Living Maintenance - Maintainers Chat: Week Of September 21 - 27

Good morning and happy new week! I just got on my scales and saw a 3-pound overnight gain from Chinese food and soy sauce. Ack! I know it's not fat, but it still messes with my brain. So it will be a big water day. And no leftovers!

Sorry I was so scarce last week but MIL ended up in the hospital. At first the doctors were concerned that she had a stroke. Now the diagnosis seems to be dementia, which brings a whole new set of problems. DH needs to find out more today, like where we go from here and what to expect. She lives alone on a 157-acre farm about two hours away from us, so it's not an ideal situation. Everything is still up in the air, even when she'll be released from the hospital.

They're not kidding when they call us the sandwich generation, because we're taking care of kids and parents at the same time. :dizzy:

I saw that Lily checked in last night -- you must be psychic because I was just thinking about you! I'm so sorry about the diabetes but thank goodness you were diagnosed and can deal with it now. :hug: It's a scary situation about Shane being sent to Afghanistan but we'll all be thinking of him and praying for his safe return. You sure have a lot on your plate right now but we hope you can check in and let us know how things are going. We've missed you!

I was supposed to fly to North Carolina this week to see friends -- until the G20 Summit was scheduled for Pittsburgh. Because of the dignitaries flying in, security, and rolling road closures, I'll be driving instead. I was thinking of buying a GPS for the car. Any recommendations? I've heard that Garmin is the brand to get but know nothing about them. Anyone have one?

How was everyone's weekend? Hopefully no one else gained three pounds overnight like I did! :lol:

As you know from my post last week one of the dogs I walked regularly died last Wed. In addition to that a cat (who I was supposed to cat sit starting this week) that I have been caring for for 12 years died on Thursday.

I also did a sleep over this past weekend with the very elderly dog at the same household where the younger dog died.

Normally the stress and sadness of all those events would have set off a week-long eating binge and a gain of at least 5 lbs.

I opted to not do that and am holding steady at 135.

I've been thinking of giving in and posting 135 as my goal weight. But I know I can get down to 130 without a whole lot of pain. And probably 125 with a lot of pain.

It's still a question of motivation. How much do I want this? Is it worth being hungry almost all the time for the short term? I haven't quite decided what to do.

Have a good Monday all!

Dagmar

Good morning. It's raining like mad here again. sigh.

Meg, my husband has a Navman and it works really well.

Dagmar, I am sorry about the dog and cat. Good job staying on plan through the sadness.

Hi everyone,

I had a productive and mostly on plan weekend. Both Fri & Sat night I was supposed to go out to social events. BF & I figured dinner might be served late both nights, so we ate totally OP food at home and avoided the caloric fare served around 9:30 both nights. I didn't even have to argue with anyone about what I was eating, or not eating.

Sat. I bombed the house for bugs. I left a bunch of my kitchen things out on the porch, set the bombs off, and left for the gym without a single cloud in the sky. I got out of the gym 2 hours later and the sky was menacingly dark. I rushed home freaking out - things got wet but I dried it all and the appliances are ok. It made me realize the unnatural attachment I have to my KitchenAid mixer & food processor. Does anyone else feel this way, lol? I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house up after the bombs. Sunday BF and I went fishing, and I took the day as a rest day from exercise. It will be a busy week for me at work so I've got food and workouts prepped & planned.

Jay, I know, no hurricanes (knock on wood) but all this rain. I suppose if it's not one thing it's something else...

Dagmar, the only advice that I can offer is that a goal weight should ideally be truly sustainable. How stressful will it be for you to get to 125? Will you really be able to stay there and be happy? Just something to think about while you're contemplating where you want to go... So sorry about all the animal upsets. :hug:

Meg, I'm sorry to hear about your MIL. Two of my grandparents have (grandmother had) dimensia, but though difficult the situation was somewhat easier b/c my aunt already lived with them. My granddad now also has a nurse come for part of the day while she's at work. All I know about the GPS's are that in the nautical GPS industry, Garmin is the best by far. Maybe read some of the product reviews on Amazon.com for the ones you're considering.

Lily, I'm sorry to hear that you've been diagnosed as diabetic but think how much worse it would be if you hadn't taken so many steps to improve your overall health already! :hug: about Shane.

Hi everybody else! Let's have a great week!

Meg, sorry to hear about your MIL's dementia. I would highly recommend getting her moved into an assisted living center as soon as possible. My grandma was left living on her own for too long after she started showing signs of dementia, and we didn't know how bad it had gotten until she started calling my dad in the middle of the night with concerns about things that had happened 40 years ago. It turned out she hadn't even been able to prepare food for herself and was not able to remember to take her medications on schedule for quite some time before then - she ended up in the hospital before we finally got her into assisted living. This is all with her living 15 minutes away from us and us seeing her three times a week -- I imagine with being 2 hours away it would be worse. Dementia can go downhill extremely quickly. :(

As for the GPS, my parents have a Garmin and they are pretty happy with it. I would say make sure you get one of the ones that tells you the name of the street you're supposed to turn on, not just how far away it is. Personally I think GPS's still have a long way to go before they match up to having someone sitting next to you with a map, but they've come a long way in the past 5-10 years. One of my favorite features is the "tell me how to get to the nearest gas station" feature -- a lifesaver if you're low on gas in an area you don't know.

The most important thing to know when driving with a GPS: they aren't always right. They don't account for roads closed for construction, and sometimes the coordinates are a bit off. So if your GPS is telling you to turn right now and there isn't a road to turn onto, trust your own judgement! I've heard horror stories about people driving their cars into lakes because "the GPS told me to turn!"

Dagmar, I'm sorry to hear about the cat. :hug: Great job not turning to food for comfort, though! As for the goal weight, you could try officially making 135 your goal for a while, then reevaluate in a few months.

Ward, send some of that rain our way! DH's is getting grouchy because he hates having to water the lawn and it hasn't rained much. I've heard about the torrential rains in Atlanta though, DH has some cousins who live there.

Lily, glad to hear from you. I'm sorry to hear about the diabetes. Is it related to your liver disease? I hope that once you get your medications sorted out you'll have the energy to exercise again. When is Shane getting deployed? I will be thinking of you and your family and hoping for his safe return.

My new focus on weight loss is working! I was down half a pound last week, and today's weight was another half pound below that so I'm hopeful for a 1-lb loss this week. I WILL get back to 130! I have so much more confidence now that the scale is moving in the right direction.

Megan, we posted at the same time! I am pretty attached to my kitchen equipment too. Great job with the OP dinners!

Lily, sorry to hear about Shane being deployed to Afghanistan. I will be praying for protection for him.
I was sorry to hear about your diabetes diagnosis, let me tell you about my son. Like you he was sick a lot and finally went to the doctor and found out he is diabetic. I am afraid I reacted badly as I was scared, but I begged him to take care of himself, He promised me he would. Well, he has, in spades . He has lost over 200 pounds, through diet and exercise and his doctor has taken him off his diabetes medication. Diabetes is not a diagnosis we want to hear but it can be handled . Try and not stress over the family's different situations, I know you are the strong one. taking care of everybody. Now is the time to take care of yourself. I wish you the best.

Hi everyone and thanks for the support.

Meg, sorry to hear about your MIL's dementia. I've also thought of getting a GPS. Although I don't venture far from home except to go to my doctors appointments.

Dagmar, I'm sorry to hear about the death of the animals.

Jessica, my doctors think the diabetes is mostly related to my long-term history of steroids usage. Of course my mom, 1 sister, 1 brother and maternal grandfather all had full-blown diabetes too. The weird thing is I kept thinking my "hot flashes" were all just due to menopause. Turns out a lot of what was happening was massive fluctuations in my blood sugar.

I know this isn't a good thing, but right now I'm scared of food. It makes me sick to eat. Hopefully this will end soon and my body will adjust to eating a diabetic diet.

Yesterday afternoon I did mow the yard. It took every bit of effort that I had, but it needed it badly. We've had so much rain lately that my yard was really overgrown. I'm hoping the weather will clear up soon. I haven't got to swing a golf club in over 2 weeks now and I miss it.

I'm getting no help around here at all. Both girls now have school and part-time jobs. DH has been working lots of overtime.

Jessica, my son is currently training in New Jersey. He gets a 1 week leave at Christmas time and then deploys to Afghanistan on Jan 2nd. He had been slated to deploy to Iraq. They changed his unit's orders due to the new "troop surge" being sent to Afghanistan. I am going to try to have a really big Christmas this year and make it as festive as possible. I know he will be gone for 13 months on the deployment.

Lilybelle, if you are taking insulin, you MUST eat on schedule. I'm sure you know that--just want to encourage you! :hug:

Jay

Meg~my in-laws have a Garmin (we gave it to them for Christmas a year or two ago) and they love it. I used it once and was a bit annoyed because as we were on the freeway, it would say something like you'll need to turn right ahead--when that "ahead" was 10 or more miles away. It was nice, however, if you missed your intended turn, it would recalibrate and get you back on course.

And sandwich generation? It is so hard being the filling on that sandwich. Thankfully my SIL is doing more than her fair share for my parents since she lives so much closer than I do. We're trying to figure out how best to get them down here for a visit, but it is so hard with all the arrangements (Mom & her wheelchair, Dad and his need for nighttime oxygen or an APAP machine). They live alone in Utah and thankfully neighbors help out with snow shoveling in the winter, but I really wish they'd move into a place with fewer outdoor chores.

Lily~my sister has had diabetes for 46 years and it is a manageable disease. Good luck to you. And my neighbor just got back from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan and all is well. Prayers for the same for Shane.

Meg:Sorry to hear about your MIL. On the GPS: I have a Tomtom and you should absolutely look at that before you decide. My sisters & myself, who are all severely orientation challenged, all can manage the tomtom in 3D mode, but NOT the other ones. Especially in heavy traffic I personally need it that the tomtom says to me in several different ways where to go so I can make the proper decision in a split second.

lily - glad you checked in. I have been wondering how you were. The diabetes diagnosis definitely sucks, but OTOH you now will probabely be feeling better once you manage the insulin & eating on time right. It must be a big plus also that you already have the skill & discipline to eat certain foods at in certain times and adhere to a diet.

hi to all the other maintainers,
have a great day all,
Rabbit

Just saw in the news that there's flooding in the southern US, particularly in the Atlanta area. Shannon are you ok?

Howdy. How did it get to be 3:15 in the afternoon already..... I've been really busy all day....

Lily - Good to see you. I, too, have been wondering where you were. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but I know that long steriod use can cause diabetes (DH was on them quite awhile). I know you'll have the eating straightened out in no time. Your plan for a big Christmas for Shane sounds like a good one.

Meg - we dealt with dementia in both my mother and MIL, and it's a hard thing. My MIL especially was alert enough at times to resist going into assisted living, and yet she needed full-time care and my poor 90+ FIL was getting worn out providing it. She did finally go to a nursing home very close to their home and my FIL did much better when he was able to sleep at night. He visited her every day the year or so she was there. I hope you and your DH can find a workable solution.

Dagmar - sorry to hear about the dog and cat dying.

The only input I have on GPS is that DH has a Garmin, but it's not a car one, rather one he uses for hiking, canoeing, etc. He likes it, but I've never tried it.

It's FALL here, and today it's raining hard, which will take down many more of the leaves. And I'm sure when it stops and the clouds lift there will be lots of fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. Sigh.

Raising my hand Meg! I also saw a 3 pound gain overnight!:mad: We went to Sonoma for a pasta feed. I never drink alcohol but decided to have wine. Wine with pasta and garlic bread......not a good combo for me. I didn't feel well the rest of the day-- headachy and heart pounding and exhausted. I couldn't make it to the gym and I still don't feel great but I am going tonight. And three pounds overnight on the scale. Just not worth it..... dh had just come back from Europe and I didn't want to be a wet noodle though......

I am also praying for you Lily-- both for your health and your son.

