, stop; we don't need anymore snow right now.

PURPLE ~ I'm so glad that you and your Dad are doing well; I was getting a tad concerned that we hadn't heard from you for awhile.

VAL ~ THE PICS ARE IN ~I finally figured out how to downsize my pics and I have posted a picture of myself in my profile; just click on my moniker (Justwant2Bhealthy) and select 'view profile" and you will see me! I am gonna try to download some pics of my furry babies too (SWEETIE is white and PIN PIN is the beige one).

Well, this will be short for now to get the pics in; so take care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

28270 28271

:welcome2: crbowles :hug: come back and post more about yourself when you get a chance. Rosebud is right -- the boards were overwhelming to me as a newbie for awhile. It takes some time. I dont have near the amount of health problems you do but I can relate to the 'looking fine' part. I was part of the 'if it aint bleeding it isnt hurt' mentality. so much for that!

Rosebud yay you got the pictures uploaded! good job! sweetie and pin pin are adorable dogs :) So you're getting adjusted to the digital camera then?

:hug: Purple I hope you are doing well.


as for me... it's Monday so work is sucking more than usual. Our manager wont start for a couple weeks so bleh. And my knee has been hurting.. again.. more... basically not getting better. I kind of feel like complaining about things ya know? There's this mess at my job.. and I get dumped on by people not even in my office... I'm guessing because I'm younger? It's just not a happy day.

AND I'm trying to get health coverage at work... but for some reason the broker my office deals with will only include life insurance in the package (life insurance and chronic illness dont mix I'm sure you all know) so I'm frustrated

wah wah wah. not a happy camper today. I hope the start of everyone's week goes better than mine!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ A very mild day out there today; almost raining, was hard to tell tonight, with a very fierce wind but it stayed at 0C right on. Kept busy running after SWEETIE all day; she kept me hopping, but she's worth it. She's on meds and vitamins, so we have to find creative ways to get her to take it just like you would a kid ~ lol!

WARNING: YUCKY ~ don't read while eating; haha! There have been some changes in that tumor/lump: it sprung a leak, so I had to make a bunch of diapies for her out of an old flannel sheet; but it's workin' wonders. Now we just hope that it will heal itself after it finishes draining. Sorry, is that 2MIF? Anyways, she's a lot perkier than she was before; and that's good news.

VAL ~ sorry for you that you had such a rotten day at work; I remember days like that, when the new and younger employees got dumped on. I worked in a ministry office one year and stuff like that happened there too; most of them were great people, but there's always one or two that need an attitude adjustment ~ lol!

I'm puzzled why the insurance won't include health coverage when it's supposed to be a prearranged group plan (vs not individual) that's part of a collective agreement. Maybe you could get some help from your union rep; and keep pushing it, becuz they may relent with just a little pressure.

Just did housework and stuff around the house today; and then played with my camera and pics this aft. I put up some pics in the Christian Encouragers thread as well: the furry babies, DH, and our Christmas lights. I'll post some more here a little later as well; so stay tuned ~ haha! I have a fun new hobby to while away the winter!

PURPLE ~ Hope you are well and best wishes and prayers for your Dad too. And VAL, I hope the rest of your week goes much better (will keep you and your situation in my prayers too). Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ just a short check-in tonight. Had a good day, but was a bit tired. The weather is crappy: lol! Rain and wet and damp and cold: all in one; it was slippery out there, so I just stayed in. Don't like this kind of weather as everything turns to ice. Hope the colder temps come back in time for our Winterlude though!

Didn't do too much today; had a longer nap 'til 7 pm. Fatigue catching up with me, I guess. Been running after SWEETIE to change those diapies; it seems to be getting better, thankfully.

Hope everyone is feeling well; take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ Well, the jokes on me; I thought yesterday was yucky. Ha! Today, we woke up to one of the worst 'WHITE-OUT' snow storms I've ever seen; everything was closed, including the highways. It has stopped now though; went and checked when I let the furry babies out. The front of our place was like a sheet of ice, only now it is covered with snow.

Had a good day otherwise though; just did laundry, housework, and stuff around the house, as no-one could go outside for long. We had plans to go to town but will wait 'til the weather is better. DH finds it boring being inside so much.

MORE PICS ~ here's some more pics of our backyard. The first one is of a lovely sunrise I captured a couple of weeks ago; can't believe how good it came out. The one beside it is the huge snow mountain (which is bigger now) that shows by the house and vehicles in the background just how high it is. We do have lots of snow this year.

PURPLE ~ there's our fenced-in garden before and after it got buried. I had to laugh when you said that you envisioned this beautiful garden fence becuz it is very rustic-looking and made of wood slats ~ lol! But hey, we like it and that's all that matters; and the birds like to sit on it too.

ANYWAYS, hope you gals are doing well; Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:


28286 28288

28287 28285

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ Well after that doozy of a storm we had last night, it was nice to wake up to beautiful sunshine today. It was still very cold though and everything was covered in frost. Didn't do much today; just stayed in while DH went to town for errands and played with our car this afternoon. Hope everyone is doing OK right now.

I am going to start the new monthly thread for FEBRUARY; fresh new thread for a fresh new month. Just remember that it's one month closer to summer now. 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 FEBRUARY'S MONTHLY THREAD #006 -- see you there ... thanx

:hug: ROSEBUD :hug: