It's a grizzly, gray morning here, but I couldn't feel better about life... My sister had a mastectomy yesterday, they determined that there is no lymph node involvement, and they were able to do the reconstruction, immediately following the mastectomy. Silver lining: the doctors use the "pouch" under the belly button that many of us are too familiar with, to reconstruct the breast with... in other words: TUMMY TUCK! And she won't need chemo or radiation. Many sighs of relief were breathed yesterday. I feel like a heavy veil has been lifted and we can all go back to living again!
SO, you'll be seeing a lot more of ol' Kat again... I'm even starting up WW again next week at work... NO EXCUSES!
Gotta run to work now... well, after applying a bit o' face paint... I don't want to scare anyone...
kaylets-glad you have all next week off for the holiday!
hello ceara!
kat-sooo glad that things went well for sister with both prognosis and surgery! ---and that she won't need chemo or radiation. that is just wonderful.
hi anagram-hope most recent procedure went well.
andria-hi!
greetings, arabella!
snowed early this morning again. i heard it and woke up way too early. when i turned on the t.v, they were talking about the snow on the news. in my dreams, of course, it is always nice, warm weather. didn't sleep that great again last night, but definitely better than previous one, so at least going in the right direction. it is very cold again today, and wasn't able to get out, but sunday i have dinner plans with a couple of dear friends, which should be very pleasant. so even if i can't get out tomorrow on my own steam, at least i know i will the following evening. my poor heater has been blasting non-stop for so long now with no break, and i am keeping my fingers crossed it can hold out a bit longer. i sure am glad i got that flannel nightgown recently. i bundle up so much at bedtime, i look like i am going out for a winter hike up a glacier. lol! to use your phrase, kat, "no excuses." i will not let winter, my physcial health challenges, or anything else stand in my way. i am going to glide on down that scale no matter what! well, lovely royals, have a good one. take care.
We've got our first snowstorm forecast for tonight into tomorrow. Hope it doesn't keep me from and tai chi in the a.m. Assuming I'm up to running, that is. O/w, I'll walk over to tai chi and call it exercise.
Kat, so glad to hear the news! No lymph node involvement, no chemo or radiation? And a tummy tuck? Bonus! Also glad to hear you're back in the palace.
Andria, I've been suffering from the same malady. Even if I track, weight's staying pretty much the same. Inescapable conclusion being -- I'm going to have to work harder to get the numbers to change. And, man, it takes a lot more work than it used to. But we can do it!
I had to put on my long pants and a heavier shirt and socks for WI this a.m. and was up 1.6. But at least I've got that one over with.
Kaylets, yay! A week's vacation sounds May your days be merry and bright throughout.
WSW, sounds like your weekend is shaping up. I need at least one social event on the weekend, always. Preferably two but usually not three. Yay for friends! Esp. ly ones!
Anagram, how did the procedure go? Won't uncross fingers until I hear...
Ceara, what color belt do you want for the wagon? I'm going for a nice deep red one, I think.
K, I'm off to partay at my sister's. Going to behave royally, I am. Have a lovely evening lies!
Good morning! And it really is. I'm on vacation for an entire week! WHEEEEE! Okay, I did bring home two books to read, and I have a lot of lesson planning to do, but a break from the classroom and some time with my family is just what I need about now.
The weather here has changed drastically, but it isn't snow type, darn it all. We just have wind moving around some chilly air. I still try hard to not giggle at everyone here bundling up like they live in Canada. They have huge coats on and are still shivering while I'm walking around comfortably in shirt sleeves. Yes, they think I might be insane. I'm thinking they wouldn't survive anywhere that gets even an inch of snow a year.
I've decided to hit that "No excuses!" bandwagon myself. Going back over my food logs, it is apparent there are areas that can improve. I'm also not doing much exercise outside the trainer days at the gym. I run around a lot at school, but I apparently need to step up my game to get results.
On the very positive side of things, though, I'm really proud to say that I've logged for the last 10 days straight, even when I didn't want to! It does make it a lot easier to turn down the holiday temptations. Half of those dishes I can't figure out how I would log them, and the other half I just don't want to have to admit to having eaten. It is easier to walk by at that point. Besides, Gym Jim wants me to start bringing in my logs, and I seriously don't want him seeing that I'm wasting our hard work there as soon as I get home. Ah, the joys of accountability!
My sweetie just called me down to work on breaky with him. I'll have to return later for replies.
*HUGS* Here's to No More Excuses!
And I was enjoying a very cozy lounge in my PJs, Looking at Christmas mags and seeing what my Chickies are up to. When I realized that I had to get my posterior in gear and head out if I wanted to get to tai chi.
Well, at least it got me out and got enough steps in, combined with the dancing last night. We've had a snowstorm and the area where we have class was locked up. So no go. And I'm still feeling sick so by the time I fought my way over there through the snow I was ready to collapse. That's two Saturdays in a row that happened. I had to sit out the first set last week. Then, somehow I mostly recovered from the weak spell on the way home anyway. But I think I'm pretty much ready to lounge again for the rest of the day. Maybe I'll get back into my PJs...
Andria, yeah, accountability is the thing. Amazing how I can feel like I'm putting in a good effort but if my food journal's available for DH to look at ... I do a lot better.
Oh, you're getting a week off too? Sweet! This seems like a great time for it too, after your family's recovered a bit from that trauma and can just regroup and enjoy each other. I'm getting a long weekend out of the deal next weekend, which I'm really looking forward to. It'll give me a chance to start getting ready for the parties to come.
Hope all beith well with all lies. Stop in and let us know, huh?
Let's take this day we've been given and make it work for us!
1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:25, 1st time... 9:10 actual... so nice to sleep in!!!
2. Diamonds or pearls? Pearls
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Religulous (great documentary, btw!)
4. What is your favorite TV show? The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal w/craisins & walnuts, skim milk, coffee
6. What is your middle name? Mary
7. What food do you dislike? not many! Overcooked carrots & liver come to mind.
8. What is your favorite CD at moment? Tom Waits, Heartattack and Vine
9. What kind of car do you drive? Isuzu Rodeo
10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey Reuben
11. What characteristic do you despise? Closed mindedness
12. Favorite item of clothing? Sweaters (when I'm not as bulky as I am now!)
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? The Greek Isles
14. Favorite brand of clothing:
15. Where would you retire? A lovely, quiet but funky beach town would be nice.
16.What was your most recent memorable birthday? I was in Las Vegas last year on my 50th birthday
17. Favorite sport to watch? Football, preferably in person
18. Furthest place you are sending this? CA
19. Person you expect to send it back first? my niece, Heather
20. When is your birthday? July 3
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? I can swing both ways!
22. What is your shoe size? 9
23. Pets? Molly Brown, a chocolate Lab
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? I told you about sister's good news already... after that, I think I'm tapped out for the moment
25. What did you want to be when you were little? An artist
26. How are you today? Cheerfully optimistic!
27. What is your favorite candy? Anything with chocolate and nuts... but I'm willing to settle...
28. What is your favorite flower? Gardenias
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Christmas with family
30. What is your favorite pastime? Hiking in the woods
31. What are you listening to right now? Tom Waits, Heartattack and Vine
32. What was the last thing you ate? croissant, cup of coffee
33. Do you wish on stars? "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."
34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Forest Green
35. How is the weather right now? Sunny, COLD
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? My daughter
37. Favorite soft drink? Real lemonade
38. Favorite restaurant? Little Havana
39. Real hair color? "Fabulous Fawn" (inside family joke, my grandmother swore she'd never go white, would rather die with her favorite shade on her head---and she did!) Mine's light brown, with assistance...
40. What was your favorite toy as a child? TRESSY! (me too, Arabella!)Barbie too.
41. Summer or winter? I love something about all four, actually... this is a hard one! Summer, I guess...
42. Hugs or kisses? Kisses, the ones from when you first started kissing each other!
43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
44. Coffee or tea? Coffee...good coffee in the morning, a nice herbal tea at night
45. Do you want your friends to email you back?
46. When was the last time you cried? Thursday, tears of relief at sister's prognosis
47. What is under your bed? Dust bunnies. Lots and lots of dust bunnies. Renegade socks. Miscellaneous flip-flops.
Last edited by katrinabgood; 11-22-2008 at 12:26 PM.
I have so many things I need to reply to, (don't worry, I took notes!) but I went WAY past the hour I had alotted myself on the computer answering the above questions! I'm all caught up with reading everyone's posts though... hence, the note-taking, but I have a ton of things to do today: daughter and I are going to see Cats tonight with a friend and her daughter... first we want to get a visit in with sissy/aunt, and a cursory house tidying needs to be done.
So much good news - individual replies to come in a more leisurely time.
Second procedure also went very well. I still feel a need to remove my contacts at bedtime and/or adjust my glasses throughout the day - and none to do either with. Reading glasses only at this point and that's just plain miraculous.
Enjoy this Sensational Sunday, Sleek and Svelte lies.
Oh, anagram! I know that feeling well... 'tis a miraculous thing to be able to see WELL again! (and amazing to realize just how POORLY we actually saw pre-op!) I'm so happy all went well for you! I'm constantly (even after a year) amazed at the things I can see now: street signs, directions on packages, recipes...
Ceara! I'm seeing those Christmas lights around here too... I REFUSE to go all Christmas-y til at least December! Good for you, getting the walkies in, with the long johns!
