Dieting with Obstacles - PHYSICAL CHALLENGES ~ March's Monthly Thread #007

WELCOME EVERYONE ~ this thread is for anyone with any kind of physical obstacle and/or challenge like SB, CP, MS, MD, PK, Lupus, Osteo, Arthritis, Rheumatism, or any other condition (s), whether genetic or acquired (like injuries), 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 ...



:D HAPPY MARCH EVERYONE :D

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Hi Everyone and good afternoon.

Gosh gee whiz another month don't they just fly by. Yesterday I went to my parents house. Dad unfortunately was not too well, had a couple of bouts of vomiting. Although he is much better today so it probably the infection that he has at the minute at the transplanted skin graft site. District nurse said that the infection could have caused the vomiting so lets hope it gets under control soon. The doctor is trying to get his 6 week post operative check brought forward but will not know until Monday at the earliest as the consultant was away from the hospital on Friday.

I had to go to the doctors myself this week as I had been having dreadful abdominal pain very shortly after eating. I have been prescribed omprazole once a day. This is a drug used in the treatment of ulcers. They think that there is a strong possibility that I may have one as both mum and dad have had one. I am on this treatment for 6 weeks plus a blood test in a few weeks time to see if a bacteria has caused this. I have to go back after 6 weeks to see him again. After a few days of the tablets I am nearly pain free from the abdominal pain. I still feel a little tender in that area but probably will do until it has healed.

Last night we had gale force winds but we did not suffer any damage from those. It is still windy today but not as strong as it was all last night. I saw my sister and her family yesterday. She has not seen me for a few weeks now. Although we speak regularly on the phone. She was so shocked to see how much weight I have lost and my DH. I will never be the size of my sister I accept that as she is very slender and has been all her life. One joke we have always shared between us is that I am the eldest and far from flat chested :D my sister on the other hand is flat chested. She swears I was first in the queue and took all the bust and left her none ;)

Cooked some lean beef today with vegetable and then plenty of steamed vegetables. The meal was beautiful pleased with the result. I have some left for tomorrow so that I can crack on with other household chores namely laundry if I am ok to do so. DH tonight well at 1am is picking up his sister and family from our local airport. His sister has been visiting their Auntie whom lives in Cyprus for the past 2 or 3 years. Must have been a big move to go to another country when you have retired. Auntie Cath is my DH mum's sister. There was an age gap between the two sisters. I only just met his mum a few times then unfortunately she passed away. Although I am so pleased that I met her she was a lovely lady who had suffered with her health in latter years.

Still ploughing through and putting things slowly on my pc slowly getting there. Do not realize that you have so much on your pc. Will be glad when it is over and done with. Does not help that you have to do chores etc in between so you have to start looking where your at and what else needs doing. Plus I find lots of excuses like coming on here and reading posts and replying. Rather than getting on with the job in hand.

Time for a cuppa I think so I will say my goodbyes. Hi to MO, VALPAL AND CBOWLES :wave: catch up with you all soon :hug:

Happy weekend Ladies :hug: I'm finally over the worst of the viral bronchitis/ cold. I'm still really congested but I have most of my energy, appetitie and balance back :) and I did avoid a full blown MS flare!

Last weekend was frustrating for me... being a week into being sick and still really fatigued... I went through a couple days of the dizzies and it went downhill from there. I did not get much done for 2 weeks... and couldnt even walk outside without medicating with an inhaler to breathe. It's not even that cold now - it's warmed up between -15 and -25 most days:)

Purple I'm sorry to hear about your Father - it must be hard on his body to be sick after surgery. He's blessed to have knowledgable family like you to keep an eye on things!

and it's good that you found some relief withthe script written for your abdominal pain. So ulcers can be hereditary as well as stress related?

I'm glad things have been going well otherwise - weather and eating plan wise. You're doing so well with your weight loss :)

Rosebud - thanks for starting this month's thread! When does the snow start melting in your part of Ontario?



That's all for now. Happy March - and Hi to everyone else :wave:

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ we had another gorgeous day today; now it's a bit overcast with a light sprinkle of the fluffy stuff. I spent a good part of the day trying to get pics of our backyard birds; but you sure have to be patient for that, as it takes hours and hours.

Just had a nap to get my legs up; I did a lot of walking over the last few days and my legs were showing it (swollen with pain). They feel better now: only rest and elevation can help them right now.

PURPLE ~ will say some more prayers for your DAD's health, and for your ulcer. Yes, they can be caused from bacteria and aggravated by stress. I'm glad you found a medication that is easing your pain. I picked up a nice lean sirloin roast for dinner tomorrow; we'll roast some nice veggies with that too.
Keep trudging on that computer, a bit each day and it will be good as new in no time.

DH has been clearing a bit of snow each day for a few minutes only; but over a few days, he has accomplished a lot. He's widening the path to my large bird feeder so we can see the birds from our dinner table. We have a large window in front of our table, so we can see all their funny antics.

VAL ~ glad your are feeling a bit better; these flus are tough this year. I am finally over the worst of the one we had, but had a bit of the fox trots last night: not sure what caused that, as I've had that problem for many years on and off. At least now it's not all the time anymore. Gee, I hope you didn't have to work while you were so sick; you need a lot of rest to fight off some of these flus.

We have had some real mild temps lately; and some of the snow has melted three times; good thing, or we would be buried by now. This is by far one of the mildest winters I recall, but hey, I'm not complaining: I actually love it. There is enuff snow to keep the ground wet and that's good for the wells, rivers, and lakes too. Normally, things start to melt in April here and most of the snow is gone by early May; but we may have an early spring this year, if this mild trend keeps up.

HOPE you ladies have a nice, restful weekend; will send up some special prayers for you both. Do take good care of yourselves, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi All

Up at silly times as DH sister plane has been delayed by nearly 3 hours. I know I could go to bed but I don't sleep too well without DH and if I do get to sleep I frequently wake up on him retiring to bed. Then have an awful job getting off to sleep so I choose to stop up as long as I can. No doubt tomorrow I will be wiped out and will not come round till Monday.

VALPAL:~ Glad to hear that you are now on the mend illnesses take their toll on us and frequently take a long time to go as our immune system is compromised with MS being an auto immune disease.

Yes it is taking its toll on Dad mentally and physically. I hope he soon turns the corner and is on the road to recovery. Yes ulcers have an increased risk if you have a parent with it but I have 2 parents with it so it is a strong family connection in my case. There are other reasons such as stress,spicy food, medications, smoking and a bacteria. Although it is of the latest medical opinion that stress and spicy food are not now a cause for ulcers.

Thanks for the boost to my confidence regarding my weight loss. I have lots of mini targets for the next 7 or so pounds. Firstly to lose 98 pounds as that will mean something in the English weighing system of using stones and pounds. That would mean I would have lost 7 stone. The next mini goal is to get to 100lb lost. Then finally to lose 104lbs and then I no longer will be obese but overweight. So much to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. You also are going extremely well and Rosebud has also had victories this winter. So we all are winners here.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for the prays for Dad and myself. One more for dinner tomorrow with having sirloin ;) I love sirloin but is is so costly over here :( I was really surprised by you saying that it is an extremely mild winter to me that sounds severe but I suppose when you hardly ever get snow any downfall seems heavy to me.

I hope that your legs are feeling much better and the oedema (swelling) has gone down. Not pleasant when you get that. I can get that on long journeys or if I have been standing way too long on my legs for days on an end. Rest and elevation is the best medicine for them.

Time to head for my bed and get some shut eye. Night all and catch up with you all soon :hug:

Hi All

Posting this post at more normal hours :D as it is mid afternoon here. It is a chilly day but we have sun so you need to wrap up warm to go out. Just been doing some correspondence by email and finished that so this is my coffee break.

Going out tomorrow to pick up my new glasses. I had a new pair approximately 6 months ago well they have been nothing but trouble I have to keep going in to the shop where I bought them and have them tightened. I understand that you have to do that periodically but this was on a regular basis. Well I had finally had enough and really pushed them about what they where going to do. I was offer new glasses which I am to pick up now tomorrow. I have to be fitted by the manager I think because I was so dissatisfied they dare not get it wrong a second time. The first pair I had was rimless glasses which suited me so this time I have gone for half rims. This is the first time I have had any trouble with a pair of glasses in all the time I have been wearing them which is over 20 years. So fingers crossed these are more successful.

Yesterday I made a big fresh fruit salad for our tea, I made it in a big container and so there is plenty left for today. DH had his with some fat free yogurt and I had mine just as it came. I love fresh fruit so have to be careful else I can give myself the Rodney Trotters with my greed for it :o

DH picked up a bargain the other day on going to the large superstore he managed to find many tee -shirts and polo shirts. I think he got 12 in all the other day. He has a weakness for shirt he is like the Imelda Marcos of shirts :D Although I must admit it was time for him to get some more all his other shirts where looking baggy. He has not lost much weight lately but his body shape is getting more svelte which has given him much encouragement even if the scales are being a pain. I am glad he has had some positive results it is hard for me to keep him motivated when the scales do not budge for him and they were going down regularly for me. I have slowed up though the past few weeks but that was too be expected.

Coffee break over I must get on with a few house hold chores that I put on hold this morning as my tummy was so sore but it has settled down now. Bye bye all catch up with you soon :hug:

HI LADIES ~ we had lovely weather again for Sunday; just took it easy taking some more pics of my backyard friends. Later, my sis called and we spent hours yackin' on the phone. DH fell asleep after watching some movies, but got up later and we had a very late, light dinner. Having that roast sirloin today instead ~ LOL!

PURPLE ~ glad you are feeling a bit better; when I can't sleep it sometimes takes a couple of days to catch up. A little night toddy helps a bit too (only mine are made from hops); that's my Gramma's favorite remedy (thanks Gramma) ... hehe! That homemade fruit salad sounds good: what do you make your fresh fruit salad with? I guess that means that they now think that all ulcers have some physical cause; maybe the other stuff just aggravates it more??? :shrug:

Today, we've had lots of snow falling from the time we got up; hope we don't get too much though. It is kinda pretty, and it looks so fresh and clean out there now. Well, I came in to read a bit and catch up, but it's time to go for lunch ...

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

Hi fellow chicks.


Well it is glorious sunshine outside but its deceiving as it has a very cold wind so you have to wrap up warm. Had a nice walk but initially cold but has I walked I soon warmed up.

Been and picked up my glasses today though after a few hours of wearing them I think they will have to be altered as they are now slipping down my nose. I wear my glasses high up on the bridge of my nose. I hate it when you keep having to push them up your nose as they are slipping constantly on looking down.

ROSEBUD My fresh fruit salad changes depending on what fruit I have in. It always consists of berries though of some sort or description. That salad had blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, tangerines and kiwi fruit. Sometimes I add tinned fruit as well which is in natural juices such as peaches, mandarin oranges and pineapple. If I happen to have fruit that is tinned but in a light syrup (sometimes win these) I put the fruit in a colander and wash them thoroughly with cold water and toss into the salad. I like to serve with a small portion of yoghurt, or natural yoghurt ( or fromage frais ) sweetened with sweetener and vanilla essence or low fat ice cream. You can make it up into an air tight container and then it will last for a few days if kept refrigerated.

Yes ulcers they are a mine field to know the causes one article says one thing and another something else. One day they all might come to the same conclusion ;) I have good days and bad days with it. I find if I eat little and often seems the way forward to keep the pain at bay.

Right time for sorting tea out. Not sure what we will be having. Cupboard a bit like old mother hubbards :D as we are going shopping tomorrow. I think I will do DH boiled eggs he likes eggs so that will go down a treat. With a couple of slices of toast. Well that is him sorted now to think about me. Not an egg fan never have been and probably never will be. I am more picky about food than DH, there is not much he will not eat. Bye till next time :hug:

HELLO MY CHICKADEES ~ we had a beautiful sunny day again, but it was a bit colder than last week; but by the late afternoon, I was roasting in my very warm winter coat. We had to go to town early this week to pick up an order; the store is closing down and they ordered something for us, so we had to be prompt. Picked up some things we forgot last week.

PURPLE ~ I also picked up some nice cotton stretch tops with snaps for the summer; on a clearance rack for only $5.00 each. Dh bought himself some heavy socks and new work gloves: think we'll get some more of those socks for him next week, as they were a good deal too.

HI VAL ~ hope you are feeling better; are you back at work, or still at home recuperating ???

We didn't get back til just in time to make dinner; so the day was full up. Spent the morning finishing up our bills and books; it's a tuff job, but somebody has to do it: meaning me!!! LOL! BTW, do you guys have an invisible guest living in your house called SOMEBODY? We do ... he/she is quite mischievious: taking things, moving things, losing things, breaking things, and so on. Funny thing is ... I have never seen them at it ~ LOL!

Have a great week, ladies ~ your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hello :wave:

Rosebud It's great to hear you're having a mild spring. The professionals in my office building (we're a big family because we all work in small, fewer than 5 people type non profit orgs) have decided to 'make spring happen mentally'. So we're pulling out the spring clothing... and I got blonde highlights put in my hair last week.

SOMEBODY likes to annoy me.. so they must be in our house! Leaving blinds open, forgetting to pick up dirty dishes and refusing to take out the garbage. Let me know if you ever track somebody down ;)

Purple Thanks for explaining more about ulcers. I like getting as much -especially- health related information in lay-person terms. Do you think your successful weight loss this far plays a factor in your glasses sliding down more often? One of these days I'm going to go get mine readjusted too.



I am around more. I am back at work playing catch up from the week or so I took off.. and week after that where I went to work but did next to nothing. Tomorrow I'm presenting at an elementary school on behalf of a local tourism attraction.. and Friday I have a day long conference. It'll be the weekend before I know it!

:hug: take care all

Hi All

Well very dull day here today no sign of mr sunshine today. The wind still remains cold and biting.

Must try and crack on this weekend with the housework I have let it slide somewhat with feeling under the weather. So I hope that I am feeling well enough to manage to do it or at least but a big dint in it.

ROSEBUD Sounds like you got some bargains there with your cotton tops. It is nice to pick up bargains, Also sound like you had some good deals for your dh gloves and socks.

VALPAL I know with this pair of glasses it is not the weight loss that has caused the need for adjustment. These are a replacement pair this week for a pair of glasses which have had a fault in them. So when I thought they were ok in the opticians I really needed them tighter I suppose. Although I think if you have an existing pair of glasses and you have lost a large amount of weight I think that it is very likely some adjustments will have to be made. I have lost quite a bit of weight from my face since my weight loss journey began. Especially when I look at a picture of me. Though there are virtually none of me at my top weight and even then only a head and shoulders one. This is as I absolutely hated having my photograph taken. I would do anything to get out of them. I wish that I had more of me during my weight loss journey to see how far I have come. All I have is a number on the scales so to speak and a whole new wardrobe.

Time to go and have a lie down I feel tired after being at the tank this morning . Catch up with you all soon. bye bye fellow chicks.:hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ been keeping busy the last couple of days. We had a small amount of snow overnight (only about an inch), but it has been mostly sunny here. Yesterday, we washed our livingroom rug with a neat little upright cleaning machine we picked up on sale. Just two uses, and it pays for itself; and it's very quick and EZ to use too.

HI VAL ~ glad you are feeling better and catching up at work. We are very fortunate to have such nice, mild weather this year. We are going to the EYE VAN in April to get new glasses; I am so glad that they come here each year or we would have to take a long trip somewhere else to get them. I just had reading glasses before, but now I am going to have to wear them all the time as my eyesight is going down, which the last eye doctor says is common for someone my age. WOW, blonde highlights ... that sounds quite bold and interesting; but fun too! Good for you!!!

PURPLE ~ hope you get some rest today; we were up in the middle of the night with SWEETIE. I feel like we have a newborn ~ lol! She decided that she had to go to the washroom; and I was so tired by the time we got back to bed (really feel for all those new parents). ;) Some of my reading glasses slide on me too. As I mentioned to VAL above, I will be getting permanent glasses soon, so I hope that I get good ones that don't do that.

I was the same as you, I didn't like to get my pics taken either, but I do have two of myself when I was heavier (one was my wedding pic, and the other one, a neighbour took for her daughter and so she gave me a copy). I actually weighed less in my wedding pic, but it didn't look like it. It's funny how certain hairdo's and clothing aren't that flattering. As I lose and change my wardrobe, I have learned a few new flattering tricks along the way.

Today I have been doing some early spring cleaning; cleaned out some cupboards and my pantry. Then did some housework and lots of laundry (it's change all the bedding day). Well, it's time to go put dinner on, so take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi fellow chicks,

We have sunny morning with plenty of breeze so I should get my washing dry or blown off the line :D. With it being nice I have managed my walk for the day. I am afraid at lunch time GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) 3fc site is down so I am putting this to word to transfer when it becomes available again.

The next few days are dedicated to catching up with house work. With feeling very much under the weather due to my ulcer I let the housework slide and I hate that but you do what is necessary to get by.

Would like to share with you all on here one big goal that I have achieved this morning on my weekly weighting in. I have lost 98lbs but to me in Britain that means 7 stone lost so I am really over the moon this morning. Next goal here I come 100lb lost :D

ROSEBUD yes I fully agree with you about mothers with infants and having to get up regularly during the night to feed and change them night after night all with very little sleep. The people who amaze me are ones who look after wildlife and have to be up hourly in the beginning to feed the creature in question to save their life. I do not think I could be so dedicated to do that night after night. They are very special people to do that. I hope that sweetie is soldiering along and enjoying life.

You will probably find once you get your glasses fitted correctly they should not slip on your face. If they do go back to the opticians to have the nose/ear pieces adjusted. I find because you are wearing them all the time they become less likely to need adjusting as you are not taking them off as regularly as reading glasses. I have worn my glasses all the time since I was 21 many moons ago now :D Though it is only in the past 4 years that I have had varilux lenses which then you use the upper part of your lenses for distance and the low part for reading. It took about 6 weeks to get use to. I was determined to master them so that I did not have to have 2 pairs of glasses as that was a sure way for me to lose one ;)

Time to call lunch break over and get on with the housework and stop putting it off as I am doing with a thousand excuses none of which are very good. Bye all and take care :hug:

:wave: HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS ~ we had another lovely day today; and I caught another amazing phenom in the sky this morning ... a full rainbow circle around the sun at dawn; managed to get some pics of that as well (see below). I am putting a different one in the Christian Encouragers thread; and here's a link to view that one too ~

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28596&d=1204932689

It was much colder today than they thought it would be, but we had sunshine most of the day, then late this aft, we had some flurries come from the north. Our BIL from down south called this morning and says they are expecting a huge storm today (hope it doesn't come here)!

We didn't do much today; just rested today as we did so much this week already that we decided to give ourselves a much needed rest for a few days. I've been doing some research on the net; just looking some health info up, and boy, that can sure take up some time.

PURPLE ~ :congrat: on making your 7 stone loss!!! Now it's on to that NA number of 100 pounds even. 'Kudos to you' for getting in your walk; you are doing better than me. I was so sore and tired today, that I didn't even go out in this cold, frigid air. Maybe I'll march around the apartment or do some dancing tonight; that all counts too.

We are having a thin crust pizza for dinner tonight for our special Friday dinner; we had fish and lots of veggies and coleslaw last night. They have some specials on b/l and sk/l chicken breast and fish this week, think we'll go pick some up for next week. Thanks for the advice about the glasses. Hope you can get all your housework caught up soon; I only did a load of laundry today (comforters and blankets).

Well, not much else to report right now; better go get that skinny pizza in the oven for DH. Hope you all have a great Friday night and restful weekend too! Take good care of yourselves, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

28595

:wave: :wave: :wave:

We had a nice sunny day; too cold to go out though! Just restin' ...

:D HAVE A SUPER SUNDAY!!!


:hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi fellow chicks

Good afternoon. Well the last couple of days have been productive and I have caught up with the house work. When I say I it is more like we :D DH has been mucking in as well to help me so pleased now to have it up to date and ship shape. Lovely day here at the minute and have already got my walk in before the weather decides to turn. We did not get our walk in yesterday till later and it was drizzle when we went for our walk so got a little wet :rain: Was worth it though saw a couple of foxes close up which I always love to see these beautiful animals.

I have been watching over the past couple of days is diamond geezer. Not sure whether it will be seen overseas. It stars David Jason (from Only Fools and Horse or A Touch of Frost) he plays a lovable master of disguise who can steal the most guarded of items with use of ingenuity and no one gets hurt. He does it not always for his own financial gain but just because he can. I noticed he his working on another Terry Prachets disc world books which has been put to screen the first he did was Hogfather and now he is doing The colour of magic. Looking forward to seeing this as I enjoyed Hogfather. Not that I read any Terry Prachet books as I struggle to read fantasy. I am much better with reading historical and always have been. Watched a historical film last night Elizabeth: The Golden Years. It was at the time of the holy wars in Europe and the King Philip of Spain was the most power ruler of that time. He was planning to invade England as he though he was saving the people from a protestant leader in Queen Elizabeth 1. I really enjoyed the film as it brought that period of history alive and made you understand why things happened as they did.

ROSEBUD :~ :thanks: for your best wishes regarding my 7 stone lost. Has we know the scales are only a number the most important thing I think is to eat health and have the "naughty" foods seldomly and savour them ;) We can only do the exercise that our bodies allow us, you have been a great support to me during my journey as you know the pit falls as I have never seriously embarked on a healthy eating programme. I always buried in head in the sand when it came to my weight and how unhealthy I was. It was others who had a problem not me and that was my pigheaded attitude for many many years. Then eventually the penny dropped well more like a sledge hammer dropped. After watching a programme called The half tonne hospital and I could see my self heading that way and having to have fire crew come a get me out of my home when I was ill. I thought I just could not have that as I am a private person and that was humiliation in public for me if I had to have the fire crew take me out of my home. So a few weeks after that I started to think very seriously what I was going to do to change the one way path I was going down. So here I am still motivated as I just have to conjure up an image of one of the hospital patients at this hospital and it gives me the kick up the proverbial. So think how far you have come and that you now are much healthier. With exercise your body shape changes and maybe the scales don't. My dh is in that boat at the minute he is having to have new tops as the others look so baggy yet the scales are stuck with super glue ;)

Love the picture of the rainbow encircling the sun what a photograph. One you would have missed was it not for your Christmas present from your wonderful dh. Hope you are resting and recharging your batteries. I fully understand what it is like to be tired and it is an effort to do everything.

Time to go and make :coffee: and put my feet up for a while take care all and catch up with you all soon. :hug:

Hey chickees :)

Purple Congrats again on your weight loss! I have been struggling lately with motivation.... people are starting to tell me how great i'm doing... and I started to feel complacent. I am still trying to break out of it but you brought up several good reminders of motivation. Thank you.

Rosebud you took a beautiful picture! thanks for sharing. I trust you had a pleasent weekend :)

My Dad turned 51 yesterday. So my mother and I got a group of about 12 of his closest friends together at the best restaurant in town and had dinner. He was really happy. It was a good night :)

It's been making me think though. My Dad is is the epitome of a person who went looking for a wife/family etc because he worked in a gereatric ward as a young nurse and saw so many people 'die alone' that he decided he didnt want to be like that. It makes me wonder about life for sure... especially after going to a Christian university and watching some of my peers pair up and marry immediatly... some even have children now and I really dont see my self doing anything conventional like that. I guess I'm still young and naive.

Where were both of you/what was life like at 23 for you?

:wave: HELLO THERE CHICKIES ~

We had another beautiful sunny day; I think that is record for us here, and I'm lovin' it!!! I spent a good part of the day taking pics of our backyard feathered guests; and I got a few really nice ones. We kept our word and just did our regular chores today; we spent the entire weekend indoors and rested. We had planned to go out, but it was very cold and windy so we decided to wait til next week instead.

Apparently, we are setting our clocks back early this year: tonight as a matter of fact, so starting tomorrow, we will be having much longer days of daylight; and with all the sun we've been having, that would mean lots more sun too. Who knows, that might mean an early spring for us here. :D

PURPLE ~ thanks so much for your kind words; you also keep me going. As I watch your progress, I am learning some things from you. Your walking is more consistant than mine, so I'm gonna try and work on that aspect. And you give me ideas about meals that we can try. I am learning a lot from the people here, and I find them so encouraging as well.

I never saw that show; but my main concern was my health and still is. Also, I just didn't feel comfortable at that weight; nobody does. I want to enjoy my life and it's still a struggle for me at times; walking I mean, but I am going to keep going. Now that we have a more reliable car, we can go on our trips to the lakes more often and go swimming this year. If we can start on that cabin would be nice too, but we'll see how things go.

HI VAL ~ hope you are having a nice restful weekend. Take good care of your health. Remember, these flus need lots of time to fully recover; don't go overdoing it now.:D

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

Hi and good afternoon


Just return from a short walk, we snook it in as it looked like rain. The weather forecast for the next few days is not so nice so woolly hat here we come :D

Yesterday I had to put on my tens unit ( a battery device with small sticky pads you place on the effected part of the body for pain. My lower back was giving me grief so I put it on and it helped immensely. It was the best buy I ever bought as it reduces my pain but not for my trigeminial neuralgia it makes it worst so only pills for that one I am afraid. Not sure what back pain was all about but more than likely due to my MS.

In the middle of cooking dinner a little later than normal but not that that really matters. Cooking butternut squash chips (fries) with a cauliflower cheese burger and a small portion of baked beans. Not our lowest calorie dinner but try to do a variety of things to make it interesting.

VALPAL :~ Sometimes it is hard to keep motivated especially now as the weight loss is slow per week now if any. You have come so far and now have about as much as me to lose to get to your goal. I suspect like me the weight loss has slowed up considerably as you near the goal.

Happy Birthday to your father it appears that he had a lovely meal with his friends.