I have a GPS built into my car. I am severely directionally challenged and need my GPS! I use it all the time! I haven't had one of the other brands though.

Meg-- I'll also be thinking of you and your MIL. Definitely in the sandwich generation here. We've already dealt with both of my parents, assisted living, dementia, cancer.... they are deceased now and now dh's parents are starting to decline. It is so difficult.

Hi to the rest of you! Another crazy busy week here. I'll check back in when things calm down a bit.

Good morning everyone. Survived the rain and the floods so far - I have power & water, only minor leaking in the house, lots of roads closed around me but can still get most places I need to go, the worst part for me right now is my phone/internet/cable being out. I think there is a sinkhole or a railroad trestle washed out just past my subdivision - they have police tape up at the traffic light for my subdivision and won't let people go any further down the road... My MIL has had no water for two days and is stuck at her house, the road closures limit her greatly. We had some damage at one of our restaurants, several customer injuries where they fell down in the rain. I went home yesterday morning to wait for a freight delivery and couldn't get back to work with the road closures and heavy rain. We thought DH was going to get trapped at work, he made it home but it took two hours and he was rerouted by the police a number of times... Crazy. I started looking for gopherwood. :) Of course, I ate horribly on top of it. I had ice cream on Friday (DH was under stress at work and stopped for some minor items on the way home, got ice cream with) then pizza on Saturday, both of which I could have managed, but then added in more ice cream yesterday. DH & I both are apparently stress ice cream eaters. I did exercise on Friday & again yesterday, and think I'm finally over my sick though. Still a little congested, but nothing serious. Got to get back on track this week. Again. I seem to run in two week cycles of stress the last month - hope it isn't an indicator of the coming holidays... :(

My staff accountant's house is flooded - the finished basement is completely flooded and it is halfway up the first floor now.

Meg - I had a Garmin Nuvi 680 before my Accord, which has built in GPS. Loved it - it has bluetooth, speaks the street names and is widescreen. This is the current version of pretty much the same thing, just with MSN Direct added. Garmin Nuvi 780 (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-780-Widescreen-Bluetooth-Navigator/dp/B0011UEUNG/ref=sr_ob_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253630015&sr=1-2) I didn't get the MSN Direct because it was an extra $100 at the time - I think I paid $350 for mine when I got it. It does have some limitations, like Allison mentioned - construction, new roads, etc. I think this one has traffic available, if so that is a good feature to subscribe to. It will warn you when you are approaching congested areas. You have to buy a seperate receiver for it on the 780 I think, or subscribe to it through the MSN Direct. I'm in the sandwich generation, too. Hard. Last year when my MIL was having her cancer treatments we had issues with my stepson at the same time. Hard to care for both sides of the sandwich! My parents are in pretty good health so far, but they are two hours away and I worry about what will happen when their health status changes. MIL is 45 minutes away and that was hard enough.

Dagmar - I'm so sorry about the kitty. This has been a rough two weeks for you. It is so hard with pets - I visited my parents this weekend, and it is the first time I've seen their dog since Christmas. She is a 17 year old miniature dachshund and she looks terrible. Deaf, mostly blind, losing her hair, doesn't walk well, some kind of rash on her back. She can still smell though - mom heated some ham in the microwave and she came wandering out of the back bedroom for a treat. It made me cry just watching her. Good job to you on controlling the eating during all of that! On the goal weight, I second the sustainable. I realize that I would love to be 120, but it is obvious that I am not going to be able to sustain less than an average of 125, sometimes a little lower. Would 125-130 be something you could maintain without making yourself crazy?

Ward - any damage where you are?

Megan - Glad you recovered your kitchen equipment! I would be stressed out if something happened to mine as well.

Jessica - :high: on the weight loss! Seeing the scale move down is a great motivator!

Lily - My grandmother was diabetic, and lived with it and managed it just fine for the last 38 years of her life. I'm sorry about the diagnosis, but glad that you finally know what it going on! :hug: Sorry about the deployment info on Shane. Definitely have a fabulous Christmas before he goes.

Michele - what is a pasta feed?

:wave: to anyone I missed! Have a great day today!

