Good Friday Morning all,

I had a fantastic time with my Dad and step mom. It was so nice to drive through snow all the way there on Monday and then getting there it was "SUNNY". I enjoyed it and went for walks daily. They live right on the Snake River. They own 50 acres and it is so beautiful. All of the geese and ducks are mating up and very noisy on the little island right in front of my parent's house. They have a family of otters living on the bank too. Just so much activity with birds and wild life. My dad is renting out his pasture to the neighbor who has his mules and horses in there and he brought over the brand new baby mule. I woke up on Thursday morning and was wondering what the dog was doing sitting right next to the horse in the pen and then it stood up. It was the baby mule. It was sitting on it's butt just like in the movies. So cute. I took some photos of it and will post one later today hopefully. I walked about 4 miles each day from the 31st until yesterday so that was such a great feeling to be able to walk so much without aching and getting tired. I did lots of quiet reflecting on last year's abiltiy to walk like that was, well honestly not possible. This time last year when I was at my Dad's I weighed between 494 pounds. I was just blown away. It actually hasn't been a year yet. On the 16th I was at 494. Less than a year and I have lost 216 pounds of me. I hadn't seen my step mom since I weighed 407 pounds so she was so happy for me and kept telling me how proud she was of me. She always mentioned that she has always been proud of me but for she is especially proud of me loosing so much weight. It felt so nice. So many things that I couldn't do last year like fitting into the seat belt in their car when we went for a ride to my uncle's house and this time it was a breeze! My Uncle is 85 years old and he is very old fashioned and reserved. He speaks with a darling Spanish accent and he told me I look so much better. For him that was a compliment. His son, my cousin is pretty much a carbon copy of his dad and he told me that I look...... pretty. lol. It was sweet. I just had a great time. My Dad told me that I sure do smile a lot more just like I used to. He stated calling me smiley. Just what I needed to pick up my spirits right now. I was so missing my dad.

Another thing is one of my Uncle's wife's passed away. My Unlce passed away in 1995 but, his wife recently passed away and my cousin wanted me to have my Grandpa's saddle. My Grandpa was Native American and he left the reservation in CA when he was 12 years old and went to work as a cowboy. He saved up and bought his own saddle. This is from the 1800's and it was given to me. It is in surprisingly good condition but the joy I feel of having something that belong to a man I have idolized just by the stories never having met him. He was 30 years older than my Grandma who was 102 when she passed away. Anyway, I'm rambling, lol. I am just so thrilled to have such a treasure as my Grandpa's saddle. I now have 5 saddles because my Dad gave me all of his. No horse. How silly is that. I love them all though. lol.

WEll, I will come back as soon as I can and do personals. I want to go get a walk in outside before it rains then jump on the bike. I set my goal in April up from 1300 to 2000 minutes for exercising. I am trying to beat my 18,000 minutes of exercise from last year and I am a bit behind so I need to bump it up some. Time to get the eye of the tiger back. I have been stuck at 278 for a few weeks now and need to get that number down.

Have a great day all and hugs if you need them.

Blessings,
Annie

Annie, I'm sitting here with a big smile on my face! I can just imagine your father's house, it sounds so beautiful, the sheer joy of living radiates from your every word, I'm so happy for you. It must be fabulous to see all your relatives and have them congratulate you on your losses, not to mention the saddle. Do you have any plans to get a horse of your own sometime in the (near) future?xxxxxx
I have stuff to do but a quick catch up on AMMI, her MIL is ill and she lives in the same county as me and has been admitted to the city hospital, 10 miles away from here. As I speak/type she is either on the train coming to Derby or already here, I'm sad her MIL is ill BUT so HAPPY that we will be able to meet up ahain, hopefully. I shall post pics if we get to see each other, I don't want to interfere in her 'family' time but I might have t INSIST, lol, on a meeting, even if it's a quick cup of coffeee.
Carol/gg what sort of car is it or are you still 'browsing'? I would be tempted; if finances allow; to get it NOW, I'm so impatient!!!lolxxxxx
xxxxxxsharon

Hi all!