Wow, Arabella... that much snow? Ouch. We had some flurries a few days ago, but even that is way early for these here parts. You intrepid trooper though... activity took precedence over cozy. I'm inspired, as usual.
Andria... I'm so happy that all is well now with the family. What a horror it must have been. Your Gym Jim sounds intense, but you are working it, girl! Another inspiration for me! BTW, thank you for offering Tony up for free medical advice!! Who needs WebMd?
wsw, my dainty fingered, stalwart muse! I'm glad to hear that you are on the mend from your fall... you always sound so serene in spite of adversity. Count me in on that glide down the scale, despite all winter challenges!
Kaylets...I must tell you that I am adopting your "Good Things Bucket" and intend to fill 'er up each day!
Well, I'm off... must get dinner ready for dh, who had to work tonight. He deserves an occasional home cooked meal, I think...
I was here yesterday but see today that my post didn't "stick"....
Basically, I was applauding everyone's progress!
Kat, I am thrilled to hear the wonderful news about your sister! How wonderful! This is good news!
Anagram, Great news about the second eye procedure! This is definitely good news!
WoodNymph, I think I had a touch of something this weekend too.... Mostly splitting headache and no strength.... I spent nearly all of Saturday trying to sleep. I'm feeling better now, how about you?
Ceara, Your expert advice please.... Beagle wakes up happy except her right hind leg is "asleep". This is happening nearly all the time now. If you rub the leg, it takes less time for her to be able to put weight on it but if you leave her alone, the leg is like a dead weight for a few minutes. Sometimes, when you rub the leg on a certain place, the dog will react but not always.
Its hard to know if she's even in any pain...... I'm calling the vet today as its been about a week since we've noticed.....Any ideas????
(PS, she's eating, sleeping, playing..)
WSW.... I too am wearing sweaters, heavy sweats, etc, etc. A storm came in last night which made the house feel damp. I pushed the thermostat up and it did make a real difference but I need to figure out more ways to keep that thermostat lower.
Silver, I know you have reading to do for school, I have promised myself reading or internet research every day as long as I get other 'chores' done too. I've also promised myself naps....
*****
On another note, I wrote yesterday about a 62 yr old friend of mine with a brand new diagnosis of ostersporosis...... she had two cracked vertabrae "repaired" ( I don't know the medical term) and then a 3rd broke during her recovery. She has no family history of osteo, but did smoke nearly 35 yrs and as far as I know, only drinks milk once a day. In her youth and up until her 30's, she danced and taught dance and "tumbling"; every summer, she is outside teaching swimming .....
I always considered her lifestyle "active" so I was shocked at her diagonosis and the severity.....
She has begun taking the med that Sally Fields promotes.......
I did some reseach and see that there is theory now that studies seem to prove a direct correlation to the less estrogen, the harder it is to process calicium to make new bone......
All the info about strength training, etc, suddenly has a brand new point of view for me. WOW.... things sure do look different from this angle!!!
Anyone taking additional Vitamin D or another "bone" product???
*******************
*******************
Thought of the day:
"When you aim for perfection. you discover it's a moving target."
George Fisher
Turkey Day is coming up quick and as a result many of us will soon be overrun with leftovers. Reusable storage containers are an eco-friendly option for storing them, but when something needs to be wrapped or there's a lid missing is aluminum foil or plastic wrap the better choice?
Aluminum foil wins by a mile. Although there certainly is an environmental impact made during its creation, aluminum foil is almost 100% recyclable whereas plastic wrap also negatively impacts the environment during production but then isn't recyclable after use and can only end up in the landfill.
The catch? Make sure you do actually recycle the foil after you take it off the cold turkey!
arabella- hope you are back to feeling 100% by now. the way you get out in the cold, even when you don't feel tip-top inspires me.
kat-enjoyed reading your answers to the questions.
ceara-walking in cold weather is very impressive. the longjohns are such a good idea too. i need to check some out.
anagram-so glad this second procedure also went well! hooray!
kaylets-glad you're feeling better now. hope you are enjoying your holiday week. also hope royal beagle's leg is ok. i love beagles! they are so cute.
andria-glad that you have this week off for the holiday. hope you and family are enjoying the time together.
my friend left for bangkok this morning. there are protests at the airport and it has been shut down. i know he will be re-routed, or whatever, and i'm sure he is fine. the trip was scheduled to take from this morning until tomorrow evening, so he isn't even scheduled to arrive there til tomorrow night. have to admit though, will feel better when i hear from him.
kaylets, i'm sitting in my 2 sweathshirts as i write this. have a feeling this is going to be a long, cold winter. tomorrow, i am going to look for some longjohns. i got some nice, snuggly new gloves yesterday, which are great.
