Hi, all. Good luck on WW, Hal. Oh--I think you'll love Reading Lolita in Teheran. I think it will be a real classic.
Shad--we know you're on the other side of the world--still it's hard to imagine the hot weather.
Reading Why French Women don't get fat. Anyone else read it?
Hi chickies. THings have been getting difficult for me in the past few weeks. My mother has been getting weaker and weaker and eventually she was unable to stand on her feet and so I was at my wits end as to what to do in the middle of this week. I had been given a hoist to help lift my mother but it really need 2 people using it. So on Wed morning I was phoning the District Nurse, the Social worker and the doctor. By midday they had decided to give me some help. So I have 2 carers coming in 4 times a day to change mum and get her up in the morning and put her to bed at night. It is such a relief. I thought she was going to have to go into hospital but I believe it is cheaper for the Health Service to so it this way. It is brilliant ....... I just have to feed her and wash her clothes etc.,
I have found a brilliant CD ........ well I think it is brilliant. It was recorded in Ireland but I actually got it quicker and cheaper from America. I am not particularly religious but I love the inspirational songs on this cd. I have now got the dvd of the concert and it is even better. It makes me feel so much better. I have the dvd playing all day for my mother.
If any of you are interested I will try this link for Amazon and if you scroll down the page you can click on each song and hear a little of it.
Anne,
I am so sorry to hear that your mother is deteriorating so much. But good going on getting the help you and she needs to keep her home with you. Always better that way for everyone. I hope you are managing to get some rest and relaxation as well for yourself.
I tried you link. The songs look wonderful. I couldn't get the samples to work unless I saved them to my computer. So I will have to have another look at it later to see what gives.
Catch up again soon. This thread is quiet at the moment. Guess all the girls are busy getting on with their lives.
It's been such a busy week. Went back to work on wednesday and have been running all week. I'm so ready for the weekend. I have taken down most of my Christmas, it's boxed up and some in the garage, ready to be put up in attic.
Mooz - So sorry to hear about your Mother. I will definitely keep you all in my prayers. I'm glad that you are able to get some help.
Shad - We are in dire need of rain too. It's so dry here and the winds have been terrible. For several days we have been under fire alerts. They have banned all outdoor burning, BBQing with charcoal grills, welding, mowing, etc. Anything that can cause a spark.
Cat - Keep us informed on your reading. Why don't they get fat?
Nita - I think your Ohio team won. How is your vertigo? Hope your feeling better.
As for me, trying to get back in the groove of things. The treadmill is back in the living room, but haven't used it yet. This week I focused on drinking more water. And did a pretty good job. Next week, it's the treadmill.
Mooz--glad you could get the help for your mother. We have a service that comes in and helps DMiL, and it is a blessing.The link worked--but incidentally, I think if we don't make it a "live" link, the program couldn't find it. (You could put in "annehaehlatdragonsdoorstepdotcom."
The French women don't get fat because they enjoy very good food in moderate quantities, lots of fruits and veggies, and moderate but regular exercise. I just can't picture going to the market a couple of times a week, though, but maybe it would be worth it.
I have to agree this has been a busy week for me too. It seems when I go to the office on Thursdays I am always putting in 9 or more hours.
Mooz --I, too, am happy to see you have some assistance with your Mother. I can understand from having to deal with Gene not being able to do too many things for himself. I am still playing hardball with him and he seems to be doing a lot better.
Has anyone heard of the disease Dyspepsia? I found it on the internet when I was searching for stomach problems. I really don't have acid reflux or heartburn my stomach just seems to blow up after my evening meal and I have to take Pepcid AC or some other kind of drug. One of the drug companies is doing a study on this disease and are asking for volunteers to participate in a five-week program. All the tests are free and they end up even paying you $250 to participate. I believe you have to go for five visits to the doctor. However, the second time you have to have one of those scopes run down your throat to check your stomach. You, of course, are asleep when this is done and there is no preparation like the colonoscopy. They also do some blood tests as well. The person who interviewed me over the phone said if I would like at the end they would send all the test results to my Primary Care doctor. I really think if I could find out what is causing this problem I definitely could get back on program and get back to goal. I am still going to my exercise class and today we had the instructor who gives you a complete 60-minute workout. At the time we are doing it I sometimes feel a few aches but afterwards I feel 100 percent better!
I also talked to our main person at the Y and asked her if we could have a meeting room for 30 minutes before one of our classes for those of us who would like to participate in a weight losing program. She said she would check this out and she would book the room for the rest of the year. I volunteered to organize the group!
Well I had better get moving--I have to find out who gets kicked off "Dancing with the Stars!
