[Bobbolink]

~GOLDEN GIRLS~

We are about Fitness and Quality of Life after 50...
We are about Fun and Friendship after 50...
We are the Golden Girls...

There is Value in us
There is Power in us
There is Wisdom in us
And Laughter....
We are a rainbow of unique wonders,
There is love in us.
(poem by Dorothy Holmes)

Tell us a little about your life, family and goals. What keeps you motivated? What is the best thing that's happened to you since you pasted the 50 mark?
Friends laugh, cry and stand by each other, we'll be that to you!

[Bobbolink]

Good Morning Girls!
Today I'll be back on my calories counting plan and will change my weight when the sun comes up and get back to posting daily. We've have a summer from Heck, yesterday we had MIL auction and we had heavy rains all day long. I was soaked to the bone, my toes looked like raisins when I took my shoes off yesterday afternoon. We got the house sold and 60+ years of "junk". We didn't want MIL there but she insisted. She cried the whole time! I've put quite a bit of weight on in the last 2 months while trying to box up all her stuff for the auction and moving MIL THREE TIMES, FURNITURE AND ALL. Bruce and I will both be so glad to get back into the groove of taking care of ourselves, our acreage and our critters. (1 black cat, 6 Orpington chicken and our sweet English Setter Charlie.) He went 10 1/2 hours yesterday in the house with no potty break. He did good, he was so excited to see us that he greeted for for a few minutes before he went outside to do his thing. I was too wound up to go to sleep, maybe I'll try now and get my weight "thingy" changed in the morning after I weigh in.
Bobbi

[meowee]

Okay, Chickies . . . welcome to OCTOBER . . . I love this month. Let's all try to make it one of our best ever.

Glad to see you back BOBBI and glad to hear that life finally looks like it will settle down again for you. You have certainly had a hectic time of it, girl.

I'm promising myself that I will get moving this month -- as many of you know I really abhor exercise. But I think my magnificently quick weight loss this year (13 pounds in 9 months - give me a break ) reflects the fact that I've come as far as I can without getting into a regular exercise routine. Soooooo, yesterday I ordered two new 'toys' . . .

(1) . . . http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/pr...929_TonyLittle
(2) . . . http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/pr..._070929_UrbanR

Now all I have to do is (well, wait for them to arrive in a couple of weeks) use them. Actually, as I was doing a little bouncing around with my new "Buddy Ball" (replaced the one that sprung a leak), I was looking around my family/sun room and wondering where on earth I thought I was going to put all this stuff. Will just have to make room, because I know myself well -- out of sight definitely means out of mind.

Hope you are planning another challenge thread for this month, LYNN . . . because this time I actually want to participate.

Anyway . . . weather is not exactly bright and shiny for the start of the new month, but hopefully it will improve. Temperature is a very chilly -1C/30F, but that is supposed to go to 17C/63F. We'll just have to wait and see what really happens, I guess.

Better get a move on, many places to go and things to do. Hope everybody has a great fun kind of day planned . . . see you later . . . :wave

[ladyinweighting]

Good Morning Everyone,

Bobbi! I am SOOOO happy to have you back with us.

Hi Linda, Sure - I'll post an October thread right now.

Happy October 1!
Here's to a Happy and Healthy month for all of us.

Lynn

[ladyinweighting]

And the WINNERS are --

Karen and Lynn. We posted our data everyday during the month of September.

Prizes will be awarded shortly!

Lynn

[femmecreole]

Good morning everyone! And happy Oct. 1st!
It's a beautiful cool morning here...very welcomed after the heat we've had this summer.
I know I've been MIA, but it has been unreal here...too much work, too little time. I finally took a little time off in the afternoons over the weekend to get some fun time in and some "chore time" in. Have a lot of catching up to do in every direction...
Had a very busy weekend of going on a "field trip" with some friends to some lovely gardens in Baton Rouge and helping my son and his GF take his room apart, throwing away bags of stuff, rearranging the furniture and putting together the platform bed we got him for his birthday.

Yesterday morning, I went to walmart to get some groceries. (BTW, I discovered the marinated turkey breasts...wonderful grilled!) I saw a pair of pants and a henley shirt that would be good for school and debated on grabbing the 12's or 10's. I wishfully grabbed the 10's...tried them on a few minutes ago and they fit like a charm...woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I'll make my goal by Christmas!

[ellabella]

Well, good morning all and happy October! I, for one, certainly feel the need for a fresh start! Bobbie, I am SO glad to see you back! Not glad, of course, that all the MIL stress (and hard darned work!) made you pack some of those pounds back on, but sure am glad to have you back with us, anyway. Knowing you, you’ll have those pounds gone before you know it. But now, having you back, we GG’s are ourselves again! It was SUCH a happy surprise to see your posts this morning! Perked me right up (and I’d only had half a cup of coffee, so that was really saying something!)
I spent Saturday shopping with my DD3 and her MIL, (who is much nicer than yours, Bobbi) - My DD3, for those who weren’t aware of it, has just turned 30 - the BIG three-oh - and a big party was planned for Saturday night that we wanted to be a complete surprise for her. So, her MIL and I took her shopping and out for an elegant lunch - had a really, really good day together, and I walked my legs off. DD3 had gained about 25 pounds over the past few years, and recently took them off using Weight Watchers. The last time we went shopping together was a really horrible experience because she couldn’t find a thing that looked good on her, and was feeling really depressed and miserable by the time we got home. On SATURDAY, though, everything she tried on looked just awesome, and between her MIL and I, we bought her practically an entire winter wardrobe for her birthday, complete with shoes and boots. Spent a fortune, but it was well worth it to see her so happy with everything. Her favorite food is Thai, so we went to a very posh Thai restaurant for a late lunch, and of course were able to choose very diet-conscious plates for ourselves, which made us all feel very virtuous (at least diet-wise) after having spent all that money. We got back to her house at @ 4:30, and I wanted to get home, take my bath and get ready for the party (DD3 had been told that her MIL & FIL were taking them out for a birthday dinner - and they were planning to just bring her to the party, which would, of course, come as a complete surprise). But DD3 had been sure all week that “something was up” and had been going from one to the other of us (me, her sisters, her husband, her daughter) saying that one of the others had “spilled the beans”, so whichever of us she was taking to just “might as well” tell her what was going on. But we were all SO clever about it, and not one of us gave in. So, by Saturday afternoon when we got back to her house and I was about to leave, she said, “But Mum, if you’re not going out to dinner with us tonight, why can’t you just stay for a while and have some coffee with us?” So I HAD to, of course, in order to preserve the “surprise” and then had to really rush when I finally DID get home just to get ready and get there on time. And she really WAS surprised! So that was really great! The movie presentation that DD2 put together was just awesome - had everybody crying and laughing simultaneously - it was just terrific! Okay, the BAD thing about that darned party was that I OVERATE after being so good during the day and all. The thing is that I don’t buy mushrooms (although I really, really love them) because DH is allergic to them. And they had stuffed mushrooms that were being passed around (with all manner of other tasty finger foods) before we had the sit down dinner, and I just couldn’t resist them. Must’ve eaten seven or eight - heck, maybe TEN of them - I wasn’t keeping count at all. AND I had a piece of the darned BIRTHDAY CAKE, and my old sugar addiction kicked right in, of course. I didn’t eat any more cake....it was pretty late by the time they even served the cake, so we went home not long after. But YESTERDAY...whoaaaah! I felt sick all morning from all those mushrooms, I was exhausted from all the walking through stores from 10:00 to 3:00 and then being up “partying” way past my bedtime, and went back to sleep until around 3:00 in the afternoon (after having gotten up at 8:00 and spent the morning in the bathroom). When I got back up at 3:00, I felt loads better and was HUNGRY! Ate a big bowl of Fiber One cereal with raisins in it, and then ate a bunch of other stuff I shouldn’t have. No sweets (although I probably would have if I’d had any here) but a LOT of food, anyway. Felt like a stuffed pig last night when I went to bed. Nothing BAD, exactly...just a LOT of food that I really didn’t need.

So, I, for one, am SO GLAD that it’s a new month so that I can start fresh!

Until tomorrow when my sister arrives from North Carolina. The sister who “can’t wait to get some fried clams!” Omigawd. Well, my INTENTIONS are pure, I swear! I really don’t plan to come crawling back in here a week from tomorrow any heavier than I am today. I certainly ought to be able to restrain myself for a darned week, right? We’ll be going down to Newport, RI on Thursday and staying through Monday. AND I WILL EAT ONLY MY ALLOTTED WW POINTS!

Phyl, it’s probably a good idea - not looking at Ohio properties just yet, I mean. It’s hard not to LOOK, though, right? We’re not even planning a move anytime soon, and I keep checking out “retirement properties” and hollering for DH to come look, and I KNOW he’s getting really tired of saying, “Yes, that looks great, but don’t you think we should wait and see what’s on the market when we’re really ready to buy?” I think we might buy something as early as a year from now - but that’s a YEAR away, so what’s on the market now isn’t likely to be available then. And I KNOW this, but it’s SO hard not to look! Oh, I hope you like how the perm came out. I found a pic of me taken maybe seven or eight years ago when I had mine short & curly, and I really like it, but I just don’t know if I’ve got the courage to cut it short again. I’ve been kind of envisioning spending my old age with a long silver braid down my back. Might have to give that one up, though, since I haven’t had my hair long like that since I was a “flower child” in my twenties. I’m going to try to attach the pic of the short, curly-haired me (with my middle & youngest daughter) here, but I don’t know if I can.

Congrats, Karen, on yet MORE pounds gone! You rock, lady!
Hey, Oncethin - you could probably get that cream cheese in the FF variety; just keep track of how many you’re “dipping” and check out the nutritional values so you know what you’re getting. I really think awareness of what we’re eating is a big step towards eating better.
Meowee-Linda, your relationships with your exercise ball and scale are really comical. I must admit that there are times when my own scale feels like the monster from h*ll, but luckily I don’t own an exercise ball. I’m truly afraid that I’d end up kicking that sucker right out the door and into the street, hopefully to get run over by some unsuspecting motorist who would pulverize the stupid thing for me!
Marylynn! You & the DH are Zumba-ing, now? (What will this girl think up next? ) Sounds like great fun! Where did you FIND this guy, anyway? MY DH is a fine fellow indeed, but the thought of him Zumba-ing is actually pretty hilarious...come to think of it, the thought of ME Zumba-ing is a rather odd one, too. Have fun, though! (What's Zumba-ing, anyway? )
Oh, Ellen! So very sorry about the dog! I guess we’ve all been there, done that at one time or another and it’s never easy, is it? I’m glad your DD is going to be spending a little time with you.
Congrats on the pounds gone, Lynn...
And Hi and a happy week to you, Lyn!
You too, Ali. And LindaD - you KNOW I always love reading your posts from southern California, land of sunshine and "sonshine"...
Hugs to you, Tee...I guess you must be pretty tired. Drop in when you catch your breath.
I’m home today, but I’ve got to give this place a top-to-bottom cleaning to get ready for my sister tomorrow.

TTFN,
Z

Oh, shoot! The picture is too big! I have to hunt down that website or whatever it is that lets you make it smaller. Either that or wait & send it when DH gets home from work. He knows how to do that stuff. Have a good day, GG's!!!

[aleka]

Happy October everyone!

We have had a couple of wonderful days. Yesterday it was so nice we finally shut off the a/c and opened up the house. It was so nice breathing fresh air. On our morning walk today was so pleasant. There was a nice breeze and no humidity.

I didn't do very well the last few weeks of Sept., so decided that I would try again in Oct. But, my gf is coming on Wed. and will be here for 2 weeks, so I will not be joining the Oct. challenge. If I do decide to join, it won't be until the 15th.

Congratulations Karen & Lynn on winning the Sept. challenge.

Cat, a size 10!!! That's fantastic!!!!

Hi to all the GOLDEN GIRLS!

Enjoy your day.
Ali

[floridarusty]

Well Happy October Golden Girls....I hope you all will enjoy the fall leaves for me and Ali!

Zoe, sounds like a wonderful day and surprise for your dd. I sure do miss being closer to mine and doing things like that but I will see her for a week Oct. 20.....I have to go look for a bathing suit.....Yikes I sure hate that really have to look at this FAT body but I am smaller than 4 mths. ago so progress!
Have a wonderful visit with your sister Zoe....don't worry so much what you eat just enjoy her.

Bobbi my dear glad to have you back again. We have missed you. Sorry about your terrible summer and hopefully you can lose your weight again quickly.

Lynn & Karen congrats on winning the challenge, I'll try to do the Oct. one but with all my relatives being here for about 2 wks. will really not help or give me a lot of time. Lynn glad your class is almost over and Karen let us know how it's going when you can.

Cat good to hear from you too...I have one of those marinated turkey rolls almost every week....yep grilled is the way to fix them. I think I found them last year. Did you get the teaching position? Nice you had some time off to get caught up.