Hi all,

It's not my week for electronics. Luckily my TV started working again, my kitchen appliances are ok despite getting rained on, but my 3+ year old ipod mini just went out over the last few days at the gym. Looking at what I think the problem is, the potential repair cost, versus buying a new one, I just went ahead and ordered a new one. I found yesterday that I can power walk or do weights/strength training without the music, but running w/o music is impossible for me! I am so dependent on technology. :dizzy:

Shannon, glad you & your house are ok. I was watching the footage on the weather channel last night and hadn't realized how bad it was upriver - the rain caused problems down here, but no houses collapsing or cars being swept away, or worse. Stay safe!

Michele and Meg, I'm sure lots of water will flush that water weight away (funny how that works).

Pat, sorry you seem so glum about fall coming. Do you have any good fall recipes or traditions to look forward to?

Lily, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful Christmas with Shane. You always take such good care of your family. They're lucky to have you.

Off to work on a presentation I have to give to a class next month. Have a good one everybody!

:wave: Popping in... hopefully I'll have time to catch up later. Best to everyone!

Hi everyone, I'm still having a rough time. Last night I had a major craving for something sweet. So, I ate some watermelon and soon learned it's very high on the glycemic index. I felt horrible about 30 min's later and had to take more insulin. I guess my biggest problem is learning what I can eat and how it will affect me. I'm just so used to counting carbs, counting fat grams or counting calories this is very new to me. I pulled out some LF yogurt to eat yesterday and then saw it had 47 grams of sugar per serving! I had never even noticed that culprit before. If I get a chance, I'm gonna go buy me a diabetic cookbook this week and learn how to cook and eat foods that will satisfy me. I definitely think this would have been harder for me if I hadn't gotten my weight pretty much under control to start with. I weighed this morning and am holding steady at 149 lbs. One thing I'm very thankful for is that I haven't had a regular soda in about 4 years.

I see my Dr. again next Monday. She is gonna try to lower my prednisone dosage (which should hopefully help my blood sugars too). On 70 mg. of prednisone daily right now and I don't think I've had a decent night of sleep in at least a month!


Shannon, it's good to see you are doing OK amongst all that flooding. We had major storms again last night, but so far nothing is flooded.

Megan, yeah it's weird cause I'm already thinking about the upcoming holidays. Wondering what kind of diabetic dessert I can cook too. I have made a SF pecan pie once and it was horrible. Gotta find something better to fix this next time, lol. I am looking forward to seeing Shane at Christmas and plan to make it very special. (he was in Iraq last year at Christmas).

I need to clean my house again today. My floors keep getting tracked up by dirty doggie foot prints.

I also need to go pick up my new bifocals. My eyesight is drastically worse than it was a year ago!

Lily - my grandmother was a great cook and had a lot of recipes that she made diabetic friendly. She never seemed to be frustrated by the foods that she was eating, and I remember eating a lot of them myself. I'm sure it is a big help that you got your weight down in advance of this!

My head is killing me today... I'm sure it is a crashdown from all the sugar yesterday. I'm finding myself with serious sugary carby cravings, too. I've done okay so far - about to eat an apple or some prunes and see if that helps.

Shannon-- glad you are more or less okay with the flooding!

A pasta feed is like a crab feed. If you don't know what either of those are-- it is a get together where they serve you large quantities of pasta (or crab). Kind of like a carbo load before races if you know what those are. Often they are done as fundraisers. This one was done at a winery that dh has a "membership" to so it was members only. Therefore the pasta was really good (versus just cheap and plentiful)-- otherwise I would have stayed away. I am grouchy that the weight hasn't budged (yet) but I realized I have been too busy to drink enough water! Off to work again and to grab some water!!!

Slow chat thread this week!

Shannon, glad you're doing okay with the flooding. Doesn't WardHog live in Atlanta too?

I've been doing really well with my re-committment to my plan, and I think I'll even be able to move my ticker down this week. However, I'm going to a conference next week. :sigh: At least my hotel has a fitness center and is located right next to a park, so I should have somewhere to work out. Right now I'm looking at the info about local businesses to see if there's a Starbucks nearby so I can have oatmeal for breakfast.

Jessica-- are you going anywhere fun for your conference?

The thread is very slow this week!

Yesterday I perfected my title as klutzy queen. I got to work early... I was very tired and stressed and my boss met me in the parking lot to discuss something I was already worried about. I was walking with her and talking (and carrying armloads of boxes, my purse, etc.) and I totally walked into a giant concrete pillar that we have so parents won't drive through that part of the parking lot. I went up and over and down! Of course my packages went flying, my boss tried unsuccessfully to catch me, and I was totally humiliated. I thought I would have been badly injured but I seem to just have a bruised knee and a badly strained muscle on the inside of my leg. I wasn't about to miss spin class last night as I'm still trying to get off my wine country weight from the weekend! I went to see how it would feel thinking I would leave if it hurt too much. Surprisingly it didn't hurt much during class but when I got off the bike the pain returned. I'm taking anti-inflammatories and though it still hurts, it hurts less today. Hopefully I can still go to latin dance this afternoon! The scale finally was back to 123 this morning so my hard work paid off!

Still a crazy and hectic week here. I have a school project due that I'm finishing up (for my class I'm taking) and I have tons of school (work) stuff that is stressful. I have book fair coming and virtually no helpers. Anyone want to come help with my book fair??

I'm taking tomorrow off from work (another reason for stress as I'm trying to cram 5 days into 4) to go see an eye specialist for my Graves Eye Disease. Dh is going to go with me so I hope I find out something. Hopefully afterwards we are going to go look at cars. I have a lease that expires in a few weeks so I've got to figure out what to get!! Any suggestions?? I need an SUV size car due to my 2 big dogs and I don't want to spend too much. I currently have a Mazda CX 7 and that is a good size for me.....

We are quiet this week! I was out on the boat all day yesterday. I'm letting a lot of things at work cause me stress right now, and I need to either deal with the stress better, or deal with the situations causing the stress. Until I figure out how to do one of those things... stress is not an excuse for eating badly or not going to the gym.

Michele, ouch! I'm a klutz too. Last week I was once again "dismounting" less than gracefully from my jackknifes on the yoga ball and praying that the boxing lesson wouldn't start in the area where I was working until I was finished. I didn't need 6 "too cool for school" guys coming in and watching me! (Yes, I still have a few insecurities left over from teenager-hood). I hope you heal quickly!

Jessica, don't worry about your conference! You can stick to plan while there, I know it. You have a place to work out, a source for a healthy breakfast, and just remember to eat intuitively. Try to think about the positives of the conference instead of worrying about food.

Michele, mmm, that pasta does sound good to me right now! I hope you drink your water and those extra lbs flush away.

Shannon, did you manage your sugar cravings? Feeling better today?

Lily, I'm sure that you can figure out a way to make some tasty diabetic-friendly recipes that will help make the holidays lovely and tasty. Have you tried looking around the internet? I just did a search for "diabetic recipes" and came up with this site, http://www.diabetic-recipes.com/, along with many others. You've handled a lot of obstacles and tough times already, you can handle this one!

Is it Thursday already? In some ways it feels like it's earlier in the week, in other ways later... :dizzy: Have a great day everyone.

I'm about ready to tear my hair out right now!!!

My DH was kind enough to get us a job in Yakima, Washington, so I am in the process of trying to obtain business licenses, contractors licenses, etc., etc., etc. My desk is covered with stacks of printouts, instructions, forms, etc. and it's all so frustrating! Why is there a need to have so many different governmental agencies that you have to deal with?

We all sound like we are stressed out this week! I actually just found the stress :stress: smilie earlier today as I was posting on another thread...