Now where was I when I was 23. I had not long qualified as a psychiatric nurse so was now responsible for running my own ward frequently when on duty. I was free and single at that time. I was feeling a little down as my sister was making plans to get married. I felt I was missing out on something as my sister was 5 years my junior. I though that nobody would want me as I was so overweight and so flung myself whole heartedly into my career. Oh for not knowing what is round the corner in your life sometimes it is better not to know. ( referring to the ms.) Though now over twenty years later I am in a loving and caring relationship and no longer nurse. I never foresaw that in a million years. I thought I would be working at a maximum secure hospital for patients who have mainly have committed serious crimes (murder, paedophiles and the like) but found to have a mental illness. I was seriously thinking of applying to these hospitals when I started with my MS symptoms. A few months before then I had just started to go out with my partner. He has stayed with me through this and kept me strong. Although I have not got the piece of paper to say he is my husband we think of each other that way. I do not have to have a piece of paper to know how he thinks of me. So I still kick convention some what. I do not have any children either which is not conventional for some one of my age. It never interested me in the slightest to have children. My sister is more conventional than me she has 4 children so we are different in that respect.

ROSEBUD:~ Our clocks go forward this weekend. They go forward in march and back in October. Each time it is a hour either forward or backwards.

Walking has not always been easy. I have had to force myself to go many times. Always though when finishing the walk I feel so pleased with myself on how much I have achieved. I started with ½ mile walk once a day. That initially was murder. When I was comfortably doing that I upped it to ¾ of a mile. Or if I had plenty of time I did another walk either ¼ or ½ mile. This was to build my strength up. If I could not do it one day either unwell or time. It was not an excuse not to do it the next possible time. I try to vary my walks to make them interesting. If you can not measure the walk with your car. This website is very useful at plotting your walks. http://www.gmped.com/ In the box at the top pop in your road/ street etc and then your town/ city followed by country and press save. This then will be your home page every time you open it. If you can not get your road to come up put in a bigger road that is close by and find it that way. To increase the magnification press + symbol. When you find where you wish to start left click on that point then left click with mouse a point a little further along the route. If you make an error click undo at the top of the page. You will see at the top of the page the route that you have plotted distance. So hey presto you can start plotting different routes that you can physically manage at that time. I hope that helps a little.

I have found a website by a lady who has lost her weight and has got a page with lots of recipes most with calorie break down. I find them useful even if I have to tweak a little as we do not have a particular item in the uk http://greenlitebites.com/ This is her recipe section ( a few videos on how to do something as well) and this is one for her story and other information http://weightwatchen.com/. I hope this is of some interest to you. I find it useful and keeps me trying new things.

I can understand how you worry about your health and what the future holds. I think the older you get the more it comes to the forefront of your mind. Even more so when you have existing health conditions that are never going to go away no matter what you do. My biggest fear is that I become a burden to my DH and I would hate that. I am an independent sole and always have been. Though with MS I have had to give in and ask for help with things I can not do.

Time to go and wash up. Oh for a dishwasher :D but my kitchen is not big enough. Bye for now and take care all :hug:

:wave: we had a busy day; went to town this afternoon; it was just way too gorgeous out there to stay home. We didn't get back til after 6 pm so we had a late, but quick dinner. I picked up lots of veggies (broccoli, turnip, cauliflower, tomatoes, cabbage, and some bananas). Got some chicken breasts too; nice lean meat and enuff for the month.

VAL ~ we posted at the same time the other night, so I didn't see your post til tonight. That was a great idea for your DAD; probably made hime feel pretty special. He's around my age; I am turning the big 50 in October. We had a nice quiet weekend, but my legs are sore from all the walking today.

At 23 y/o, I was single and working; owned my own home, which I rented out rooms to a couple of single ladies for awhile. Later, turned it into two apts and rented one out while living in the other. Many years later, we sold it for several reasons; but I didn't get married until I was 30 years old, and I don't regret that one bit. I went to college twice (@ 20 y/o & 26 y/o) and worked in between and after (I actually started working when I was only 12 which I would not recommend to anyone today; it's too young and makes you grow up too fast).

I had lots of fun with my friends; learned cross-country skiing, racketball, played baseball, bowling, badminton, and games with friends; tried to remain active outside of work too. I have gardened almost all my life; I like to grow some of my own food. I love animals and nature in general. We never had children just becuz they didn't show up; but I have no ill feelings about that at all: I believe it wasn't meant to be for us, that's all.

Now we are older (almost 50 [me] & [DH] 60) and we are set in our ways with our furry babies; they are enuff for us. Do you know that some people actually bug us about being childless? Some people can be so rude and thoughtless at times. I was the same as PURPLE; I was contented to be single and honestly, didn't ever expect to get married (and thought secretly the same as her about my weight). But GOD had a surprise in store for me; sometimes they (husbands) come along when you least expect it ~ LOL!

PURPLE ~ thanks for straightening that all out; yes, we put our clocks ahead in spring and back on fall (spring forward;fall back). I was thinking about getting our longer days back ~ LOL! It was daylight tonight to well past seven, closer to 8 pm really; I'll take note of the actual time tomorrow. It was wonderful ~ neighbours were out takin' the kiddies for ski-doo rides after dinner; good for them to be outside getting lots of fresh air and exercise too.

Thanks for the info about the walking and the links to that site; will definitely check it out. We don't have a dish washer either; right now I don't mind doing them myself: I keep telling myself how much energy I am burning up with all these chores, and it's working ...

Well, I'd better go now, as it's late: and faithful SWEETIE is waiting for me and she needs sleep more than me (what a darling). Take good care, Dh is sick again, so I'm trying to keep my distance a bit; is that possible when you are married??? LOL!

:hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi and Good Morrning

Up quite early this morning for me :D it is 8.30am don't normally surface till about 9.30am but couldn't sleep. Took me ages to go off to sleep as well, so will possibly need a top up this afternoon with sleep ;)

The weather at the minute looks good and is sunshining but with the British weather that can all change so rapidly. Yesterday evening I decided to wash our 2 large mats we have in the kitchen. They just fit in the washing machine one by one. I have managed to dry them over night so will be putting them back down shortly. They always come up looking like brand new after they have been washed. Even mopped the floor in the kitchen last night so had a busy hour of doing some chores. Not necessary chores but ones I fit in when I feel I have a burst of energy ;)

ROSEBUD Nice to pick up fresh produce when you go shopping. Today is my shopping day so will be picking up lots of fruit and vegetables for the week. The shop is about 5 miles away so not too far to go.

I don't really miss a dish washer either except when I am up to my eyeballs in pots when I have done a meal when I am unable to wash up as a go long to keep things under control.

One thing you reminded me of about being 23 I was not living in my own home but in the nurses homes. Which was just one room, then you shared a bathrooms, kitchens and laundry room with others there. Most people would hated that at my age but if you were single they preferred you to live in nurses accommodation. Besides the nurses pay was awful then so you could not afford much else unless you had another person to help support you.

Another thing that you said about husbands come along when you least expect them :D Oh that was so true. I was living in a shared house and the man who was to become my future dh lived there. I was in a serious relationship for 7 years until one day he wrote a letter and said it was over. I was devastated and never saw this coming. So I was in no way hoping that a special man would come along for me as things were still raw. But it crept up on me that I was talking to my future dh and he was asking were was my then partner so I explained what had happened. Then the rest is history so to speak. So things do happen for a reason not that you can always see it at the time. So when one door closes another door opens.

Sorry to hear than your dh is poorly hope your dh is feeling better soon. Yes always a concern if one gets poorly that the other will go down with it at the same time.

Got to go and have a blood test tomorrow at the doctors. That is to see if I have the H . pylori (think that is how it is spelt) bacteria which can be responsible for ulcers. So dh said he would take me out for lunch at the pub close by.

Well time to go gosh it does go fast time when I am typing. Though typing is rather slow this morning as my left hand little finger and ring finger are very numb this morning so will not go in the right direction of the keys this morning. So bye bye fellow chicks catch up with you soon :hug:

Thanks for sharing you two! My Dad was really happy with his dinner. And I've even talked him into working towards his Bachelor of Nursing (he is currently a 3 year diploma registered nurse... which is a step below a B.N.). I think hosting the dinner showed him he was loved enough to take my advice seriously about furthering his credititials since his employer ENCOURAGES it. (my dream is to work at a place that wants me to get a masters.. not much. but hey)

I will come back and post more tonight. I have to admit it was kind of reassuring to read both of your experiences at my age.

You've both got a great attitude that I want to carry with me. (not that I'm trying to make you feel 'old' but after that dinner with my Dad's friends I've been trying to wrap my head around the idea that I DONT know everything :P Others have been around longer)

Purple - you're right my loss has slowed too... but a lot of it has been because I have been completly off higher intensity exercise. I have had to stick to s.l.o.w. walking and pilates but I realize how blessed I am to be able to even do that and dont take it for granted. I hope you are doing better today pain wise.

I lived in the shared accomdations your describe while I went to university. Now I'm renting my parent's house with my brother.. from my parents and sometimes it drives me crazy to not have my own place.

Rosebud - you started working young! What job allowed a 12 yr old to work?? Were your parents pretty poor? Both of my parents families were pretty poor.. welfare type.. once weekly baths poor. I only babysat until I was 16.

I had a friend in college who told me she never intended to marry. She did 2 and a half years later.. so I wont say that.

have a good night!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ well, today we had snow most of the day, blowing in from the north quite hard, so a lot of it didn't stay in our yard; it blew right on by ~ lol! Tomorrow, they are calling for sun again, so that's nice for us. Dh has been watching some movies I picked up for him at our local second-hand place; he was thrilled (found him ten videos). He's got that terrible flu again, so it's helping him while he's in bed recuperating.

I forget to mention the other day that we bought another DVD player so that I can play my WATP (walk away the pounds) dvds. DH keeps sneaking mine into his den (but never brings it back), so now I can have one out in the livingroom to use whenever I am in the mood morning or night. I also picked up some memory cards for my digital camera (two x 1 GB cards). I kept missing some great shots of the birdies becuz I kept running out of memory; now I am all set.

And, I also noticed that if I take my re-chargeable batteries out of my camera that they seem to last a lot longer. I just have to pick up another set so I can have four spares ready at all times; but the four I have are lasting quite long; I have only had to charge them once so far.

VAL ~ My first job at twelve was in a nursing home; I started out only doing light cleaning and helping the cook in the kitchen (kitchen aide). After I turned 13, I helped the nurses a bit, but didn't like that so much; and after a year, I left there to go work in my parent's store; they opened a variety store (and later my Dad started his own business too). We had a large family, so I needed the job to help pay for my own clothes and stuff that I wanted (records, stereos, books, etc).

We were poorer when we were younger, but we always had nice homes to live in. They worked hard and did their best; we didn't have welfare where we lived and they wouldn't have taken it anyways. My mother would go to farmers and ask for their extra stuff, and some were nice and sold stuff to us cheap. Later, my parents bought a farm and did the same for others, only we gave away some of our extra stuff on the side of the highway.


PURPLE ~ yes, I had decided that I wouldn't likely marry and was fine with that, then about 2+ years later, DH came along (just like VAL's friend). My brother introduced him to me (they worked together). At first, I avoided them, but eventually, my bro got cunning and invited us both for Sunday dinner at the same time ~ LOL. DH offered to drive me home and then asked me out when we arrived.

I have to tell you honestly that I laughed when he first asked me out, and I asked him, 'You don't mind going out with someone who is overweight?' And he said, 'No, it's what's on the inside that counts the most!' Of course, for that nice answer, I just had to say yes! :D

ANYWAYS, I spent the day doing lots of housework and laundry (the rest of that bedding); and now I am exhausted. I think I'm rambling from fatigue ~ LOL! So, take good care :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi fellow chickadees and good morning

Not up quite so early today :D but did sleep well so that is a blessing. Did not get any sleep in the afternoon yesterday either that is because the council were strimming the lawns around here for hours. Not only that work has started at a new school that is being built on the playing field at the back of us. They were drilling into the ground yesterday with a huge machine. I suppose they are making the supports for the buildings footings. So with the two noises going on there was not much likelihood of me sleeping.

Good news my dads health front he is now able to get dressed and walk around a bit. Even managed to go out last night and dare I say he looked well. He had a lovely colour to his face and was bright and up beat. I am sure that now he is able to go out that he will be much better psychologically just meeting others rather than the 4 walls of the house has for the past 7 weeks. Had a phone call from mum yesterday to say that she had letter from the hospital to say that they had brought the appointment at the hospital forward one week to this Thursday. So I had to rearrange with the gas company to come on another date to service the gas fire in the lounge. It is serviced every year by the council. I also rescheduled the oxygen tank. This is because we are taking dad to the hospital as it is at Leicester which is way to much for dad to drive in. Leicester is a city which is about 30 miles away from their home but it is very difficult driving in there with all cars and different lanes etc. So we are going over to stop at mum and dads for a few days. so in a bit I am going to pack a few overnight things for all of us including Rizzie's bits and pieces.

In a short while I am off to the vampires ;) well the nurses who is going to take my blood :D Not that blood tests bother me. Though I understand that for a lot of people they find them difficult, my sister being one of those. One look at the needle and she use to go as white as a ghost. Although she has improved over the years she still hates them with a passion.