Good news -- the cast is off! Now I'm in something called an air cast for a couple months (the doctor said that my physical therapist would "wean me off" of it over time). Yay! It feels sooooooooo weird to be walking around without the protection of the cast. Very naked and exposed! But I am excited :)

Have a great weekend!

walrus_ great news on getting the cast off! Dont want you to over do it so be careful .

annie_ glad you had a wonderful visit with your family.

sharon_ have a good lunch enjoy your visit.

catherine_ I cant wait to read your book!! Reading is one of my favorite things to do.

debi

Hi again, just spoke to Ammi, she's in Derby now & we're meting at 11 am tomorrow, can't wait! I don't have any 'real' friends, apart from my sis, so it's going to be great to see Ammi 'in person' & chat.
xxxxxxsharon

I'm up 2lbs. So yeah, the scale moved, just in the wrong direction. On the up side, it could be TOM knocking and I'm holding water, or it could just be that dang cheese and salami did me in. So, on to another WI in a week. I'm hoping it's TOM though and that is the reason I flaked out and ate that junk too. I didn't feel in control and that's why I went overboard. I'm talking maybe 6 oz. of salami and probably about the same for cheese. Time will tell.

Lauren, that's wonderful news!!! You guys are doing so very well.

Debi, that's a really cute idea for a game.
I hope it won't take too long to get the basement dried out.
Have fun trying on the clothes.

heather dw, just don't give up!

Bernice, I don't keep track on TDP anymore. Like you I got tired of trying to enter all the info about something I made homemade, and so I'm just back to doing my food journal by hand again. I do still do my graph each day though to see when I gain and lose which has been pretty interesting. So more power to ya for keeping up on TDP.

Carol, don't be too jealous...:lol: it's back to rain this morning. Although it's so nice to look outside and actually see the lawn the way it's suppose to be instead of all out of control. I have to transplant some of the seedlings already. The lettuce, cabbage, and radishes just sprouted like crazy. So I'll still have my hands in dirt today, just in alot smaller scale. My tomatoes, peppers and flowers are still not coming up. I hope it's the seeds and not me planting them. Usually I have a pretty green thumb.
Yeah, a white lab with mud, doesn't bode well. You want me to send my dogs so you can give them baths too?

Catherine, on your book, did you use a pen name? I can't wait for it to come out.
I hope your bloodwork comes out ok to where you can be around people again. That sucks that the doc is in the process of moving and you can't get in there to see him. If it's not one thing, it's another.

Annie, I love hearing about people's family history. I'm so glad that they see the big change in you. It is so amazing to look back just a year and see the differences in us. I feel the same as you. My truck seatbelt didn't fit me either, and now it's no trouble at all to get buckled up. Doing the lawns yesterday, I didn't even have to take a break inbetween. It felt so good and just makes me want to loose more and feel better. To have those saddles is such a great thing. Each will remind you of the person who gave them to you. I have little keepsakes too. I have my Dad's little shoes from when he was a baby still. My Nana had them and I got them when she passed. He's 79 this year so you can imagine how cute they were way back when. Little things like that mean so much. So I'm glad you got the saddles even if you don't have a horse.
I bet that baby mule is adorable. It sounds like a really beautful place that your parents live in. The trip sounded so wonderful and almost healing for you.

TheWalrus, YAY on getting out of the cast!!

Sharon, have a great time with Ammi and tell her hi for me!

Today I'm just going to try and finish my puzzle. Maybe clean out this craft closet but then again, I don't know since I have no containers to really organize it. Transplant my seedlings, and who knows what else. Gotta keep busy though.
Keep movin' and groovin'
Debbie

Hi chickies,

Just a quick drive through for now. I'm on my way out of the office to be a panelist at a film festival event, and will stay for festivities and one or two films...so will get back late tonight.

Congrats to the losers...there are lots of you these past few days.

Send my hugs to Ammi.

Annie - Hi! I LOVE your story! I'm so proud of you! And you go "smiley" - you deserve it!

CatherineM - Hi! I have been catching up, cause I have been off plan for awhile. Well anyways...........I am enjoying your posts.......am I understanding that you are or did write a book??? Wow! Thats so exciting! And, if I may add - you have lost over 200#!!!!!!!! Thats amazing and I bet you look like a totally different person! Good for you and if I can ask, how did you do it?
Keep up the good work and I am excited to get to know you better!


debimitch - prayers & hugs coming your way!!!!!:hug:

voodoo - hi! enjoy your visit with ammi! It'll be so nice I'm sure!

Hi BattleAx, hi Debbie54 and everyone else that I missed! I'm thinking about leaving (work) for the day and heading home. I think hubby & I will eat out. Have a great evening!

Debbie-I didn't use a pen name. I changed the names of the people involved, except the ones who are dead, so no one can sue me. I haven't been in court in a long time, and probably would have enjoyed it, but my husband didn't think it sounded as fun.

Annie-I love diving deep into family history. I always try to imagine myself living in their time, wondering how I would have stacked up.

Hi everyone, just a quick hello. We are almost completely moved in now. Our internet was fixed today so I feel human again. My stomach is doing so good.. I ordered pizza with no cheese and ppl looked at me like I was crazy lol.

Will catch up more later.

Tina

Baby bear_ my oldest daughter worked for years in a local pizza shop and she had alot of customers who ordered pizza with no cheese. She said she even tried it once but had to order it with extra sauce to make it not dry. She said it was funny to see people order with no cheese and then ask for extra garlic butter. I think cheese would be better than extra garlic butter. I am only eating pizza when my oldest comes home from college. SO i only have to worry about it every 3 weeks or so. I LOVE PIZZA!!!

I had a salty day on thursday and the scale showed it on Friday. I drank almost 100 ounces of water and only managed about 1500 calories. I was stuck on the road all day and didn't get any lunch. Trust me, it wasn't intentional. I don't know how people survive on 1200 at my size.. yikes.

I'm hoping I flushed all the salt out of my system and will get a loss :D

Thanks for all the encouragement guys. I tend to get frustrated when I don't see progress.
:hug:

Heather_dw - great job - drink that water. I had a salty day yesterday - scale shows it for me this morning so I will heed your advice. We all understand your frustration - after all we're all there at some point - some of us (me) more frequently - gotta keep posting and getting this fabulous support - keep up the great job!

Time to get busy around here - a good friend's sister passed away from a massive stroke at 51 and today is the memorial service. We are doing the food for after the service - my part is fruit (YES), pasta salad and bottled water. After a not great/not bad OP day yesterday I am looking forward to a fantastic day today.

Annie - the story of the saddle got me all teary - when I have a few minutes I will share what I was recently given. Sounds like a wonderful trip - I'm glad you're back though - I missed your smile.

Move your bodies, drink your water and SMILE.

Hugs,
Carol

Ladies, I had my biggest NSV ever yesterday. I was in Macy's, wandering around the Misses section in search of the Women's sizes, and asked a Macy's employee to direct me. She looked at me with a confused look and said, you are a size 16. We have XL, 16s and 18s here. You should look here, you don't need the Women's sizes.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I replied that I did, indeed, need the Women's sizes still, but thank you!

Pinch me! I look like a size 16 to someone? Wow.

-------
Annie: You certainly have a lot to smile about these days. How nice that your father noticed, and that you had the seatbelt NSV, and that your cousin gave you the saddles as an heirloom. Sounds like a nice, affirming trip for you.

Sharon: I hope you had a nice visit with Ammi.

Walrus: Yay, cast is off! Enjoy your trip back to physical normalcy.

Debbie: The cheese and salami couldn't have done you in. It wasn't that bad. You will be down after TOM I am sure.

Catherine: Does it feel like a relief to have sent off the manuscript? I can't wait to hear what happens next.

Tina: Pizza without cheese doesn't sound bad at all, as long as the tomato sauce is high quality.

Heatherdw: I don't know how people go that low on calories either. I could not stand living on 1200 calories. But I have been losing well on a higher calorie limit, so why even go there.

Carol: I'm sorry about your friend's loss. You are a good friend to help out.

Speaking of the number of on plan days over time, I have had many, many off plan days since starting my journey. But overall I have had more good than bad, and the difference this time is that I keep picking myself up and dusting myself off.

Julee: Congrats on your big loss. I know you can go to the next level and make better food choices. It's important to look at the big picture and see that you are doing well overall, just as you are noticing. Some days my food choices are great, other days not so much, but I do what I can.

Hola ladies! Just a quick :wave: and a :)