Linda, you sound like me....if I don't leave my tennis shoes out for walking right in the family room where I trip over them I would never walk! lol I only have one pd. to drop and I will be back at my ticker so I'm not changing it as I plan to lose that this week. Having relatives coming really motivates one.

Marylynn your putting us to shame with all that dancing!!! It sounds like so much fun. My dh & I love to dance, he is quite good and I try to keep up!

Gayle, how about a picture of that new baby! We would love to see Maddy.

It's a cloudy, windy day here so no pool again, losing this tan quickly. We are taking a ride over to the beach later as the waves are suppose to be large.

Making a grd. beef stroganoff for dinner tonight.....not many calories and fills me up quickly....my son will "steal" the left overs he loves it.

Y'all have a good day, Phyllis

[lynard21]

Just a quick stop to wish all of my GG friends a happy October. Just read all of the october posts so far...Good to hear from you Bobbi! Sounds like the worst is over for you and you MIL auction/sale etc.

Cat...great news on the size 10 outfit!!!

Zoe, I'm so glad the surprise party was a hit. I'd like to keep that in mind for my DD who just turned 26 last month...the photo slide show must have been awsome. Don't worry about over eating just one day.

Meowee - you go get em girl...lots of new exercise toys to play with.

Phyllis - sending you cool weather from NYS - although it has been unusually warm here!

Ali - have fun with your GF...but stay healthy too

Well...back to work now..

Lyn

[Bobbolink]

Good Morning again Girls!
I'm starting over with a new tracker and a different picture. This was taken at "Snap" fitness center, you can clearly see all my 62 years of wrinkles.
Thanks for the warm welcome back everyone.
It's so good to be back in the groove again, thanks Zoe, I did pack on 19 pounds! We never, ever eat fast foods and that's what we've eaten for the last two months. We've both been driving into town most days and that's a 20+ mile trip, too costly to run home and eat plus we just didn't have the time.

stress (and hard darned work!) made you pack some of those pounds back on, but sure am glad to have you back with us, anyway. Knowing you, you’ll have those pounds gone before you know it. But now, having you back, we GG’s are ourselves again!

Yes, I WILL take it off quickly!
Lynn: Thanks for setting up the new challenge, it's always good to start fresh at the beginning of a new month.
Cat: Congrats on the size 10, you go girl!
Phyllis: I have a joke about trying on swimsuits, It'll give all us a laugh. I'll post it when I find it.

Hi to all you newbies that I haven't met yet, I've not posted much or kept up with all the news.

Bobbi

[Bobbolink]

The Joys of Swimsuit Purchases

This true story was written by a woman in England to her
friend after a swimsuit shopping expedition.

'I have just been through the annual pilgrimage of torture
and humiliation known as buying a bathing suit.

When I was a child in the 1950's, the bathing suit for a
woman with a mature figure was designed for a woman with a
mature figure - boned, trussed and reinforced, not so much
'sewn' as 'engineered'. They were built to hold back and
uplift, and they did a good job.

Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the pre-pubescent
girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.

The mature woman has a choice:- she can either go to the
maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt,
coming away looking like a hippopotamus who escaped from
Disney's Fantasia, or she can wander around every
run-of-the-mill department store trying to make a sensible
choice from what amounts to a designer range of fluorescent
rubber bands.

What choice did I have?

I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the
chamber of horrors known as the fitting room.

The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile
strength of the stretch material. The Lycra used in bathing
costumes was developed, I believe, by NASA to launch small
rockets from a slingshot, which give the added bonus that
if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you are
protected from shark attacks. The reason for this is that
any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would
immediately suffer whiplash.

I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the
shoulder strap in place, I gasped in horror - my bosom had
disappeared! Eventually, I found one bosom cowering under
my left armpit. It took a while to find the other. At last
I located it flattened beside my seventh rib.

The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups.
The mature woman is meant to wear her bosom spread across
her chest like a speed hump.

I realigned my speed hump and lurched toward the mirror to
take a full view assessment.

The bathing suit fitted all right, but unfortunately, it
only fitted those bits of me willing to stay inside it. The
rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom, and
sides. I looked like a lump of play-dough wearing
undersized cling wrap.

As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come
from, the pre-pubescent sales girl popped her head through
the curtains, 'Oh, there you are!' she said, admiring the
bathing suit...I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked
what else she had to show me.

I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a
lump of masking tape , and a floral two-piece which gave
the appearance of an oversized napkin in a serviette ring.

I struggled into a pair of leopard skin bathers with a
ragged frill, and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane
pregnant with triplets and having a rough day.

I tried on a black number with a midriff and looked like a
jellyfish in mourning.

I tried on a bright pink pair with such a high cut leg I
thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear them.

Finally, I found a suit that fitted... a two-piece affair
with shorts style bottom and a loose blouse-type top. It
was cheap, comfortable, and bulge-friendly, so I bought it.

My ridiculous search had a successful outcome.

When I got home, I found a label that said,

material will become transparent in water......

Bobbi

[ellabella]

Well, it just took me an hour and a half to clean the "guest" bathroom (which is really MY bathroom, because I mostly sleep in the guest bedroom because of DH's snoring.) I'm having a well-deserved (according to me, anyway...) cup of coffee and pondering which room to attack next. Probably the kitchen. I like to get all the scrubbing done first...somehow feels like I've accomplished more that way...when the kitchen and bathrooms are really shining, I mean.
Oh gawd, Bobbi...yeah to that bathing suit story. I thought (yeah, right!) that I was going to be a twig again this summer (after starting this "lifestyle change" in April) and bought myself one of those lycra jobs in navy blue with a very chic wrap and coordinating flip flops. Man, I was going to look soooo good on the beach... I mean, really turning heads, with people saying, "Whoah...who's SHE????" Well. Look at my freaking tracker. 23 pounds and I come to a dead stop. I try WW's and lose another pound. THEN, try the WW's "Wendie" plan and lose two more, and "Thaaaaas all, folks!" So, needless to say, I never did get to the beach to show off my new body because I've still got the old one - minus a few pounds, but definitely no twig! Blah! So this is a new week. Yeah. And my sister is going to be wanting seafood - fried clams, etc., etc. - well, hopefully I'll be able to use good judgment and not gain back the 26 pounds!
Oh, Bobbi, you look GREAT in that picture! Your hair is just gorgeous! Wanna compare wrinkles????? Betcha I'd win for having the most!!!!
Okay, back to the heavy cleaning. Ack.

Z

[Karen31]

Good Morning everyone!! Bobbi, Thanks for getting us up and running this month! Glad to see you back! And I love your new picture!!! That is just great! I'm sure the weight will come off real quick you are so motivated and work hard!!

I had a really frustrating weekend!! The people that were supposed to show up to see the house never showed! AGAIN! And then I got an email from them offering us less than we paid for it 3 years ago!! They have never even came to see it -- only saw the pictures in the ad. So needless to say I sent an email back and told them that there is no way we could go that low and if their situation changes to get in touch with us! So I'm really going to try hard to put this past weekend behind me and jsut move foreward!!

So I'm really going to concentrate very hard on just getting myself in better shape and try not to stress so much about the house anymore.

Lynn, Thanks for setting up the challenge again this month. I really enjoyed it this past month and it gives me something else to concentrate on besides selling the house!

Cat-- Congrats on the size 10!! That must have made you feel wonderful!! I know I can hardly wait to get there!

Zoe, sounds like your surprise party went wonderful! We are anxious to see pictures!

Meowee-- I tried to click on the links that you sent but I can't get anywhere with them. I figured the one is the urban rebounder but what did you get from Tony Little-- is it a gazelle? I was just wondering. I've been watching craigslist to get a used one CHEAP!!

Phyllis, How are you doing? Anything new on your condo? Try not to get frustrated BUT it is very hard!!

Lyn, Ali, and to you!

Gayle, I with everybody else-- can't wait to see a picture of Madison!! How are you doing?

Marylynn, What is Zumba?? I doubt if I could get my hubby off the couch to do it though. We used to go out dancing a lot but for some reason have fell in to a rut-- long before he was terminated from his job in April so it feels pretty stagnent around here!! But that is a whole other story!!!

Well, guess I better get going and get a little done and then I want to get some walking in--- don't know if I will use WATP's or the treadmill. Who knows I may get real energetic and do both!!

Have a great day and I'll be back later.

[meowee]

Silly things worked this morning . . . Karen . . .
try this . . . http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/pr...P_DATE_CREATED and this . . . http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/pr..._070929_UrbanR
I think The shopping Channel moved something around? Anyway, if it still doesn't work . . . yes it is the Tony Little Sprint Master Gazelle, the newest of his 'stable'.

Bobbi . . . hilarious story, Chickie . . . BTW, was there meant to be something else at the top of your post that didn't "take"? Can I help?