Talking of my sister she when to see a chiropractor yesterday. well over a year ago she was hit at the side of her car by a drunk driver. Since then she has been unable to work due to the pains in her back. At times she has looked dreadful and so thin. She had been to the hospital and they could find nothing to explain what was wrong with her. She was referred to a rheumatologists which she goes to later this month I think. Though in this time my sister has paid privately to go to see this chiropractor to have a consultation to see if they could see anything. Oh boy they found that one leg is 1 inch shorter than the other. There is problems on the L4 and L5 I think she said. So she asked could this be a result of my accident. The lady total her that in her professional opinion that yes it could be. So she is going to write to the insurance company to write to about her findings. My sister is going to have her first treatment on Friday I do hope that she finds some relief as it has been never ending for her. The one thing that I did not like is that the two parties involved were with the same insurance company which I think means they don't want to pay much out. So the doctor who saw her the first time I would like to speak to him in no uncertain times as to why he could not spot such big changes. All he could see was general wear and tear! :?:

ROSEBUD :~ I was also surprised that someone wanted to go out with me because I was well overweight. I got the same reply as you from my dh. Sneaky brother ;) getting you two together but it worked beautifully so good brother :hug:

Yes we had extra memory for our camera for the same reason as that we had plenty of space for important shots that could so easily be missed.

VALPAL :~ I don't and never have done high intensity exercise. The only ones I do is walking and housework ;) well I think that burns plenty of calories when your scrubbing, mopping, hovering (vaccuming) and polishing. All can work up a sweat :D I feel blessed that I am able to do what I can as I know I am so lucky compared so many others with MS. So anything I can do now I try not to take for granted but be thankful for.

Pain wise today is more manageable thanks. Though maybe like yourself you are never pain free. Since I have had MS pain has been a big issue especially in my face from trigeminial neuralgia which can strike at any time:( I have learned to live with the pain just ocassionally it really gets to me.

Well I must dash I have just seen the time and I have to get ready to go to the nurse so bye for now and take care fellow chicks :hug:

:wave: Went to bed and got back up becuz my legs were hurting; had to takes some meds and that helped me to finally fall asleep after 3 am. So I didn't do as much today; just daily chores. We had lovely sunshine today and the temps weren't too bad either. I went out to take a couple of pics and got lots of our fine feathered friends today too. I can take 900 pics with each of my memory chips for my camera; that'sa lotta pictures!!!

SWEETIE is also under the weather; she has caught something and being so sick already, she is wasn't able to keep anything down today: she was sick two times. Right now she is just sleeping a lot; and I think that is probably a good thing for her. We are spending more of the day looking after her needs, but she is so quiet and sweet about everything; she's a trouper!

DH felt a bit better, thankfully; he stayed in most of the day, but he sounded and looked much better. So we have a house of sicklings ~ lol! OH well, good thing it's in the winter; hopefully this will be our last bout for the year.

PURPLE ~ hope things work out for your sister; so glad to hear your DAD is feeling better too. Will also pray that you all have a good and safe trip to the hospital. I didn't relish needles when I was young, but as I got older I just learned to accept it; sometimes, you hardly feel anything. Been fortunate to only have the odd problem there.

VAL ~ I hope that you don't overdo it now; you want that knee to have some time to heal. I have a bad one too and have to be careful what I do with it all the time. A lot of nurses here are going back and becoming RPN's or Registered Practical Nurses (next down from a doctor); one here has even started to take her own patients. She makes referrals to the hospital and confers with doctors for a second opinion about care.

This was done to help bring medical care to areas where there are doctor shortages, like here. Many people here don't have their own family physician. The RPN's also free up the doctors we do have to take care of things like surgery and the very seriously ill patients.

Well that's all for tonight; we had a lovely chicken dinner with lots of roasted veggies. It was really yummy; have lots of veggies left OVER for tomorrow too. Take care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ we had a good day; first, I slept in til 9:30 am, then I had a long nap with SWEETIE & PIN PIN this aft so my legs could rest. I had a great time taking hundreds of pics today; the birdies came in droves today: I got lots of the male and female pine grosbeaks, wrens, little finches, chickadees, and even one woodpecker ventured over to the house today, so we'll see how they turned out later.

Now it will take about a week to sort and edit them all out ~ lol! Oh well, I really enjoy it. SWEETIE is walking around today, but only drinking water; we are sure she caught some flu as she somewhat lethargic, but still very alert and responsive to us.

Tonight, I just did one load of laundry and am going to take a nice long shower soon and then have my tea. We hope to go into town tomorrow to pick up a few things, but mostly just for an outing. We had lean HAMBURGER STEAK & ONIONS with new pototoes (small), tomatoes, and leftover salad and veggies from yesterday. Boy, that really fills you up; I make sure to fill at least half my plate with veggies now. I find that is really helping a lot too.

PURPLE ~ have a great trip to Leicester; and prayers for a safe return.
VAL ~ just one more day; Friday is here again, so have a great weekend.

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

JUST stayed home today; boy we had the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen and I even got some picks of them tonight. Tried to gets lots of rest as my legs have been bothering me a bit too; tonight put them up for awhile. We had a mini-nap together ~ SWEETIE, PIN PIN, and I ...

DH went to town to pick up a few things, and I stayed home with SWEETIE becuz she isn't doing well. Seems in her weakened state, she has caught something. We are just praying for a peaceful transition soon; hopefully quietly in her sleep. So I am staying home to be with her around the clock.

Had chicken and veggies for dinner; can you tell that I like chicken; yah, I do but I try to have it in totally different ways each time ~ lol! Well, hope you all have a great weekend; we have unbelievably mild temps here. At dinner time it was +5C and of course it started snowing again tonight for awhile; not for long though, but it was so pretty!!!

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

Just wanted to let you know that our little SWEETIE passed away tonight. It is hard, but we are so glad she isn't suffering. THANKS for good thoughts and prayers.

:hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

ROSEBUD I am so sorry that she has lost her fight but she has been such a brave little soldier. Who over the months and years has given you much pleasure. She will always have a place in your heart. i just had to leave this poem for you and your dh. I read this poem a few years back and thought it was beautiful.

The Rainbow Bridge
inspired by a Norse legend


By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

Hi all fellow chicks

Today is very dull and over cast. It feel damp in the air, so bang goes my hope of washing and drying my throwover that resides on the bed. It is so thick and heavy so takes a bit of drying

Went to my parents house for a couple of days to take dad to hospital to see the consultant. He saw the consultant at the hospital and he was really pleased by dad's progress. The swab came back negative for infection this week as well so good news on two fronts this week. We did have a laugh though mum said that the consultant wanted to take a picture of the circumcision with the skin graft. Mum was joking that he was going to be in next weeks edition of playboy. We have all got a wicked sense of humour in our family so we all as bad as one another. The visit to the hospital has put my dads mind at rest now letting him know that this is how the wound should look like after this period of time. He has also got to go back now in 3 months time. I think by that time everything will be healed and he will be signed off the books at the hospital.

On Friday dad took us all out for a meal. It was a carvery, I had some breast of turkey and lots of vegetables. So very nice meal and all quite healthy. Would recommend the place to anybody and another bonus it was very cheap.

ROSEBUD
My thoughts and prays are with you and your dh at this time after the loss of your beloved Sweetie. It is going to take some time to grieve for her, though part of her lives on in her daughter pin pin ( i think that is her name my brain is like a sieve especially with names)


you remind me now of a gentlemen here in the UK who takes lots of pictures of wildlife. He mainly films now with his posh camera. He has just bought a big plot of land near his home which he is turning in a place with lots of wild life. He was introducing hares onto his land this week so hope they breed and has a good colony on his land. He has just made a pond ( very large one) and now he is planting water plants to attract more wild life.

He has put up bird boxes and owl boxes. He has a hide to film the badgers which he has on his land. He is an interesting man and you learn so much from him on wild life. He also has bird tables like you with lots of nuts and other goodies to attract the birds. I often think of you when I see his bird tables and he is filming. I bet now your getting so me excellent shots from your camera of the different birds that come to you.

Going to have a lie down now as my tummy is sore at the minute for some reason. So bye for now :hug:

PURPLE ~ Thanks for your kind words and prayers about our SWEETIE GIRL; yes we still have her daughter to keep us company. Boy, this place feels so empty without her though; she was always the one to engage with us constantly, and her daughter PIN PIN, is sort of quiet (except when someone comes to the door).

The names of our furry friends are their nicknames, PURPLE; I was told not to use our real names, even for our pets for security and safety reasons. But we called them by those names all the time anyways, esp PIN PIN. She is a bit concerned about where her mother went; she keeps looking for her, esp when she comes back in after being outside.

My sister also told me to be sure to grieve her tonight. I told here I've been crying on and off since I was given the diagnosis; but GOD IS GOOD and gracious; I am doing well. DH made her the most darling coffin to bury her in with a cross on top and nailed her red sweater set on top. That really got to him and then he finally broke down and cried. She was so funny, smart, good, and sweet; a rare gem that is hard to find, and her absence is so noticable.

ANYWAYS, we are grateful to have shared so many wonderful years with such a darling as her. Thanks again for you support; it means a lot to us. I am so glad that all is well with your DAD; but I'm sorry to hear that you are under the weather. Will send up some prayers for you too dear; do take good care of yourself now.

Yes, I think that I may have almost 700 pics on my memory disk; boy, that will take a while to edit all those. MY sis says just take as many as you can; keep the best and discard the rest. Well, I'd better get going as it's late, and we didn't get to sleep til after 3 am. Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi all and good afternoon,

Well it has rained nearly all day and all of last night so soon be needing a boat :D Went on to the lawn today and it actually has water standing on it as there has been so much rain. According to the long range forecast it is suppose to get colder by the end of the week.

Feeling a little tired as I had to miss my oxygen therapy because we took dad into dad into hospital. Though booked into therapy tomorrow so should feel the benefit tomorrow. Also going to pick up my prescription from the doctors tomorrow and drop it into the pharmacy. I have to do this every month, one month there are only a couple of medications and the next it is every thing. So that month I have a big carrier bags worth of tablets :dizzy:

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for your prays that is so kind of you when you have other things on your mind. It is important that you and your dh both grieve. It is healthy to do so rather than bottle it up inside of you, which is a recipe for disaster later on. It usually manifests itself later either in ill health or depression. Your home is not going to seem the same for a long time yet and as you say it is "empty" in more ways than one.

Yes Rizzie or Riz is not our dogs real name but a shorting of his name which I did not like particularly but was not fair I felt to change it too radically as he was 19 months when we had him. He has taken to that name like a duck to water ;) Yesterday he spent most of the day sleeping. Mainly because when we are are my parents he is on the go all the time but never stops. He is like a puppy so playful. He is playful but here he is none stop. So afterwards he spends the next day catching up on his missed rest :D

I bet it will take a while to edit all those photographs but that is the beauty of the digital camera. I think they are wonderful. I wish now that I had taken photographs of my weigh loss journey but I was so camera shy because of my weight. I hated with a passion having it took so I was master of disappearance during photographs. Or I would go to the back to the group having the picture taken so not much of me would be seen. I have one photo that my dh found of me around my heaviest but it is a head shot. Yikes I hate it, then I have one 70lb roughly lighter than that. I am about to have another taken 20lbs light than that.

Time to be head bottle washer ;) (wash the pots up from tea) and clear up in the kitchen. Will have a shower later tonight so that I am ready for tomorrow going to the tank. Give a chance for my hair to dry, with it being so long it takes a long time. Bye for now and take care :hug:

THANKS PURPLE ~ we had such a beautiful day today with full sunshine; was kinda like a gift as it was cloudy when we first got up. So, we decided to go for a drive, and we went to visit a friend who just bought a house last September (it's really nice too). Hope your treatment helps you to feel better again.

We are having roast shoulder ham dinner with veggies and salad tonight for dinner; it's pretty big so we'll have lots left over for sandwiches this week. We're just taking it easy today; back to spring cleaning tomorrow.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Gotta go check on dinner, so take care ~ your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi and good afternoon

Well we have had the gas fire serviced today by the council, which is done every year to make sure that it is perfectly safe to use. They take it to pieces and hoover (vacuum ) it out and test to see if there is enough ventilation. Takes approximately a hour to do it. Though the gas governing body who you have to register with in order to do gas instillations and servicing is called Corgi. Well Corgi have revised part of their servicing and so we have got to have a cable tie put on in the loft space. So it has been put down for repairs department to put on. Otherwise a clean bill of health for the gas fire in the living room.

It was quite nice outside today but it has now turned very cloudy. I suspect it will rain. The gardeners from the council came today as we have our lawns and hedges cut by them. Today the lawns were cut and a couple of days ago they strimmed all the edges. Not that our lawn was fit to mow really it is so boggy and water logged in parts. It is a wonder he did not need a pair of waders on :D

I am off to my treatment at 4pm today which I am looking forward to. Not literally but for the results it gives me of being more energetic and able to walk better.

Dinner sounds lovely with the ham and a real bonus that you will have meat left over to make sandwiches or salads from. I like meals that are economical like that and make more than one meal. I find that happens more now that we do not now have as much meat per meal so joints will last a couple of meals or for sandwiches / salads. I think I will cook a joint of turkey this week so make sandwiches for the rest of the week when needed. Like turkey sandwiches and real bonus a lean meat so calories are realitvely low for a protein. Talking of protien I think I will just go and put some water on to boil in a pan to do some boiled eggs. I will slice one up in my egg slicer and put that on crackers for supper for dh. He loves eggs so I do these occasionally for crackers or sandwiches for him. I dislike eggs, well I do not mind the whites cooked on their own but dislike the taste of yolks.