Nita - I have not heard of dyspepsia. The research study sounds kind of interesting. I guess I would check with my primary care and see what he thinks. Have you look into "IBS" or Irritible Bowl Syndrom? I have that. My stomach tends to bloat too, but I noticed it more when I drink milk. I have the colonoscopy and also the scope down my throat. They never found anything and diagnosed me with IBS. I also get heartburn alot.
Cat - Ok, you said the key words "MODERATION" that seems to be my problem when I eat sweets or snacks.
Just woke up, going to get some cleaning done, pay bills etc. Hope everyone is having a good day!
I had only read of dyspepsia in Victorian novels--vaguely for any not-acute stomach ailment. But looking it up now, I see it is a medical term for plain old indigestion. I'd say give the study a try.
I haven't been posting much as I have been dealing with a DB with a gambling habit and trying to get him to see sense. It is not working very well! Very despressing. Tonight he has asked me to go to a counselling session with him so I guess I will do that for him, although after yesterdays little session I wouldn't mind just getting into bed and pulling the covers over my head and telling the world to go away.
I have a couple of weight loss challenges going on in other threads. One is to drink the water 2 litres or more per day. This isn't that difficult in our summer as it is hot and humid and not all that nice at the moment. However I seem to be retaining some fluid as I see I am up in weight from end of December. It's not what I am eating which is mostly fruit and salads with small amounts of meat and bread. It has to be fluid retention despite the diuretic tablets I take. None of what I am eating has added salt either. This is giving me the proverbial pain. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be pleased.
The other challenge is food portion control. I think I am doing pretty well with that one as I have been following LindaT's pattern of organising the food for the week and freezing the portions (apart from the veges that is) It does make it easier to control how much I have at one sitting.
Exercise is still 4 days of 1 hour and 1 day at 2 hours at the gym. It's a lot easier now that I am not working. I can fit it in at anytime that suits. In between times and the rain, I am working here on the house and the garden. With all this activity I should be losing something surely!
1day - you may be lactose intolerant. I had that while I was going through menopause. Milk and it's by products caused me some awful moments. When I switched to soy products I had no further problems and sailed through the menopause with 2 hot flushes and that was it. No headaches, no bloating, no indigestion, no mood swings. I can now eat dairy again quite happily. Worth thinking about.
Nita - dyspepsia is just an old fashioned term for indigestion as oneday said. Do you eat a lot of fried, oiled or greasy stuff? I shouldn't think you do. Maybe you have a lactose intolerance as well. Indigestion from milk was chronic in my situation - see above. Check with your doctor before going on any study in case it interferes with any other medication you may be on.
Well done on organising a weight loss group at the gym. However you may find you are the organiser, carer, boss, etc.etc. with all the pain of developing the thing. Having been the president of a weight loss group previously I know that so much falls on the shoulders of the main person - ie the organiser. If I can be of any help let me know.
Cat - I would love to have some of those fresh food markets such as in France or Italy here. They are amazing places. You can buy absolutely anything there that is in season and it is all dug out of the ground that day or the day before - not weeks ago like we have them in supermarkets. They supply fish (at seaside places mostly) meat, veges, eggs, chickens and ducks - usually still alive - fruit and cheese at amazing prices and varieties. Maybe it doesn't sound as hygenic as the local butcher but then you don't hear of vast numbers of folk going down with gastro or salmonella or anything either. Many of the veg and fruit are organic so no pesticides or sprays there. Heat and eat. That's probably another reason why the French don't get so fat. Don't get me wrong, they do have the obese as we do, just not so many of them.
We tend to only have the farmers markets on Sundays and in odd places which means a drive to get there or a very early start in the morning to get the best of the goods. Supermarkets here may advertise them as fresh food people but quite frankly some of the fresh stuff looks very tired at times.
Okay, thats about it from me. I'd better go check out the other threads and get myself into gear. DB2 is taking up a good bit of my time, so I have to work on the other stuff before he gets here today.
I did it, I actually was brave enough to get on those scales in public. Oh my gosh, I almost drove away as I pulled into the church parking lot - where the WW meeting is held. I signed up for the longer term (15 weeks) getting a larger discount on the weekly fee and bought a start up kit with a few books with information that will guide me with the program requirements. So far, I have more points than I need. I have a feeling it is the newness of the program, and I'll see soon that I am making postivie changes. I eat what I had been (I am a healthy eater, choosing foods from the core plan naturally.). I think my problem is in portion control, and **dread** exercise!