had a nice weekend--a small tea here on sunday afternoon, and out to dinner with some other friends sunday evening (same friends whose home i will be going to for thanksgiving.) ate pretty daintily this weekend, fortunately. am sticking to plan, even though i somehow think because it so cold i should get to eat more.
i did hear from my friend. he is in tokyo, where his connecting flight to bangkok was of course canceled until things have been resolved at their airport. in the meantime, he will remain in tokyo until he can get in to thailand. it made me feel better to hear from him.
i woke up at 4am and was cold , so got up to bundle up even more and got online. glad that i did because there was an email from my friend. now, of course, i have been up so long, that i will just have to throw in the towel and stay up. i have an appointment this morning, so trying to snooze for a little while doesn't seem to be an option. sleeping is just not my best event. ok, so i am up for the day. i will have some nice warm oatmeal and tea for breakfast and continue with dainty portions throughout my day. being sleepy or cold will not be excuses for me to go off my plan. nuh-uh!! i am committed. the scale will glide ever downward.
well, hope everyone has a pleasant day. take care, lovely roayls.
WSW--- I can relate to waking up cold! Sometimes I try to stay under the covers as long as I can but invariably, nature calls!!
I did notice yesterday when I was washing the floor, I needed to take a layer off....I guess my lesson there is there's more than one reason to declutter.
As for the dog, the vet suspects a partial tear in a ligament or the miniscis ( spellling?)..... Dog got a shot and a course of pills of an antiinflammatory. 2 hours after the shot, dog was running cheerfully around so we hope we continue to see improvement. Luckily, both hips show full range of motion and the only obvious sign of tiny bit of arthritis is in a front "wrist".
So, we won't be roughhousing for awhile and I've put a clothes rack in the tub to keep the dog from jumping in. She likes to lick the tub right after someone's showered but we noticed the back leg doesn't cooperate when she jumps in....
DH is home today unexpectedly which means I have to 'blend' my schedule with his ..........hmmmmm..........
We do have sun so far this morning which means I need to get in front of the window or outside to get some Vitamin D!!!
****************
Thought of the day:
"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect.
It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections."
Question of the day:
"What is the best Thanksgiving dinner?"
****************
I'll try and poke my head in later to see what's going on....
I'm recovering slowly but feeling better than I was. Very tired today but that's, I'm sure, partially because I worked 12 hours yesterday. AND didn't manage to get away for a walk. I'm going to get out soon, walk DH to work (extra incentive: I'm out of ).
We've had very wintery weather since Friday but it's warming up again. Supposed to be above freezing for a few days to come at least. I'm thankful for the reprieve! I'm going to try to take it a little easy today, putter at the house. DGS is coming after school and I've got writing group tonight.
K, I've walked, done a little work and coffee's on -- thank goodness! :coffee3:
WSW, your weekend sounded lovely. Kudos to you for eating daintily through two social eating events I've been hungry this week -- maybe that's what it is, my body trying to lay in stores so I can hibernate. Sounds good! Unfortunately, I don't think I can get away with it.
Kaylets, your friend's diagnosis is shocking -- osteoporosis is pretty scary stuff. My ex's mom broke bones just by walking into doorframes.
We take calcium and vitamin D -- from the news, it looks like D is crucial for those of us who live far from the equator. We keep the thermostat around 20 (68F) in the day time and put it down to about 15 at night.
Kat, did you have laser surgery? I'd love to get rid of my glasses and lenses. When I was self-treating with Reiki regularly, my eyesight improved to the point that I didn't need them at the computer. But then I slacked off and lost the improvement again. I'm trying to get back into the habit of self-treating. I feel like, if there was that much improvement to something so measurable, there would likely be all kinds of improvements that didn't lend themselves to being noticed quite as easily.
Ceara, yeah, we got a couple feet of snow on the weekend. It's supposed to be mild and rain, though, so it should be gone again soon. Have you caught up to that wagon yet? I'm doing better, although not perfect yet. Why can't I be one of those people who loses their appetite when they're sick?
Anagram, Andria
K, I'd better get some work done. Let's make this a good one!
Good Morning!
And she won't need chemo or radiation. 
s!!
Friday night!
and tai chi in the a.m. Assuming I'm up to running, that is. O/w, I'll walk over to tai chi and call it exercise. 
May your days be merry and bright throughout. 
Looking at Christmas mags and seeing what my Chickies are up to. When I realized that I had to get my posterior in gear and head out if I wanted to get to tai chi. 
are appearing in the neighbourhood....and of course the stores have had stuff since August 
Your Gym Jim sounds intense, but you are working it, girl! 
Another inspiration for me! BTW, thank you for offering Tony up for free medical advice!! Who needs WebMd? 
). 
I've been hungry this week -- maybe that's what it is, my body trying to lay in stores so I can hibernate. Sounds good! Unfortunately, I don't think I can get away with it. 