Going out tomorrow night to play cards but our friends will not be there this week as they have just gone to Goa in India for 2 weeks. I hope they have a wonderful time as they both work hard. John works in a school for young people with severe cerebral palsy as a handy man come helper for the wheel chairs etc. His wife she looks after their granddaughter who is 2 years old and sometimes like during the holidays she has her sister who is 6. I think it is very hard work especially when you have a disability of your own. About 15 years ago a fruit machine (slot machine) in a pub fell on her when she was emptying it. It broke bones in her spine. So now she has a scar running top to bottom of her spine and lots of metal work. She has lost 3 inches in height as well due to the injury. Personally I do not know how she does it to me she is amazing lady.

Time to go and get ready to go out. Must change and do my hair. Bye bye and take care all :hug:

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE !!!

Here's an IRISH BLESSING for ya ...

May the road rise up to greet you ...
May the wind be always at your back ...
May the rain fall softly upon your fields ...
And, May the sunshine warm upon your face ...
Until we meet again, my friends ...



:irish: :luck2you: :cupgold: :irish: :luck2you: :cupgold: :irish:

PS PURPLE ~ yes, your friend does sound amazing; may GOD bless her!

:goldpot: Have a great day :goldpot: :patrick: ROSEBUD :patrick:

Hi all

I am back again :D Just dawned on me what day this is. So better late than never. I see that Rosebud has beat me with today's best wishes as I am so slow on the uptake :D

:goldpot: HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY :goldpot:

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is here, you see.
We'll pick some shamrocks, one, two, three.
We'll count the leaves and look them over,
And maybe find a four-leafed clover.
I'll sew green buttons on my vest,
Green for St. Patrick is the best.
I'll wear a green hat, very high,
And dance a jig--at least I'll try!

My gosh I've missed a lot!

Rosebud - northern reserves in MB have 'nurse practitioners' instead of doctors. Very similar to the RPN's you speak of. My Dad is working as a practitioner. And my darn knee is driving me crazy. I hate not being able to walk as fast as I want.. as often as I want. I put myself back the day after I posted.. because I chose to walk for twice as long at a higher intensity. stupid me. back to slow going. I'm sorry about your pet :hug:

Purple :cheer2: :cheer2: congrats again on the 100 gone! And thanks for sharing the good news about your Dad - thats great:)

Happy 17th all. I've never really celebrated it you both made me smile with your posts for the day. I need to stop procrastinating today and actually get some work done.

PURPLE ~ :congrat: on losing 100 lbs !!!

:cheer: :dancer: :cheer: :dancer: :cheer:


:carrot::cb::broc::carrot::cb::broc: :carrot:


Worth celebrating I'd say! I felt bad when I saw that I had missed that this morning; but that VAL's gotta good eye for detail ~ LOL!

VAL ~ sorry about your knee; I have to be careful not to overdo it too. If I do, I always for it in pain and not being able to do as much for awhile. An Irish girl who doesn't celebrate St. Patty's Day? OH, it's really all just for fun, I think. Even though we have Irish on both sides of our family, we just celebrate it in passing too; no big thing though ... LOL!

And thanks to both of you for your kind words regarding our SWEETIE passing; it's been hard the last few days (that's why I have been coming on here more; to distract myself a bit). My aunt just sent me a nice long, things will get better with time letter: I know she is right from previous experience, but it's good to have a reminder now and then.

SWEETIE's daughter seems to be in a depression; been moping around a bit. We are trying to keep her occupied by playing her favorite game which is fetching her yellow tennis balls, and giving her extra special attention.

Have a great day, girls :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Good morning fellow chicks

It is quite a chilly morning which is over cast would not be surprised if we got some rain before the day is out.

My energy levels have gone up again this morning some what after having my oxygen therapy. Initially it is tiring when you come out of the tank you are wanting to sleep. Though that passes but that night you tend to sleep rather well :D

Thanks to you both on celebrating my 100lbs lost it is really sinking in at the minute that I could have possible lost that amount. I am trying to get my head round it. One more pound and I will be in onederland :dizzy: and 4 more pounds and I will be classed as overweight by the BMI charts which doctors tend to use. (not that I ever think I will get to the weight I am suppose to be by that chart for one minute).

Like you Valpal I do not celebrate the 17 of March St Patrick's day. It is the patron saint of Ireland and with all of the troubles over the years between the English and Irish it was never ever the done thing to celebrate it. (not that I ever took sides so to speak and my brother in law is Irish also with being from Northern Ireland.) We celebrate Saint George's day on the 23rd of April as that is the patron saint of England. Each of our countries that make up the UK all have their own patron saint. Saint David for Wales and Saint Andrew for Scotland. So we celebrate our own saint depending on which part of the UK you are from. It has some complexities living in the UK that is difficult to understand I would imagine if you are from another Country. Each England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have their own flag, capital city and national anthem for a start :dizzy: Then there is the flag of the UK when we all come under the the United Kingdom and London becomes our capital for all and God save the Queen is our national anthem. It is bad enough for a foreign student to learn English let alone our peculiar structure for our country

VALPAL :~ Sorry to hear that you have now hurt your back as well as your knee. I am afraid that I have done things in the past that I should not have. My dh used to tell me who do I think I was "super woman" :D He made me slow down and do things at a slower pace and do what I could manage rather than what I think I should be doing.

One thing I hate with having a blue sticker (disable badge which allows more parking and free at times) that you get some right looks and pointing. I feel that they think I borrowed it from my parents as I look young and should not have one. They associate a blue badge with some in a wheel chair or elderly. Well I am neither so I have to just grit my teeth and try and ignore their ignorance. Though inside it hurts as they think I am using it under false pretences which of course I am not. Though I must say it has been a god send the blue badge as it allows me to park nearer to things which leaves more energy to see what I want to see rather than energy goes into walking.

ROSEBUD :~ It is only normal that pin pin will pine for her mother. I know a friends dogs whom were brought up together for 14 years and then one was put to sleep as she was so frail. For days wally pined for her play mate but in time that past. Nice that you are giving her extra fuss and attention. That is all you can do at this stage.

I never expected you to notice that I had lost 100lbs with you losing sweetie. You have more important things to be concerned about. Though thanks for the congratulations much appreciated. I throw myself in my pc if I need to get away from things sometimes I find it a great healer which is strange thing to say, but it does its job of distracting you for a short periods of time to stop you dwelling on things. Which I need some times as I can worry so much over the slightest thing for no reason.

Head bottle washer needed now ;) as it is way past time I was going to wash up the breakfast pots. I have started to spring clean my kitchen yesterday. I have a cupboard that is over 6 foot tall in there with 6 shelves in. I managed to clean 5 of them. The only one I did not manage is the top shelf which I put things that I seldom use. I still have quite a few cupboards I want to tackle in the coming days though not today as it is shopping day today so most of my energy will go on that. Bye bye all and take care :hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ We had an overcast day, but the sun tried to peak through a few times; and it was very warm for March. The temps went up to +7C which is about 44F, and the snow melted off a good part of our deck, so DH shoveled it off; but tonight we had some snow to cover it again ~ LOL! Supposed to do that for a couple of day, but maybe by Friday it will be sunny again???

Just did laundry and daily chores today; not much else as I spent Saturday cleaning like mad: washed my sofa four times; DH did the rug once more and we sorted and tossed all day. It helped give my mind something to do anyways. I spent an hour editing some of the pics this morning and answered some letters this afternoon; that took care of my day, then it was time for dinner. We had FISH tonight; I like to change things up a bit.

PURPLE ~ I didn't realize that WALES is an independant country; at first I thought is was, then I thought it was just a region of England. So now I am back at my original thought: when did WALES become a country, or is it still an iffy thing??? As you know our family comes from there and Ireland, so I am interested in these things.

VAL ~ hope your leg is getting better; and that you have a great week at work. Are you working on plans for the summer months???

I laid down this evening to get my legs up for an hour; and that really helped a lot as they were swollen and sore. PIN PIN layed beside me on the sofa; that was sweet of her. Boy, it's getting hot in here; I have the dryer on and the freezer in here heats the whole room. Gonna go open a window cuz it's so mild out there right now and I'M BOILING HOT ~ LOL!

ANYWAYS, have a great night ladies and take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

good evening!

Rosebud - it sounds like you are doing the right thing with sweetie's daughter with the extra special attention. :hug:

Purple - I'm glad you got a great rest after the oxygen therapy. I actually didnt hurt my back.. I just pushed back my progress with my knee... it wasnt hurting much so I tried to push it with walking faster. I've learned my lesson for this month though...


I'm heading to my parents place on a reserve north of here for most of Easter weekend. I live with my brother who would rather have the weekend to himself than spend the time with my parents on an isolated reserve without his video games and computer. I'm disapointed he wont come north... but I'll keep my parents busy with quality time myself. The perk about my knee injury has been my mom had a similar injury a couple months after me and I've been able to help her out.

If I dont get back before the weekend (I'm leaving Thursday night) Happy Easter ladies :bunny2: :bunny2: :bunny2:

ooh we posted around the same time Rosebud but yeah I have some great plans for the summer - I'm going to a good friend's wedding on the west coast - in vancouver. AND I'm going to see a friend in San Diego and visit her one month old baby theeeen go on a cruise with a best friend living in Los Angeles - down to Mexico! I'm so pumped.

I'd really like to go to New York city some time this year - with a friend from town here. I have a 'guy friend' in NY state that I'd love to meet up with but I wont even think about planning the trip with my friend until I'm in the 100's because she wants to go shopping! Do you have plans for the summer?

Hi Ladies

Quite looking forward to today as we are going into town shortly. Well I call it the town I mean our city which is about 3 miles or so. I live in a suburb of the city or people call it the outskirts of the city. With being on the outside it is much quieter and less traffic. I have not been into the city for a couple of months due to time, just not had enough of it. Going to take a heap of books back to the book shop. Go to a shop to redeem an insurance for my mum. She took an insurance out 3 years ago on her dvd player and if you did not claim in that time you could get your money back. I want to get a couple of birthday cards as well because we have a couple of birthdays in the family the next few few weeks. Firstly I have my sister in laws and then my brother in laws.

Last night went to play our usual weekly game of cards but I managed to get the lowest score for ladies and got a dual pack of wafers. They will come in handy as I will take them tomorrow to the MS centre as they are always grateful for biscuits or wafers. I like to be able to give things there as I know they go are used and appreciated by other users and carers.

ROSEBUD :~ Sound like you have been busy with a bit of spring cleaning but I know it has a dual purpose of keeping you both busy. I am gradually cleaning out the kitchen and sorting all cupboards and draws. Last week I did the bedroom chest of draws and the draws beneath the wardrobe. I sorted out the wardrobe and was ruthless and took all items that did not fit. I was fed up of putting on a blouse only to have to take it off again as it was so baggy.

Yes Wales has always been an independent country, although as yet it does not have its own parliament. Scotland and Northern Ireland do have their own parliament and so can govern certain issues themselves. The political set up is all very complex and takes a lot of understanding. Not sure that I still fully understand all the complexities myself yet.

Wales has it owns language of Welsh. Not that I can speak any it is a very difficult language to learn. I do know one word though and that is Cymru which means Wales in Welsh. Otherwise shamefully I can not understand it. For some Welsh English is their second language. Welsh is taught in all schools in Wales. Some schools there all the teaching is in Welsh. If you go into the super market in Wales for example signs are in English and Welsh. I love the country and it is very beautiful.

VALPAL :~ I hope you have a nice time at you parents. Sometime it is nice to get away to somewhere that does not have all the mod cons of daily life. We do that when we go away as often the place is in the middle of no where.

Wow what a summer you have planned it is nice to have things to look forward to. I think that way the days that are a bit rough health wise you still have things that will brighten your day.

I am not doing anything specific this summer. I go away at the beginning of Autumn to a log cabin very near Oswestry very near to the Welsh border. So no doubt I will be venturing into Wales a couple of times. I still must try and do some research on the internet and see when Market days are and places that are to visit within a 50 mile radius. Not that we do them all but at least you have things to choose from depending on the weather and how we are feeling. Nice these holidays as they are entitled in the brouchure as peace and quiet and that is just what they are. You are allow to take you pet as well so it is a break for our dog as well. My dad loves it as he adores the dog so he gets absolutely spoilt for a week.

Well time to run if I want to go into town today :D Bye bye ladies and take care all :hug:

PURPLE ~ I just wanted to thank you so much for that poem called 'The Rainbow Bridge'. I didn't see it til just now; and it is so wonderul. For some reason, I only saw the second post; don't know why ... Maybe I was just too upset at the time ... oh, it was on a previous page; I'm sure that's why I didn't see it ~ LOL!

ANYWAYS ~ that is so lovely; I have been praying about that. I asked GOD to take care of her for me, and if she could go play with her other buddies who passed on before her; plus one of DH's special good friends who used to come to visit us a lot before he passed on. SWEETIE and him adored each other too; she would go wild whenever he came here. It was uncanny ...