Also, I may lower in point usage because my stomach has been upset the last 24 hours. I am not sure if it is my digestive tracks shocked reaction to foods with lots of fiber and nutrients or a stomach virus that has been going around our school for almost a month now. We shall see.
As I have charted my daily requirements for water and fruits and vegetable consumption - I see if I don't plan for them - they don't happen. So hopely with these changes I will see a loss. I like the idea of being in control of what and when I eat. I have a good friend that had the weight loss surgery a year ago. She had about 80 pounds to loose. She lost 50 and is stuck. She is upset, because now she has to still loose the last 20 pounds the old fashioned way. There is no escaping mother nature, huh girls?
School began on Wednesday, and it was pretty busy. I had lots to finish up, but honestly did it will little stress. Today I stayed in my PJ's because as I said, my stomach is acting up, and I just thought it best to take it easy. I'll tackle the real world tomorrow.
SHAD: Your exercise plan sounds heavenly. I think it must help you go through the stresses you are dealing with now. I've been reading/following the postings by the girl (Jacobsmommy) and her weight loss. She began posting (new on front page of the site) in November. It really helps to get different perspectives and experiences. She has a lot of weight to lose as I do and I think that motivates me to read about her success. My youngest brother is married to a girl that developed a gambling habit while they lived in Atlantic City. They moved to Philly, and she figured out how to take the train to Atlantic City and went by herself - coming home in the wee hours broke and penniless. He told me about a time she did not save train fare, and
he had to drive 3 hours to go get her, in the middle of the night and then go to work the next day. They moved to DC about a year ago, and the good news is she has not found a way to get to any casinos easily. I think with that move, things are settling down for them.
Funny story! I just gave Rocky a dog treat that came from a specialty shop for animals. It is a chocolate chip cookie for dogs. He was good, and did not bark back or raise the roof when my neighbors dog began his routine yelping in his back yard. This drives me nuts. Anyway, a good friend gave these to me over the holiday. She said her husband caught her her MIL (in from Hilton Head for the holiday) eating these cookies!!!!! She would not admit it to her, but he swore she ate atleast 2 of them. They look just like human cookies, and that is so funny. Anyway...
Nita: Who got kicked off? I fell asleep! My 12 hour day did me in. LOL. I really loved the last series. I guess I had better keep the VCR running. I've heard ginger is helpful for upset stomachs. I guess I should try some myself at the moment! I guess that may be why they use to give folks ginger ale and oranges for flu symptoms to stay hydrated and alievate the symptoms.
CAT: I've read the first 100 pages of Reading Lolita in Terhan. It is good! Very interesting at the very least. I think I'll read the book on why French women do not get fat. Let us know when you finish what you thought. You must be a quick reader - good for you. I have always been a slow reader. I took speed reading classes in high school, but still read slow. Oh well.
OneDay: I enjoyed using a treadmill while I belonged to the gym. You know, I have not gained as much weight as I thought I did, but my body size feels much larger. I think physically I was in much better shape. A few years of lack of regualr exercise also show results. I'll rejoin some type of gym at some point - but that is a longer term goal at the moment. Mini goals leading to the larger one, you have it down! How's Blackie? Did he get any Christmas toys/treats. Rocky is spoiled rotten. Today I told him his real name should be Rotten Rocky Road Ketchum. LOL
GREAT to hear from everyone! Have a really good week. I'll try to post some during the week.
Hi chickies ....... not much change here ....... just so glad to get help from the carers now.
Were any of you able to hear the songs in the link I gave? My favourite is Bright Blue Rose.
Got this in an e-mail today so I thought I would share it.
When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard.
My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.
When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me, I see a smelly, dirty person who probably wants money and I look away.
My kids see someone smiling at them and they smile back.
When I hear music I love, I know I can't carry a tune and don't have much rhythm so I sit self-consciously and listen.
My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words. If they don't know them, they make up their own.
When I feel wind on my face, I brace myself against it. I feel it messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk.
My kids close their eyes, spread their arms and fly with it, until they fall to the ground laughing.
When I pray, I say thee and thou and grant me this, give me that.
My kids say, "Hi God! Thanks for my toys and my friends. Please keep the bad dreams away tonight. Sorry, I don't want to go to Heaven yet. I would miss my Mommy and Daddy."
When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy shoes and dirty carpets.
My kids sit in it. They see dams to build, rivers to cross, and worms to play with.
I wonder if we are given kids to teach or to learn from? No wonder God loves the little children!
Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
I wish you Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions!!!
Just a quick note this Sunday evening. I have Desperate Housewives on. I've never watched this show, but everyone I know does, and I am asking myself 'What is the big deal?' Maybe I'll have to watch a few of them.