I had a full out crazy moment last night, don't know how else to describe it. I picked up DSS at daycare, got home, fixed dinner, daddy got home and I went upstairs to change the bulb in the touch lamp by DSS's bed. The replacement bulb wouldn't work - came on, but wouldn't turn off, got crazy hot and burned me trying to take it out. I had another of the little lamps that I had bought for him at his mom's house yesterday when I got the bulbs, tried it and the bulb burned out as soon as I turned the lamp on. I flipped immediately into 'have to go to the store and get a new lamp right now' mode. At 6:300 pm, in still partially flooded Atlanta, with lots of roads between myself and Target still closed and traffic still insane trying to leave our area to get into the more impacted Douglasville area. Went anyway, got stuck in terrible traffic, locked down picking out a lamp at Target because they didn't have a touch lamp. Bought one lamp, went across the street to Home Depot to look at another, realized it was almost 8, freaked out and jumped in the car to go home. I couldn't think about anything else but that stupid lamp. Totally wrapped up in my head over it. Really, DSS would have been fine without a lamp, but all I kept saying in my head was that I had promised him I would fix his lamp before he was at our house again (it blew out Sunday night when he was over) and by goodness I had to fix it. By the time I got home I could barely keep my eyes open, so my planned exercise went undone. No idea where all of that came from... :shrug:

Today will be better. At least I was OP with food yesterday. :)

Jessica - Ward does live in Atlanta, yes. I don't think she is in one of the more impacted areas, but might have gotten hit with some traffic back ups. Not sure. Glad your plan is going well! And, you'll be fine next week. Does the hotel have hot water available? You could always buy instant oatmeal and get hot water from the kitchen? Or an inroom coffe pot maybe?

Michele - a pasta feed sounds great to me right now... :) Ouch on the fall! How are you doing today?

Megan - I did okay with the sugar cravings on Tuesday, significantly better yesterday. No headache today, so that is good. I'll say it with you "stress is no reason to eat or not go to the gym"! Maybe if we both say it we'll listen to it! :) :hug:

Allison - I hate hate hate having to go through all the hoolpa for permits and such. It makes me absolutely crazy...

Good day everyone! :wave: to all!

Michele, the conference is in Tucson. It looks like a pretty packed conference (activities from 8am to 9pm every day) so I don't know if I'll have much time to do fun stuff! Good luck with your eye appointment. If I lived near you I would totally help with the book fair! I loved book fairs so much when I was a kid and helped out with them some when I was older and my mom was teaching 1st grade.

Megan, don't let the stress derail you! If you really want to get off those extra pounds, then your weight is MORE important than work (unless they're going to fire you :p ).

Allison, LOL, sometimes I wish we didn't have states if only so that we wouldn't have to deal with that sort of crap when moving between states or doing work in other states!

Shannon, sorry about the lamp episode. You were just trying to be a good stepmom!

Morning. Count me in with those dealing with :stress: as well. I have to present my budgets before the review committee this afternoon, and I'm still getting figures on a few of them ( I have 7, though the Golf Course Manager will present his, leaving me 6).

I blew off last night's cardio, and then blew off a healthy dinner as well. Why? Who knows. DH left Tues morning and was supposed to be home today, but he came in about 9 last night. I always eat better when it's the two of us but I need to be stricter with myself when he's gone.

Michele - whoops! Glad you weren't badly hurt. Hope you're feeling better. I've done some klutzy things like that myself. I have a 2004 Honda CRV (my second one) which is a smaller SUV. They changed the style in 2007 so I'm not sure if it has the same amount of room. If/when I get a new(er) car, I'd really like to have a hybrid SUV, either a Toyota Highlander or the Ford one. But we tend to drive our cars forever, so it'll be another few years I'm sure. :)

Jessica - I second (third?) the idea of using the in-room coffee pot and bringing your own instant cereal. Why pay the premium at Starbucks? And non-refrigerated stuff is a good idea as well. A good plan will help (note to self - take this advice for business trip in October)

Okay, no more time here, must review the budgets. I have 4 hours to see how much I can get myself stressed over this.....

Lily, I would have expected your doctor to have given you advice on the proper diet for diabetics, but there is always google, you will come up with more info than you can use. I would recommend a diabetic cookbook, I gave one to my son for his birthday , it had really good sounding recipes that the whole family would enjoy,

Oh Michele, forgot to comment on the car question - DH has a 2007 CRV, loves it. It has plenty of room and drives very similar to the Civic I had. He says it is the greatest car ever. :)

Shannon and Pat,
We actually had a Honda CRV before my Mazda. I know everyone loves theirs but I had recurring problems with it. Not sure if I'll consider one again for that reason. I'm thinking of looking at the Toyota Rav 4 or the Hyundai Santa Fe (I think that's the model).

Michele

Michele - I have a friend with a Rav4 and an employee with the Hyundai. Both of them love their car and have had very little trouble with them. The Hyundai is quite a bit bigger than the Rav4, but I notice that the new Rav4s are larger than previous years.

Shannon - nice to hear your DH likes his new style CRV. I don't think they look like CRV's any more. :lol: Plus, one of the feature I like the most is the sideways opening back door, and the new ones don't have that.

Back to budgets....

Michele - I have a friend who drove a Rav 4, she had similar recurring problems to what it sounds like you had with your Honda, and as I remember it was a little smallish. OTOH, I had a coworker with one who loved it and had no trouble. I had a Santa Fe as a rental car once and liked it, I also have driven the Mitsubishi Outlander & the Subaru Outback as rentals and liked both of them. DH was seriously considering an Outback when he bought his Honda...

Oh yeah, about the SUV's -- I have a Subaru Forester which I absolutely love. :love: It's not as big as most other SUV's, but it is usually rated extremely high for safety and reliability. My dog has plenty of room to spare in the back so I'm sure you could fit two dogs in it. (Of course, my dog also likes to sit in the back seat better than in the trunk, so he jumps over all the time and drives me nuts, but that's beside the point...)

Michele~Hyundai have gotten excellent reviews. I had a boss with a Toyota 4Runner that should have qualified for the Lemon Law (he tried, but didn't get it). I think they had to replace the engine twice in it's first year. I'm kind of down on Toyota for that reason.

My hair pulling has ceased for a couple more days. I can't do anything until Washington processes my Master Business application which gives me a UBI which is necessary on ALL the other forms I have to fill out. It's weird, though, because we're incorporated, we're actually supposed to file with the Secretary of State before doing the Master Business App, but you can't do that without the UBI. It makes no sense to me at all, so I'm doing it the way that makes the most sense.

Oh, and since we got this job, and were about 99% sure we got another big, big one (the only uncertainty is the fact that they have not sent the contract) it looks like I'll be getting a new car soon. Did I tell you all about the Jag? I'm super excited!

Oh yeah, about the SUV's -- I have a Subaru Forester which I absolutely love. :love: It's not as big as most other SUV's, but it is usually rated extremely high for safety and reliability. My dog has plenty of room to spare in the back so I'm sure you could fit two dogs in it. (Of course, my dog also likes to sit in the back seat better than in the trunk, so he jumps over all the time and drives me nuts, but that's beside the point...)

Yes, but I have 200 pounds of dog!!:^:;)

Michele, my dog is 85lbs so he's not little! It might be a little snug with 200lbs of dog, but it may be worth checking out anyway.

I realized the other day that I am like those people who can't stop talking about their kids, except I'm always talking about my dog. He is my fur-baby and I love him so much! :love: I often worry about what I'm going to do when he gets old. He's 5 right now and perfectly healthy, but since he's big, he probably won't live much past 10 or 12. My poor baby!

I have a 5 year old, too. Covered in black curls. Did I mention he is a dog ?

Michele, my friend has two Great Danes and a Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle mix and has a Mercedes SUV that holds them all. :)

Sheila-- wish I had the $$ for a Mercedes!

But.... I did buy a cute little red Toyota RAV4 this morning!! Now I need to work on getting rid of my leased car as I currently have 3 cars (counting dh's truck). So much fun getting a new car!!

Michele -congrats on the new car! The Rav4 is cute. :)

Nice choice Michele! And I love red cars. :)

Thanks Pat!!
It has all of the bells and whistles except a GPS. I get hopelessly lost all the time so I spent today researching GPS units. I ordered one from amazon and expect to get it Tuesday. Hopefully I won't get lost before then!