I prayed that GOD would ask him to come and get her; and look after her for us until we go home and reunite again. Pretty soon, DH and I will have more friends and loved ones waiting for us on the other side, than we will have down here ~ LOL.

ONCE AGAIN, thanks so much for that poem; I will cherish it for my whole life. Your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: Now for my regular post ~ we had lots of snow today and it was pretty mild. Some SNOWBIRDS came to see us tonight and stayed til after 7 pm so I was able to get a few pics of them. We had a good day; I spent a lot of time doing stuff around the house, and reading, sending emails, and writing letters and such today.

VAL ~ WOW, you have quite an agenda for this summer; but hey, I say GO FOR IT ALL GIRL! This is the time to LIVE IT UP; when you are young and single. Get out there and have fun and travel. Are you going to see the pyramids in Mexico? I went to MERIDA, MEXICO when I was sixteen years old; and went to see them (they were a bus ride away). I worked and paid for the whole trip myself; it was an amazing experience that I have never forgotten.

You are making wonderful memories for the future, VAL; that you can talk about and reminisce over with pleasure, for years to come. Hope you have a great trip home with your parents for this Easter weekend: here's my wishes for you and yours ...

:easter2: :easter2: :easter2:

PURPLE ~ both my sisters may be coming up this summer; so we are gonna try to rent a cottage for them, if we can find one. My sis also liked the cottage we rented in 2006; it may still be available. DH is planning a fly-in fishing trip to catch some pickerel (a nice fish) for our BIL; hope it all works out for him. We are still waiting on finalization of all these plans.

You sound like you have a nice holiday planned with your parents too. That is one thing that we miss; we live very far from our family, so we have to wait until they can come visit or the other way round. Hope you had fun on your shopping spree in the city; we will likely wait and go on Friday as the snow is supposed to have stopped by then.

WELL, take care ladies and have a good night; your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ I was thinking about VAL's trip home and realized that Friday was a holiday; so we had to go into town today. Both Friday and Monday are holidays for some people. So we are all stocked up again, and we had to pick up some more food for the birdies too. We had sunshine for most of the day, but the wind was cold; and the snow that fell the other night is now blowing back towards the south ~ LOL.

We bought a special dinner to celebrate that today we have been CIGGIE FREE for FIVE YEARS!!! We are so glad that we were both able to quit.

PURPLE ~ I bet you are wiped out after your shopping trip too. I got a lot of walking in today, but I needed it after being couped up indoors for so long. I can now watch my WATP dvds more often now that I have my new player set up.

Well, that's all the news for now; we are expecting a weekend of sunshine. Hope they are right; take good care and I hope you both have a wonderful Easter weekend. Your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:easter3: :easter3: :easter3: :easter3: :easter3:

:easter2: Hi ladies and good afternoon :easter2:

Gosh Easter is upon us it seems to come around so swiftly. Mind you it is early this year compared to some years.

ROSEBUD :~ It did take its toll somewhat upon me the shopping trip. I did not get up very early on Thursday and could have still stayed in bed but I had to get up to go to the tank. I have now had my second tank session this week.

The possible holiday with your sisters sounds nice lets hope the plans come together. Holidays are always nice and good for recharging those batteries.

:congrat: on being cigarette free now for 5 years that is a great achievement. I gave up in April 2001 and have been free since then. It was a bumpy road at the first 6 weeks giving up the cigarettes. But after that point it was much easier. I am glad I did it now though at the time I was not so sure :D

Not done a great deal since Wednesday when I went shopping in town. Though I have been cooking so I now have 2 meals now in the fridge that just need reheating. So that will make the next couple of days easier for me and allow time to do other chores.

Yes I love the poem over the rainbow. It moves me to tears each time I read it. Though I think it is beautiful that there is somewhere that our pets go to and loved ones till the day we join them. As we get older it seem more of our relatives and friends are over the rainbow bridge. Though it is comforting that one day we will join them again.

Bye for now and take care :hug:

:easter2::bunny2::egg::bunny2::easter2:

Hello Everyone
Hope you don't mind if I join in here with you!? My dieting obstacle is thyroid issues, specially thyroid cancer.
A little about my self, 5 years ago I went on weight watchers because, well I was over weight! I lost 60 pounds and was only 15 from goal then my world got turned upside down, some good some bad, but now I am FINALLY getting my life back on track. First I meet a man that eventually became my husband, well I let the relationship get me off track with my weight watchers program, then we decided to move from Kansas where I had lived my whole life to Texas for his job. I had to leave behind all my friends and family for a place I knew absolutely no one! So stress took over and weight came back on! We also at this time were planning our wedding from Texas that would take place in Kansas! Not an easy task...more stress! Shortly after we got married I decided I was going back to weight watchers to loose the 30 pounds I had gained. But it wasn't happening as planned! No matter what I did I could not loose weight and I was feeling so tired and fatigued all the time, I had no energy and felt horrible. My yearly women exam discovered the reason, my doctor discovered a lump in my throat and was concerned. Well long story short it was a cancerous tumor on the left side of my thyroid. Because biopsies were inconclusive before surgery only the left side was removed, three days later the results were in that it was indeed cancer and one week to the day of the first surgery I had a second surgery to remove the remaining right side of my thyroid. Of course then came the radiation and another 40 pound weight gain. A year later I am cancer free and feeling better than I can remember ever feeling! I again rejoined weight watchers the first of January and its been a slow process but I have lost 10 pounds so far. So thats my story and my struggles with weight loss! My doctors are confident that I can and will loose weight but its going to be a very slow process!

Hi all

:welcome2: BlzMaxGnrCCJkMly:welcome2: nice to have you join us. Sorry that you have been through a rough time health wise but glad you have come out the other side. I joined this thread about a year ago and I must say it was the best thing that I ever did. Here there where people whom had physical limitations like myself and if I was having a rough day they fully understood.

Firstly I will give a brief introduction to myself I am a 43 year old lady who lives in the UK. So bear with me if I ask you to explain things as we may speak the same language but oh boy there are some differences :D I was diagnosed in 1999 with MS multiple sclerosis. Then some years later with TN (trigeminial neuralgia) which is excruciating pain in my face due to the trigeminial nerve. I have been over weight for all of my adult life and most of my teenage year. Receiving the diagnosis of MS I went on many years of self destruct. Then I stopped smoking 7 years back though that only added to more weight piling on. Then around January last year I decided I wanted to do something to improve my weight situation. I am now a year down the line and 100lb lighter. Though I never could have done it without the support of this thread.

I hope you find the thread as useful as I do and supportive. Look forward to hearing more from you in the coming weeks :hug:

Today it as been brass monkey weather ( in English ;) very cold ) we have had a couple of flurries of snow but it has not settled. The wind is also very strong. Unable to exercise due to the extreme cold wind it is a recipe to starting my face hurting so I won't do it. With the weather our house is benefiting :D I decided to do a lot of house work in place of the loss of a walk which I would normally do. So I hoovered, polished, dusted, stripped the bed and made it. Plus washed the bed linen. So I think that helped to be my daily exercise that I missed out on. One thing I do love is going into a freshly made bed with clean sheets on.

I think it is one more week till we go to BST ( British Summer Time ) and put the clocks forward one hour. So we should in theory have more day light. We will put our clocks back in Autumn (fall) in October. I must admit I prefer winter but that is purely for selfish reasons as the warmth and heat effect me dreadfully. I am grateful though we do not experience temperatures that are often above 25c but that is way to hot for me. I was a lucky though DH and BIL bough me a portable air conditioning unit which I adore when the heat is getting too much. Hardly used it last year though as we had nothing but rain all summer and was the wettest in recorded British weather.

Time to go and sort some tea out. (nothing fancy just a sandwich and fresh fruit salad) So bye for now and take care all till next time :hug:

:welcome3: BLZMAXGENRCCJKMLY ~ welcome to our thread; glad to have you join us. Gee, you wouldn't have a shorter nickname would ya ~ LOL??? I may just resort to calling you 'BLZMAX' ... if that's OK with you? Sorry about your bout with thyroid cancer, but now you are a SURVIVOR; and can focus on a new healthy lifestyle again.

:bunny:We certainly understand obstacles on this thread, as PURPLE has already said. A bit about me: I was born with SB (spina bifida), but even though I went thru a couple of horrific surgeries, I am thrilled that I can walk; but I have difficulty with it (my back hurts esp in sand and snow and hills). I try to stay on flat, even surfaces so I don't lose my balance and fall. I've had falls that left me with a fractured left leg and dislocated right knee; so have trouble with my legs a lot. It seems when one isn't giving me grief, the other one is. If I overdo it, my right knee conks out on me (collaspes); or I get horrible pains in my left calf. Some nights I have trouble sleeping becuz of it.

:bunny:But I try to make the best of my life, doing what I can, when I can. I have to pace myself: it's imperative actually, or I will pay for days with pain and fatigue. I am getting better, and have developed some helpful 'COPING STRATEGIES' like take resting breaks (5-10 minutes each); or getting up and walking around the room a few times. I break up my activities over the day and throughout the week (esp housechores) and exercises; and when I am sick, I just wait til I feel better. My DH helps me out a lot too.

PURPLE ~ it's sunny here, but it's very cold and windy; so I'm doing the same as you (staying indoors). I went outside for a few minutes this morning; but yesterday, I froze my fingies trying to get a couple of pictures of the snow (I'm sure I was only out there ONE minute, at the most). Gotta watch that wind-chill factor and those winds for frostbite.

:bunny:The extreme heat bothers me too; thank GOD I was able to buy an air conditioner too, or I wouldn't be able to stand it. Our building gets very hot in the summer becuz there are no air vents in the roof; and we are on the east/south side, where the sun shines a long time. I wish we had a porch out there instead; I have thought of that many times ... hmmm.

ANYWAYS, just taking it easy today; caught up on emails and letters. We're having steak with mushrooms & onions, tomatoes, and salad (DH is having a pork chop which he prefers, but I just make them in the same pan). Last night, I went to bed early; seems fatigue was catching up with me; I kept nodding off.

HOPE you all have a great EASTER holiday weekend. Looks like we are cocooning it ourselves, with all this ARTIC AIR coming our way ~ LOL! Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

28680

Hey ladies! :wave:
Thanks for the welcome! Sorry for the long name..LOL! :spin: its a combination of names of our 6 dogs I have. Blz is for Blaze,german sheppard/lab mix. Max is for Max our lab/sharpie mix, Gnr for Gunner our german sheppard/greatdane mix, CC for Candy Cane our golden retriever/sheppard mix(got her at for christmas thats why her name is candy cane!) Jk is for Jake our blue heeler and Mly for Molly another blue heeler. They range from 9 years to 8 months old! Blaze I have had since he was 6 weeks old, Max belonged to my husband when we meet, shortly after he and I got together we found gunner running the street starving to death and ended up keeping him. Candy as I mentioned was my Christmas present from my husband this past December. As for Jake and Molly they are brother and sister we are fostering them for a guy who was deployed to Iraq. Not sure how long we will have them, depending on when he comes back we may end up with them permanently.
Its great getting to know you all and have each others support, kinda cool that we all live in different parts of the world too.I had to laugh though when you both said you don't deal well with hot weather. I live in Texas the hottest state in the US I think! LOL! Summer can be brutal with temps about 100F and humidity so high its hard to breathe. Not much of a winter here it stay pretty mild. Today was a beautiful spring day so I went for a bike ride and got sunburned! Not too bad just a little pink but I must remember to put on sunscreen from now on!
Look forward to chatting you all! and thanks again for the welcome!! :hug:

Hi all and good afternoon

We have been fortunate and have had no snow though my parents who live 30 miles away have had 2 inches throughout the night. I am still ploughing on with the early spring cleaning. I am still doing the kitchen in spurts. I have done 2 draws today and later last night a cupboard. So I am very nearly finished in the kitchen. I will then knock on with the lounge in the forth coming days and weeks.

BlzMaxGnrCCJkMly :~ Wow 6 dogs you certainly must be both dog lovers you and your DH. A bit of pot calling the kettle black though as I adore dogs. Though I only have one but would like to have more but the dog we have at the moment is really jealous if my DH gives affection to another dog and bares his teeth. So that put paid to that having another. We have a Staffordshire bull terrier an British breed of dog which looks similar to a pit bull terrier but smaller and not quite so muscular. Our dog Rizzie is tan and white in colour or that is sometimes called red and white in the showing world of dogs. (we do not show our dog by the way he is a real family dog) He really great with children and absolutely adores them which has been good as he has grown up with my nieces and nephews.. I do not have children of my own).

Yes I love it that we are from different parts of the world too as it adds to the interest with different customs and celebrations that we all have from our own cultures.

I hope your sun burn is not too bad. I have been there in the past when I have been caught out as I am very fair skinned.

ROSEBUD :~ I am like you how I tackle house hold chores and going out etc. I do it in burst by do a bit and sit a bit. If I push it too much I pay the price the next day or so. So it is a balancing act in getting it right between being active and doing too much. I am fortunate to have my DH to help me along with things I can not do or need help with. I could not live so independently if it was not for him. He has a lot on his shoulders to cope with be I so appreciate what he has given up to help me.

Dinner sounds loves as per usual you cook some lovely dishes. We have had a beef casserole with lots of steamed vegetables today. Topped off with a raspberry yoghurt. I love the yoghurt we have at the moment they are virtually set as they are that thick. A bit bonus to they are fat free.