So far so GREAT for the WW plan. I found myself illin most of the weekend. I guess I must of had a touch of the stomach virus that has been going around the school. This morning I felt so much better, I knew it was not my imagination the last few days - not feeling so good. Anyway... kept me OP too. LOL
Mooz: Just after I entered my last post I noticed I forgot to say hello to you. Yes, I did listen to those songs, and really like them. Hey, Hal has a single being released in the states this week called "Just This Side of Heaven". For some reason the west coast has it, and has been playing it and word out it may be a hit for him. As I joke to my students, then he will have 2 fans. I guess I should say 3, since I've recruited you!
I started out okay by getting out there and sheeting up the furniture and fittings in the kitchen, dining room and lounge (in my wee house they are almost all one room) and getting all the stuff ready, plugged in and set up. Where's the sanding discs? Hunt high, hunt low, can't find 'em. Get in the car and go buy some more.
Get back put the disc on the sander, begin to sand. Disc flies off sander. Get down the ladder, put it back on, get up the ladder and begin to sand. Not long after the disc flies off the sander. Get down the ladder, get new disc, put it on, get back up the ladder, turn on the sander, sand approximately 2 minutes and the disc flies off the sander. Hmmmm, grrrrr, hmmm. Get in car, go to Hardware Heaven look for new sanding pad. Nope, says the bloke, don't stock 'em - yer might try Blackwoods. Where are they? Dunno mate, ask at the counter, they'll be able to tell ya. Ask at the counter, nobody knows and no-one can find a phone book. Come home, look up the white pages and then have a brilliant idea - look at deWalts website. Well it is easy if you spell it right and don't put a space between the words. Nearest deWalts store is in Hamilton out by the airport. 40 minutes drive down the tollway. idea, ring the contact number on the website. Hello, I'm looking for a sanding pad for a deWalt DW4162-au 115mm but I live way down on the southside, can you tell me who would stock them down here. They don't come in 115 luv! Yes they do, I'm looking at one. No they don't! Don't wish to be rude but this one is a 115. No it is not. Okay, I'll tell it it has a gender problem when I get off the phone, do you know where I can get one? Try Glenfords or Blackwoods. Okay, thanks.
Ring Blackwoods, they don't have one, but they will try to get one for me. Okay. Ring Glenford, Slacks Creek branch don't have one, but there is one at Archerfield. That'll do, thanks. Get in the car go up to Archerfield, get the pad - $36.00 thanks.
Come home, take the old pad off, fit the new pad. Fit the sanding disc - now smaller than the pad because the 115mm doesn't exist right? Get up the ladder and start the sander. Sanding disc flies off the pad after a few minutes. #$%^&%%$#$##%%#$
Fit the sanding disc again, this time putting it a bit off centre and ensuring it fits on at least one edge, get up the ladder and try again.
Yippee - it works. It works. IT WORKS. An hour later, the sander stops. It just stops! It won't go. I think it has burnt itself out. My sander is dead. Guess tomorrows little jaunt is to go get ANOTHER sander! I still have the mouse but it is not big enough to do this job. I didn't try it. I swept up, cleaned up, had a shower, got the cat's dinner and then had mine.
I don't think it is my day.
I'm now about to put together the shopping list for tomorrow. 1 new sander etc.etc.
Mooz - good to hear from you. I couldn't for some reason pick up the songs on the site. I've been meaning to go back and have another go, but as yet haven't gotten around to it. Thanks for showing us how it is through the eyes of a child again.
Hal - like you I started to watch Desparate Housewives but gave up after the second episode. I just couldn't get with it at all. Couldn't work out whether it was comedy or drama, but since it didn't seem to have canned laughter I guess it wasn't comedy.
Hope everyone else is doing okay. I'm still gymming, and drinking the water and watching the portions. Nothing much is happening tho except I run to the loo more often.
Shad--you made that into such a funny story, though I'm sure it was rough at the time.
Can someone start new thread?? We need a kick for the New Year!
Well, DSiL is going out of town on business (I think( and DBIL is going with her so we are filling in with DMiL. Which is fine, but just something else I hadn't planned for this week.
idea, ring the contact number on the website. Hello, I'm looking for a sanding pad for a deWalt DW4162-au 115mm but I live way down on the southside, can you tell me who would stock them down here. They don't come in 115 luv! Yes they do, I'm looking at one. No they don't! Don't wish to be rude but this one is a 115. No it is not. Okay, I'll tell it it has a gender problem when I get off the phone, do you know where I can get one? Try Glenfords or Blackwoods. Okay, thanks.