Time for me to finish my coffee and then wash up the lunch pots. Bye ladies and take care till next time :hug:

Evening!!
Hope everyone had a great Easter! Nothing special here just spent the day with my DH watching movies. Haven't really been feeling good today between my allergies (spring is in the air in Texas!) and the sunburn which turned out to be worse than I thought! Its been radiating heat off my shoulders all day! Purple-like you I am very fair skinned and should have know better than to be out that long with out sunscreen, its was such a nice day not really all that hot so I didn't "feel" like I was getting burned! Well, its back to work for me tomorrow! I have been off all this last week for spring break(I teach school, Special Education) Only 10 more weeks until summer break! Yeah! Have a great evening!

:wave: We had another lovely sunny day today; perfect for EASTER SUNDAY. It was cold, but not that bad. We went to my aunt & uncle's for a yummy turkey dinner and had a nice time. The drive to and from was esp nice; the roads were clear and the sun made it all the more pleasant.

This was PIN PIN's first time staying home alone since her mother passed; she seemed to do OK, although she whined terribly when she heard us at the door; and was so very glad to see us.

BMGCJM ~ hope that sunburn heals soon; gotta be careful with your skin. I saw that picture in your profile of your six (6) doggies; WOW, you have them all lined up like good little soldiers there ~ LOL! Do you do canine training? That takes an aweful lot of patience, and they all seem to be towing the line so well!

PURPLE ~ getting more of that spring cleaning done, I see. I'll be back at it next week too; I took the weekend off to recupe. WOW, 2 inches of snow in England; that will seem unusual, but that will likely melt quickly at this time of year.

Well, I watched some figure skating this afternoon before we went out; and did some crossword puzzles. Maybe I'll go read a chapter of my book, which BTW, was written by a British author (Joan Marysmith). The book is called 'HOLY ASPIC'; so far it's quite interesting, so I read about three chapters at a time.

ANYHOW, it's getting late; time to get off to bed, so take good care of each other ~ your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi All and good morning

Not quite so windy and cold this morning when I poked my nose out the door ;) We did not get any snow fortunately but mum and dads snow disappeared as quickly as it came.

I have nearly completed the spring cleaning of the the kitchen now and only one cupboard and draw left now to complete. So I am pleased with my efforts. Could not figure out for some while this morning why my arm is hurting. Kept think was it all the scrubbing and cleaning. Then I remembered I was trying to do a French pleat in my hair but it would not go right. I really wished I could do them as they look really smart. So there was the culprit me trying to do my hair and having my arms up in the air for ages. I did not even have a half decent result in the end for my troubles :D

BlzMaxGnrCCJkMly[ :~ Like Rosebud said you must have had the patience of a saint to get such a lovely shot of all the dogs lined up.

I hope you feel better soon and your allergies and sunburn are improving. It must be very rewarding work being a teacher in a special need school. Occasionally when I was working as a nurse we did get a client in with special needs. Yes I was a psychiatric nurse but if there mental health was in more need then at that time we cared for them. I was drawn to many of these clients and loved to be with them.

ROSEBUD :~ I am glad that pin pin is starting to settle down now that her mother has passed away. It will take time for her to adjust but they seem to bounce back far quicker than we do.

I have never heard of the authoress in question. I did manage to finish my book last night but I could not put it down over the past couple of days it was that good. I am just about to start one by a lady author who writes about towns and villages in the county which I grew up in. The only thing is I will have to saviour the book as she only produces one a year :( They are very easy reading and short chapters to boot. It never takes me long to read her books I am afraid.

Time to go I have some chores to do. Bye ladies and take care till next time :hug:

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this site. I was directed over here to look and what a wonderful section of the forum to have. The basis are all covered here. :carrot:
After a 70 pound weight loss 28 years ago I kept it off for ten years until I injured my back at work. Over the following years with multiple spine surgeries, steroid injections, less abilities and yes overeating, I gained it all back plus. This month I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis after a cervical MRI showed narrowing of my spinal canal with flattening of my spinal cord. No surgery recomended at this point. They won't touch me until I am showing signs of paraplegia. Very high risk surgery involving heart lung machine and no guranatees it will help. So this was the final icing on the cake I was going to have, so to say. :dizzy: Time to prolong and attempt to make better the time I have left without a wheelchair.
I started my diet on the 17th of March and am down eleven pounds today. I am setting ten pound goals. It is much easier to realize that goal rather then look at the entire 90 pounds I want to lose. Wow I just relaized my full goal is now 79 pounds. That sounds so much better!!!:D One pound at a time, one goal at a time....
Annie< Who is reteaching herself how to eat healthy. :D

Good Morning Ladies!

Wow it was sure hard to get up this morning to go back to work! I was enjoying sleeping in during spring break! Looks as if we will have another beautiful spring day here weather wise today!
LOL-I get alot of comments about that picture fo the dogs! They all mind so well its easy to get them to line up like that! They all have been through obiedence training except for the baby Candy. She hasn't taken it yet because one she is still so young and two she is scared of other people. Its going to take some time for her to be ready for something like that. Although is quite smart and has learned alot just by watching the other dogs. Well gotta get back to work! Have a lovely day!!

:wel3fc: ANNIE ~ glad that you have joined us; you certainly have a lot on your plate, and some challenges too. I think it is very commendable that you are trying to improve your health in any way you can. All of us here face unique challenges, but we also have faith and hope on our side. We will hope for the best and live by faith that everything will be alright ...

In the meanwhile, we are doing what we can to improve our lives and our health the best we can. Chip away one-day-at-a-time; that's all one can do really. I want to feel better for the rest of my life not just for a few months or a year. That means making positive changes in every area of my life.

I now take more time to take care of myself; doing more of the things that I want to do; doing less of what I don't want to; take more time for rest and relaxation; spending more time with more pleasant people; devoting more time each day to my spiritual beliefs that I love; and now I'm enjoying my life a lot more too.

PURPLE ~ the author I spoke of lives in LEICESTER; that's why it caught my eye: becuz you said that you shop there. The book I am reading was her first novel; she runs a family business in Leicester, but wanted to retire to write full-time. That novel was published in 1996; about twelve years ago. I wonder how she has done since then??? Maybe I'll try googling her and see what pops up ~ LOL!

BMGCJM ~ well, you've done a good job with your group there; they don't get confused or compete with each other? I'm always amazed at how well our girls got along with so many different visitors that would drop by our backyard over the years. They got along with most; ony a few ruffled hairs here or there ~ LOL!!!

We had a lovely sunny day, but the clouds rolled in around dinner time; they are expecting some snow over the next couple of days, so we'll see. The temps sure came back up today and will be warmer over the week; things were melting a wee bit today.

ANYHOW, take good care and come back and post often, as that is really helpful; your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

dinkster-welcome!! one step at a time is all you can do! I love the support from this place it makes it easier!

Rosebud-you know its weird how the all know their place in the "pack" and no one challenges anyone they all get along like good brothers and sisters! LOL! Blaze is the Alpha and they all follow his lead!


Well, goodnight! I am heading to bed my allergies thing is starting to turn into a spring head cold so I am going to get some extra sleep to maybe keep it from getting worse!

Hi Ladies and good morning

Just popped into town very briefly yesterday. We went to a shop called M and S or marks and spencer as it is really known. It is a shop which sells many things but all we were interested in was going to the food hall. Not that you would do your weekly shop there as it is more of an up market place with a price tag to match. Though they do sell quality food. I picked quite a few packs of their crisp bakes which are bread crumb on the outside then potatoes with various filling. I must admit the vegetable one is my favourite of the bunch. None have too many calories in so they make a nice tea with a slice of bread or for a main meal of the day with vegetables and potatoes or even a salad would be good.

BlzMaxGnrCCJkMly :~ obedience training is a great idea for dogs on many levels. Fortunately we did not have to go with our dog as we got him at 19 months fully trained and house trained. The only thing is his gets sit and lie mixed up bless him. He otherwise is very well behaved even our vet is impressed by how good he is.

ROSEBUD :~ Wow is the author Joan Marysmith really from Leicester. Well I live approximately 30 miles from there. I have just looked on a website and had a quick scout about and I have found she has written a few more books. Waterwings and The Philosopher's House at the minute I see nothing written after 1999. So I hope that information is of some use to you.

DINKSTER :~ :welcome2: Annie to 3fc and especially to the board. Glad to have you on board. I hope you find it the support and help you need here. I have a small insight into your situation regarding your back. One of my dear friends had an accident at work and the result of that has been back surgery. The last operation she was cut from the base of the neck to the tail bone. She then had lots of metal work inserted. I would not say that the operation for her was a complete success as she is on a bucket load of pain killers each day. Like yourself she struggles with her weight especially now exercise is difficult. Though she is not in your position of no more surgery at this point unless signs of paralysis.

I will give you a brief outline of myself. I am a 43 year old woman who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1999. Then some years later I was diagnose with trigeminial neuralgia which is severe pain along the trigeminial nerve that runs on your face. I came to this board around March of last year and swiftly found this thread which has been my haven. I would not have lost the weight without people on here to support me every step of the way. Also for me coming on here makes me accountable to what I put in my mouth as it reflects on my ticker. Like yourself I have broken up the big amount into smaller amounts for me stones which is 14lbs. With coming from the UK we use a different weight system. We uses stones and pounds. So you would say that some one is 11 stone and 10 pounds rather than 164lb. :congrat: on losing 11lbs that is an excellent start to your weight loss journey. Keep up the brilliant work I know that you can do it 10lbs at a time.

Anyway I must dash as I have to get ready to go out and meet DH brother for lunch. Bye ladies and take care :hug:

Morning Ladies
Just poppin in to say HI while I am on my lunch break! Its going to be another beautiful spring day here! Just hope I have the energy to enjoy it later when I get off work! My allergies are not letting up and it seems to be moving down into my chest somewhat! I don't feel sick just have no energy! Going to try to just push through it and keep on moving! Hope you all have a wonderful day!! I'll check back in later!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ well, we had snow for a good part of the day; at one point it was a white-out. I got some pics of some very big snowflakes ~ LOL! We had a huge menagerie of fine, feathered friends here today too + Sammy, our resident squirrel.

PURPLE ~ good for you finding that author Joan Marysmith; yes, in the 'about author's' page, it says that she resides and works in Leicester with her husband (all her children are grown and live in London). I don't know your source, but she has written at least two more, eh? She said she wanted to retire from her business and do writing full-time, so maybe she did.

The book, Holy Aspic is about contemporary and traditional English styles meeting with a group of neighbours and friends. It's light and enjoyable; about a pretty, married woman who is going through a sort of midlife crisis and how she works her way through it, while helping out those around her at the same time.

BMGCJM ~ it is interesting to me that three names of the dogs you have are the exact same names of dogs one of our neighbours had. And the other day, I visited my inlaws family site and one of them had posted a picture of a friend with her pet that not only looked exactly like our SWEETIE (who just passed away over a week ago), but they also had the same name!!! How very strange is that?

ANYWAYS, we had roast chicken with veggies and small new potatoes tonight for dinner; it was delish. Was a little under the weather today, so just stayed indoors today. Too much ice to go walking right now anyways. Well, spring will be here before we know it. Hope you are all well tonight; take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi Ladies

Well plans changed yesterday and I did not have lunch with my BIL as he was unable to get away from work so I did my shopping instead. Will be having our lunch today with him as he has booked a slot for us :D

Unfortunately my eczema is playing up at the minute and it is over both my legs. Even had to take an antihistamine this morning to stop me from itching. The itching it drives you to distraction. I have creamed up to the hilt so I have done as much as I can. To top it off my tummy which has been pain free for about a week decided to let me know it was still there. Mind you I did eat a mild curry so it obviously still not healed fully. Oh well back to plain foods again. It is a shame as I love spicy foods but at the minute they certainly hate me :D

I have woke up this morning to a very dreary morning and it is raining and very damp. Though not so bitterly cold well at least it did not feel like it when I went out to the bin. (rubbish/garbage container)

BlzMaxGnrCCJkMly :~ Sorry to hear that you are under the weather due to your allergies. It is a miserable time for people as spring approaches and gets in to full swing. I use to work with a male nurse who looked and spoke if he had a stinking cold. All because of pollen. You would not think something so tiny could cause so much discomfort. Nice to hear from you though during your lunch break.

ROSEBUD :~ I read all the brief synopsis of all the books Joan Marysmith wrote could not resist with being a reader. Not my type as I tend on the whole to read historical. I am reading at the minute somebody called Margaret Dickinson who writes about Lincolnshire and that is the county that I was born in. Only shame is she is not a prolific writer and now only writes one a year :( So I have to savour this book ;)

No more news today but hope to drop by again tomorrow. Bye bye ladies catch up with you all soon. A special :wave: hello to VAL and hope you had a lovely time on the reserve with your parents. Well till next time :hug:

:welcome: bizmax and dinkster! It's great to have new people on the thread :) I hope you both had a great Easter.

I spent most of the weekend with my parents -- we get Good Friday and Easter Monday off. so woo!

Rosebud it snowed down there hey?! It feels like winter is stretching out really long this year -- or atleast it feels like it. I bought a spring coat a couple weeks ago.. and it's still too cold to wear. Hope you felt better today.

Purple Thanks for thinking of me - the visit with my parents went well. Besides the fact that I end up stuck in their trailer for the duration -- along with a huge pantry stocked full with the most unhealthy foods found. I did pretty well while I was with them.. but once I got back home it was just SO HARD to get back into a healthy routine.

Curry and your ulcer problems definitly would not mix -- I understand how difficult it can be to hold oneself back though when all feels fine. Good luck back on plain food :|


I am loving daylight savings time -- even after I finish dinner the sun is still up :) Some day the snow will melt!

Evening everyone!

Man its hard to believe some of ya'll still have snow! Its nothing but spring here, heck we barely even have winter weather here! Wind was blowing pretty hard to day though, just making the allergy situation that much worse, but I am surviving! My house is covered in dust that keeps flying in everytime you go or out the door so I think I will be spending part of my evening cleaning! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ We had a entire day of beautiful sunshine here; but they called for more of the white stuff; we got enuff yesterday thanks. Looks like it's gonna be great weather for the weekend too, albeit, it may be a tad colder. I did get out for a walk today becuz of the milder temps for about a half hour until my fingies were getting frozen becuz I was taking pictures of our place and all our vehicles and DH's pretty church down the road.

I took PIN PIN with me so that she could get used to her new body harness and learn to walk with me more. SWEETIE used to walk with me and PIN PIN with DH; now that she's gone, PIN PIN will be my new walking partner. I'm already thinking about getting another small friend some time down the road. I think I will always want a furry buddy; as life would be too lonely without one. I would prefer to rescue one like we did SWEETIE; one that is already here that needs a nice home.

PURPLE ~ when I was in my teens, I liked those old gothic mysteries; now that I'm older, I like the tamer stuff about people's lives; don't know what they are called. I esp like stories to have a good ending, and to learn something from their experiences. I like how this book takes me to another country and lifestyle; it's a good way to escape the sadness that was in our lives the last week or so.

VAL ~ just want you to know that you are indeed missed; last night, I was wondering where you were, but I thought that maybe you were busy at work and recuping from your weekend trip. So glad that you had a good time, and that you managed to resist some of the temptations there.

BMGCJM ~ still have snow; still have snow falling; still have snow coming; heck honey, we are almost buried in snow. I'm gonna post some pics here so that you can see our lovely mountains of snow ~ LOL!!! Actually, this is a record snowfall year for us all ...

Well, that all the news for here; tried to download a picture that was 100 kb's but as that is the max size, it wouldn't accept it; so I have to go down-size it a bit. Have a good night, and take good care; your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

28714

:wave: Rosebud - I think my life goes in cycles. Some weeks I just cant keep up with correspondance online (the forums, facebook, emails etc just pile on top of each other) but trust a slow day at work to get it all back. hee hee. And another dog sounds like a good idea - pets are great companions.

I look forward to seeing some of the photos you've taken!

Rosebud makes me cold just hearing you talk about it! LOL!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ just poppin' in to say HI; just stayed home today and only did laundry; made DH muffins yesterday. Made DH his liver with bacon and onions for dinner; this is one of his faves (I like it once in awhile). Wasn't feeling well enuff to go into town; we are postponing til tomorrow or Saturday. We have to go in on Monday for a doc's appointment too, so we won't need to do to much this week. My doc is doing an all-day clinic for women to do all those yucky kind of tests; but I'm due, so must do!!! LOL!

ANYHOW, hope you are all having a great week; no snow today but lots of clouds this aft, and it's started to clear up tonight too. Maybe we will have sun tomorrow after all. Just went outside for some fresh air today; DH cleared off some more of the deck for me so that I can go out there more often, so that's why I made him a special dinner. ;)

WILL post some more pics we took the last two days of the snow; I have to upload and edit them first. I have a lot of them (700+), so it takes awhile. Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Happy Friday Ladies
Well one week down just 9 weeks left of school, and then its summer break! Wohooo! Its going to be a stormy spring day here I think, its very cloudy and overcast and there are storms in the forecast, its tornado season here so I hope we don't get anything that serious! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hi Ladies

This will have to be brief post as unfortuantely I have hurt my right shoulder and it has turned out to be very painful. The best thing is I haven't a clue how I did it :dizzy: So I thought I would drop by to say I am reading every ones post at the minute. But typing for any length of time is out of the question.

Will continue to read everyones posts and as soon as I am fit will type more. So best wishes ladies and take care :hug:

Sorry you got hurt Purple! Hope it heals up soon!!

PURPLE ~ so sorry to hear you are having such a ruff time right now; will pray for you that your shoulder heals as soon as possible. You weren't trying to walk on your head or anything like that, were you? ;) Take good care of yourself and get lots of rest. DH and I both have had serious shoulder injuries, and we surely know how bad they can be.

BMGCJM ~ Texas area is known for that kind of weather; I thought that you had some really bad weather not that long ago. Maybe it was somewhere else but I thought it was Texas or somewhere very near you. Hope you don't get any damage; maybe it will miss you and go back out to sea.

We are have fish & baked chips with veggies and salad for dinner tonight; a good fun Friday dinner. Just did sewing stuff today; cut old clothes up into rags, finished laundry, and the daily stuff. That's all for now; time to go put dinner on. Take good care, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ we had a beautiful sunny day today; the temps went up into the 40F and the snow was melting. It actually felt like a spring day. I felt well enuff to go for a drive and we picked up some groceries, mostly fruit and veggies, and other essentials we were out of. We had spit BBQ chicken for dinner tonight; I love that as it's so lean and all the fat roasts and falls away from the chicken, and it's very affordable too.

Laid down for a wee nap after we got home to rest my legs; DH has already hit the sack. He's tired too. Just came on to answer some emails from friends and relatives tonight; and to check in here, of course.

PURPLE ~ hope you are feeling better dear; and that your shoulder gets better soon. Am sending up prayers for you every day. You should be able to get lots of reading in anyways during your recupe time.

VAL ~ just wanted to tell you that I saw your newest self-portrait; and boy, can you see the difference in your face. Isn't it amazing how our faces lose weight first? You are a very pretty girl; and you have done so well. You should be very proud of yourself. Your parents must have noticed the difference by now??? Keep it up girl; this is the time to take control, becuz as we age, it gets much harder!

WELL, that's all for now; didn't do much else today as I try to take it easy and have fun on the weekends. Oh, DH and I played Yahtzee last night; he got a record high of 513 points, then lost the last game in the hundreds. We laughed: record high and record low all in one game. He decided to quit then becuz he was getting too tired to concentrate ~ LOL!!!

Take good care; and have a great weekend, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Hi Ladies

Thanks for the best wishes. My shoulder seems a little better today after resting for a couple of days. To be honest the injury I sustained maybe just wear and tear from my nursing days. When I first started there was no such things as lifting aids. All you had was your arms and backs. Thinking back now I am horrified but as there was no lifting aids you were not any the wiser. You just got on with your job as everyone else did we knew no better. They say ignorance is bliss how true that is.


It is a bright and sunny day here just right for a walk. Yesterday started off the same but turn nasty as the day went on to wind and rain.

ROSEBUD No standing on my head is my next party trick ;) Yes I have done a fair amount of reading. So off to a world gone by it is so nice to just get away from it all in your head.

Well I watched our famous boat race yesterday between the two universities Oxford and Cambridge. It is known as the university boat race and it is rowed down the same course every year which is the Thames. Thames is the river that runs through our capital city of London. It has been raced since the mid 1800's except for the war years. This year the race was quite late but I think it is because it is a tidal river and it is raced depending on the tide.

Next week it is our most famous horse racing event the grand national run at Aintree. This is were approximately 40 horse take part in a course which is about 4 miles long I think. It is a trying course and very few will finish the course.

BlzMaxGnrCCJkMly I will hope and pray that no tornadoes hit. They must be very frighting. We ocassionally get a very rare one but I have never seen one thankfully but they are nothing like the strength you will experience.

I bet your looking forward to the summer holidays our children here will break up the end of July and go back the first week of September. We I think may have a shorter break of 6 weeks though our children get half term breaks. So a term is made up of 13 weeks approximately and in the middle of that there will be one weeks holiday and then back for another 6 weeks of school.

I am going to sign off now my shoulder is letting me know it is there :D so best wishes and take care. Bye bye ladies :hug:

Hey ladies!
My parents dropped on bomb on my brother and I yesterday. They want to sell the house we rent from them by June -- meaning we have to find an apartment ASAP. This wouldnt be hard.. except we live in a mining town currently in the middle of a 'boom'... and available housing is next to non existant.

I didnt sleep much yesterday because of stress and because I've got bronchitis pretty bad. I started some oral steroids today to kick the inflammation out of my body. I'm scared about what will come of our housing situation... but t r y i n g to remind myself that worrying will not help whatsoever. There is a possibility the the peron who buys my parents house will let us sublet the townhouse they currently live in so hopefully I will get word tomorrow about that.

Purple I wont ask you any questions about the events you recently watched because I know you're in pain with your shoulder. I've heard of the Thames river but not of the horse race you mention. Do you watch many sporting events?

Rosebud Can you explain what a spit chicken is? I've heard of it... but have no idea. Woo hoo for melting snow!! :carrot: It warmed up to just below freezing here... which melts the top layer of snow down to reveal all the gravel plowed from the streets that was used to provide traction for our vehicles. Most snowpiles are now a lovely shade of dirt brown facing the sun.

Thanks for noticing my self portrait! I'm trying to take regular pictures to remind myself that I look different - some day it might even sink in. My parents have definitly noticed... they actually went out and bought themselves pilates mats and I gave them my videos for beginners pilates... and my Dad is trying to lose weight yet again. My younger brother, also my roomate, is starting to pay attention to what he eats for the first time. I'm really hoping to inspire my family to want to change. (I'm just a little bit resentful that they live habits that result in morbid obesity.. leading my development as a child to the same road but it is good motivation to stay on track NOW to break the habits I have known since birth) Sorry that's a long ramble you weren't looking for!

BixMax What are you studying in school? Does your school close on bad storm/wind days or only when there are tornado warnings? Have you ever seen a tornado? I thought the bad seasons were during the summers? Hope you had a good weekend!



And I hope you all had a great spring weekend :) I am going to head to bed early. take care all!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ well we started off with sunshine, but some clouds moved in around noon and it stayed that way, but none of that white stuff came. :D We just stayed home today; since we went out yesterday. Maybe next week, we'll take a trip out to our lot to take a boo; I'm sure it's still there though. ;)

VAL ~ Gee, sorry about the housing problem that has come up for you and your brother; will pray for you that something nice will become available for you. Maybe you would like to live right in town (or are you there now? can't remember) closer to amenities and your job.

BBQ SPIT CHICKEN is an old term for rotisserie chicken; the chicken rotates on spit (long metal rod) and turns as the chicken is roasted at a very even heat, so that the fat melts and falls away from the bird making it so much leaner for us. Our local grocery mart here has a machine that can do several at once, and they sell them for a reasonable price too. You must try them sometime. I'm even considering buying a machine that makes them; a type of toaster oven that has a built-in rotisserie function for a chicken.

Lots of our parents did not know how to eat any better than us, VAL (my parents included). They did their best with the knowlege that they had and were taught when they were young. Not to mention that the 'so-called experts' still don't agree even today!!! :D

PURPLE ~ glad that you are feeling better; that happens to all of us. Old injuries coming back to haunt us; and cause us so much pain and grief. Glad you are able to find things like reading and watching sports (which I like to do too) to fill in time while you recover. Don't overdo it now; take it easy and make sure you are really well.

Well, that's all for tonight; time to go make some tea. Take good care of yourselves, your friend :hug:ROSEBUD:hug:

Morning all
Hope you all had a good weekend! I was busy busy all weekend. The big storms missed us thank goodness,I never heard of anything severe happening though so that is good! Today it is stormy again just alot of thunder and lightening nothing severe forcasted like tornados.

Purple-hope your should is feeling better! Being in pain is no fun at all!

Rosebud-hope the white stuff continues to stay away for you!

Val-I am not "in school" I am a special education teacher so I looking forward to the end of school for summer vacation. Typically severe weather hits in spring time (when the warm air moving in mixes with the cold air from winter) its been know to happen in summer as well but generally spring! And Yes! I hae seen a tornado! VERY scary!!

Hope youall have a wonderful day!

:wave: HELLO CHICKIES ~ we had a wonderful warm day today with full sunshine all day. We went into town to do our errands and picked up some regular groceries as they are predicting a huge snow storm to arrive around midnight and for all day tomorrow. Yah, and piles of that 'WHITE STUFF' is expected: about 10" or so. :yikes:

GEE, I hope they are wrong about that; but as DH says, this is probably March's or is that April's last hurrah. Oh but it just occurred to me that this could be a not-so-funny April Fool's joke ... hmmm ... I wonder ...

Well, it's that time again folks ... to end this thread and start another one. So, I'll end this here and make a mad dash to the next one ~ LOL!


: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 APRIL'S MONTHLY THREAD #008 -- see you there ... and thanx!

:hug: ROSEBUD :hug: