Good morning ladies,
How nice it is to be in the land of the living.

First I would like to thank all of you for welcoming me to the thread and I really appreciate your thoughts, your kindess, and your understanding. Heather, I thank you for your response, it touched me and helps me to know that I am not alone. Since I gained so much weight, and I really do not even know when it happened, it's like one day I was small and the next I was huge. Since the hugeness set in, I have missed so many things in life, things I cannot get back but want back. I am oh so tired of hiding out, I want to do things, go places and love life, but it can get so hard and hiding out is so easy. But I do know that I do not want to die early and I want to live and to live well.

Dogpal, I heard that you were such a kind soul and oh how true this is. Thank you for reaching out to me, I started this journey in Nov. 08 and I started out with a bang and doing great and great for months on end and then monkey wrenchs were thrown at me from every angle. I have endured to bad falls which broke a lot of my body parts, then stress, lots of fluid retention and has not and will not release. After losing 32 pounds and re-gaining 11 pounds or so, I felt like such a failure. It is so frustrating to have to re release pounds you have already released. It feels like a losing battle, but on the other hand I will not give up this time. I look at all of you wonderful ladies here and you are so determined and so motivatied. I told one wonderful lady here before that I was impressed with her that I wanted to follow in her footsteps and she said to me, instead of you following in my footsteps, let's walk together. I am determined to walk this walk with all of you and not to give up. Such inspirations you are.

Dgram, please share with your hubby for me, I am a diabetic and I did all the wrong things, tell him I said please stop and think and do all you can to not to visit any of the roads I have gone down or bridges I have crossed, to please buckle down and follow your lead to a healthier life and release that weight. I do not want to see anyone suffer for anything if it can be avoided just by making a few simple changes in the life, I wish I had paid attention to the signs instead of thinking I was invincible, or not even that, just not noticing what was going on or happening to me. Dgram, try to stay strong and I will continously be praying for you and hubby. I apologize for getting so long winded here.

It will take me time to get to know everyone, so please bare with me.

DCHound,
I do remember you though, and just wanted to say, big congrats on your weight. Cannot wait to get where you are.

I must say this, I am pleased to say, I made the trip to my grand daughters graduation and it was wonderful. I think I was the only one noticing my clothing and that was great, the seating was even good, they had a handi-capped section or sections, I should say. The trip was 8 hours round, but I made it. We went to dinner afterwards and I was able to make great food choices in that area as well. Got back home very late, but hey, I have the day off today to recouperate. All is right with the world, at least for now. Thank goodness for large and small favors.

Okay, I guess I'd better stop or this will turn into a book. Thanks again to all of you for everything!!!!

Ags

Welcome Ags, we have al (I think) put off going places or been scared in case we don't fit in chairs, get funny looks for our size, sniggers....etc. You can be sure that you have found a 'home' here!xxxxxxx
I forgot to say I had my hair lightened a bit BUt it went BLONDE instead of reddish light brown streaks, had to have the hairdresser back. Now I have raspberry red streaks, which I like (thank goodness or my hair wouldn't forgive me any more dyes!!lol). I might put a pic up if I get chance.
xxxxsharon

Angie: So glad that today was a bit better for you. Baby steps. Hang in there sweetie.

DC: Hi there.

Ags: I am so happy almost to tears that you were able to go to your grandaughter's graduation and you enjoyed yourself! Yeah!!!! Good for you and what a wonderful memory that will be for both of you. You are doing so well. Hang in there hon.

Sharon: I'd love to see a pic of your new hair.

Well, It is 11 a.m. here and I have made the enchilladas for tonights pot luck. It is our final class on Celebrating our Differences at church. I did join another class last night. It is a women's bible study. The men are doing it too but they meet on the first Saturday of each month. It is Journey to the Heart of God book that we will be working out of. Joel read part of his homework last night and he siad it is a pretty intense book. I will be starting my homework today.

Right now I need to go and get ready for my counseling appt. I am so nervous and scared that I will be a wreck. I have been having so many panic attacks lately that I can hardly function. I almost walked out of church last night because of them. For those of you who pray, please pray for me that I will be able to go down this path once and for all without turning back. I am almost 43 years old and it is time for me to meet myself.

I hope you all have a wonderful day with lots of sunshine, water and bodies moving.

Blessings,
Annie

I got drug to a meeting with some drug reps this morning about drug formulary stuff. They had the meeting in a Portuguese bakery. It got ugly. They had just finished baking these coconut custard things. No more meetings there. I'll have to put my foot down with the primate I live with.

Catherine -- a Portugese bakery? I'd put my foot down too!

Ags -- You have been through a lot, but sounds like you have a strong spirit. I was thrilled to hear you were able to go to your granddaughter's wedding!

DC - big congrats on your milestone. That was a big one for me!

Sharon - please a pic of the new do.

Annie - hugs my friend.

Rat - glad I can accommodate with your favorite number - so what happens when I have a birthday? Say hi to Bikerchic if you happen to see her - I don't know Guitarmama too well yet.

Ags - so glad you had a special trip.

Angie - how was today?

hugs to all,
Carol

I am here reading...

Dr appt: Well the "sores" are looking good and going away. Again no guarantee they will stay gone or come back. She thinks I could be perimeno at 36???? I started my period in 4th grade..soo she said maybe. She is running blood work on me. She is also going to switch me to a synthetic thyroid medication. (crossing my fingers) She also put my on an anti-depressant. I wil start then this weekend and see how they make me feel.

Hi everybody

Just rushing through as it is 3 AM and I have to get up in 2 hours LOL. But wanted to say hi and welcome to the newbies!

My nutritionist was pleased with me yesterday... still making progress. Also have some exercise to go post -- I am going to have to get busy to make my goal but I can do it. I've been riding my bike quite a bit instead of getting into the pool... but yesterday went to the "big pool" and enjoyed a good workout.

Hugs to all
Sue

Hiya my Peeps!

DC area had some horrendous rain last night. Had to take a odd way around the roads to get home cuz of flooding. The house was just fine. Looked like power went out and reset the plasma tv surge thingie and the window AC.

GGG, Guitarmama is some old chick.. it's GuitarBabe! hehehe. My fingers constantly hurt from playing. I'm learning so much.

Oh yeah Catherine, get them humongous feet and make em work with Himself! The description of the bakery sounds dangerous!

Cyn, I'm glad your doc is checking out a lot of things. It can take an antidepressant several weeks to stabilize. Remember to give it time if you don't see a difference immediately. Hugs to you!

Off to work!

Hugs,
Ratkity

Good Morning all,

Cyn: I hope that you feel better. Just to reitterate, it can take a while for depression meds to "kick" in. Hang in there.

Sue: Glad you are doing well.

Rat: Stay dry hon.

Letstryagain: Praying for your big day today! Hugs to ya.

Had our last class at church last night for that series. I am sad. It was such a wonderful learning experience and I loved it. I did okay at my first counseling session too. I like the therapist a bunch and she is so patient and caring. I have opted to go every couple of weeks instead of weekly for now.

Well, thats about it for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.
Blessings,
Annie

Today is the day for Battle (thanks for the reminder, Annie)! Good luck babe. Knock em dead.

Annie, I'm sort of enjoying therapy. It hasn't been all negative stuff and I've gotten to share some fun things as well. I know you'll find another great class to take. You are a lot like me and love learning!

Hugs to all!
Ratkity

I fixed my sewing machine today, so am in a much less cranky mood.

Hi ladies,

Glad everyone is doing well.

Rat, I was in DC area Tues. and it rained as they say, cats and dogs, never understood that, but it also rained just about the whole ride back to Hampton, Va.

This evening I had my weigh in, WOW, had released 3 pounds in the last two weeks and this one, well, I re-gained those 3 plus 1 more. This seems to be my life's story for now, but I will not give up and will not quit, as frustrating as it is, I cannot afford to quit, the alternative would be deadly. I know what I did wrong and will not do it again this week. For those of you that pray, please keep me in your prayers. On a good note, I ate well today and stayed within my points, tomorrow is a new day with a new begining.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I am buying me a bike, a custome made to fit my tish, even thinking about a three wheeler since I am so worried about falling. LOL

Hugs and prayers for you all,
Ags

Hi ladies,

Thank you so much for thinking of me today and wishing me well for my interview.

The meeting started late because the hiring manager was running behind schedule. Because of that she told me that we only had 45 minutes instead of an hour for the interview. However, we ended up meeting for 1.5 hours. It went extremely well. I met 3 of the 4 members of the team. The hiring manager was definitely loving me and I think the team liked me. The hiring manager and one other team member had some chunk going on....not that I would ever be happy for anyone else's weight problems, but it made me hopeful that they wouldn't judge me.

The hiring manager said I was their #2 choice going into the interviews, but now I'm in the #1 spot. However, I lack certain experience that she feels may be a barrier with her bosses when having to justify her choice in bringing me on. In addition, her last #1 choice was not loved as much by the team so the person wasn't hired. So it is by no means in the bag.

She said the hiring process could take a while and I should check in with her in a couple of weeks.

Hubby had a stress test yesterday , we got the call this morning that he has blockage. We meet with the dr in the morning. They mentioned a heart cath and stint..just pray that works!!

Debi -

My thoughts are with you and your husband. I hope all goes well.

Angie

Letstry,
It sounds like all went well and things are in your favor, I will send up at prayer to the big guy.

Debbi,
Let's find that silver lining, now we know what the problem is and now they can fix it. Will continue to pray for you and yours. Everything will be fine, it just feel it.

Catherine,
You fixed it yourself, go head with your bad self.

Annie,
What kind of class were you taking?

Sue,
Seems as though you are doing great. Like that bike ugh, I made up my mind today, I am buying a bike, with a seat made big enough just for me.

Hi there Carol and Cyn, good to see ya both, have a great evening.

Aggie

Ags,

Good deal on buying a bike! Just a little info: Larger and highly padded seats make it harder to pedal. All your energy is going into the seat. A recumbant bike would be cool! A 3 wheeler is great exercise too (just a little hard going up hills). I rode a regular bike with a woman's seat even at my highest weight (350). I had to get another stem (what holds the handlebars) so I ride sitting up more cuz of my tummy. Have you checked out "beach cruisers"? They are 1-3 speed bikes where you are upright and have decent rounded tires. There are lots of choices and your local bike shop will let you try them all!

I know us cyclists here are cheering you on no matter what you pick!!

Hugs,
Ratkity aka BikerChick

Good morning,

Yay! It's Friday! I can't wait to catch up on my sleep. Between TOM and being too busy this week, my sleep hasn't been good. I predict that tonight I will sleep well....and who knows, maybe some time soon my weight will decrease. I've been doing well staying OP. A girl can dream.

Sharon: I'm with Carol. Post pics of your new hairdo!

Cyn: It sounds like you are on a new track with your health. I hope you have positive results soon.

Sue: You are doing great.

Rat: Stay dry! I miss those powerful rain and thunderstorms.

Annie: I'm glad you like your therapist. You have taken the first step. Good for you.

dgramie: Sorry about your husband. Keep us updated about how it goes with the cath and stent.

Aggie: I have a bike that I am going to put back into service. I haven't ridden it in a few years, and am ready to take the step now. Good job staying OP. You can do it. I've been playing with the same 5 lbs for a few weeks.

Good Morning Ladies & Gents!

Its been good crazy around here! All 3 kids baseball teams have made it to play offs. So we have been juggling games. And only have one more week of this! Signed them up for swim lessons and there are 10 days left of school. I am taking every quiet moment I have and cherishing it as there will not be many for the next 8 weeks. DS#1 had annual inspection for army cadets and got his strips for private. Got approved for 2 weeks basic camp this summer. DS#2 wants me to buy walkie talkies so that he can get a larger boundary in the community to play in. DD is sad that 5 yrs 11 months she is not old enough to go play with no adults around. We live in an apartment bldg so its not like she can just go play in the backyard. We are looking at moving. If we cant buy we will go and rent a house. We need more space for the kids to be kids.

Yahoo for bikes, guitars, personal growth (not girth lol)new hairdos, fixed sewing machines,

Prayers for healing, new jobs and all unspoken requests.

morning ladies...

I am still here reading..

Last night was a bad night. I did so good all day at work. No crying and just felt pretty good. Then last night when I got home, the shakes started again. I tried to go to sleep, but was crying and not feeling well. Work should be interesting today. Another thing I noticed when I was shaking, was for about an hour I had to pee about every 15 min?? My urine was clear too??? That has happened to me once before. So gotta tell the Dr about that.

Tonight I will try the anti depressants. Thats another thing that got me crying. I never in my life thought I would ever need to be on them.

Good morning darlin's,

Rat, thank you for that input, I am going looking this weekend and will check out the beach cruisers as well as the recumbant. I think I am leaning towards the 3 wheeler so far, but we shall see cause one never knows. Question: How come the energy goes to the seat or is this a dumb question? Leaning towards that 3 wheeler for a number of reasons; I can't fall off, lol, but serious about that, maybe easier to get on and off, and I will not be affraid on it, and I have no hills where I live.

Letstry,
Hoping for some good rest and sleep for you and hot dang it is Friday.

Debbi,
Praying for good news from the doc. By the way, how is that garden of yours coming along? Any fruits of your labor yet? We have only planted tomatoes and cukes, but this weekend, hebs are going in.

Annie,
Just a hi there coming your way. I am amazed by you.

Carol,
Thanks for the reccomendation of this thread. You are the girl!!!

Julia,
You are a busy woman, I need to call you supermom. I know how that is, I have four daughters and when they were small, there were swimming lessons, dance lessons, track, gril scouts, sleep overs, and traveling for all the junior olympics. I stayed busy, but those were the wonder years, I miss them, at least some times. LOL

Everyone have a great and trully blessed day.

Hugs and smoochies,
Ags

Aggie and other aspiring BikerChicks,

You have come to the right source for bike info! *dons BikerChick outfit of spandex and humongous Tshirt*

Seats: When you have a padded seat or one too large/wide, you bounce a lot in the seat and move side to side in order to pedal downwards. While you do this, you expend a lot of energy trying to maintain balance. Shifting constantly side to side in a large seat also will give you sores.. OUCH! Also with a too-wide seat, you'll have a tendency to scoot forward on the nose of the seat in order to pedal more efficiently up and down. This will also cause the tender female area to get sore (males too!). All in all, a bike that is not fit properly is NOT a pleasure to ride. I am an advocate of the local bicycle shop because these professionals will spend time with you to get the right bike for you. It's also nice to hear that you'd have to weigh >500 lbs before a bike couldn't support you. All bikes support equally, but not all bikes will fit a person equally (if that makes any sense).

In a recumbant (and they make 3 wheeled ones) you are using different muscles and your feet are in front of you pedaling, so the seat can be as comfy as an easy chair!

Hint on fit: Once the bike pedals have been adjusted so your leg is slightly bent when the pedal is down while you sit on your seat, you'll find you can't touch the ground except on your tippy toes. This is a correct fit. Most bikes are unisex and you should be able to stand over the top bar and not have it touch you while your feet are flat on the ground. The bike seat should poke you in the upper tail, lower back area with your feet flat on the ground.

Getting off and on - the proper dismount: To get off the bike, hold the handlebars and at least one brake held with the bike leaning to the left and swing your right leg behind you (over the seat) to dismount (lean right, left leg swing if you feel more comfy). Even with "women's" bikes where there is a lowered top bar (called a top tube), I do not recommend pulling your foot thru the triangle. Too many people end up on their rears, sitting on the bike because their foot got tangled while trying to dismount this way. As a kid we could do this, but our balance was different and we also rode with no hands.

Other equipment:
Find some padded gloves, your hands will thank you. Also, if you fall, you won't scrape your palms. Try on a bunch at the bike shop. If there aren't any there that seem comfy, you can find them at most sporting goods stores, Wally World, Kmart, REI, etc.

Get a helmet!! Wear it properly as instructed by the bike shop. Your helmet front should be at the front of your forehead and not wobble back and forth when clipped under your chin.

Spandex - it's not just for the skinny peeps! - The bike shorts you can get now days are nicely padded in the tender genital area. You can get 4x bike shorts at Terry bicycles. I used those at my highest weight and they weren't too tight. You can wear reg shorts over them if you feel they look too revealing. I find getting on and off the bike with spandex padded shorts and regular shorts to be a pain. I finally just went pure spandex... too bad it doesn't scare the psychosquirrels in my neighborhood.

Water bottle - Always a plus. Fill 1/3 the way with water and freeze at an angle. When ready for use, put reg water on top and have cold water for a little while on a hot day.

Tools and other implements of destruction - No use carrying these if you don't know how to use them. Under the seat packs are great for carrying them, bananas, snack bars, id, cell phone, baby wipes, sunscreen and lip balm.

Misc stuff: I'll wear a light headband that doesn't interfere with my helmet cuz I sweat like a piggie. I also will wear an ipod shuffle with the headset in one ear set on low for some inspirational music (this is illegal in some areas, check local laws).

Pedals with cages - these are actually good because it keeps your foot in the correct position. You don't have to tighten them. Just remember to pull your foot backwards out of the pedal and not try to lift your foot off sideways. I use clipless pedals (bottom of special shoes are clipped in). If anyone wants to know more pm me.

I think that covers it!

Have a great time and feel free to ask any questions.

Hugs,
Ratkity

Hello Ladies,

I have had a pretty good week as far. It is the weekend now and my goal is to keep track of my points. I always fall off on the weekends. My hubby is a HUGE fast food and sweets person, and with the combination of on the go all the time as well it gets really hard. I have a baby shower to go to tomorrow so that will also be a challenge for me. Wish me luck! I hope everybody has a great weekend.

Friends - I have a special request from Debbie (dgramie)

Her DH went for the heart cath this morning. They are unable to do it due to a blood clot in his lung. His is currently hospitalized - I'm sorry I don't know much else. She asked that I post requesting prayers. She is scared and will let us know more as she is able.

Thanks,
Carol

Prayers are on their way.

Hello and Happy Friday! :carrot:

Popping in to say hello and catch up with everyone. I have been in lurk mode lately. After visiting a friend a few weeks ago who has had great success with Weight Watchers (we used to be about the same size), I decided to go back on that program (I tried it about 4 years ago and liked it, but then moved and stopped - with obvious results) since I think I need the structure that WW offers. So far so good and even hubby is watching his points and making healthy eating choices.

I'm at work, taking a break right now, and boy, 7:00 p.m. cannot come fast enough! This will be the first Saturday I've had off in a month. :dizzy:

Anywho, enough about me!

Jacquie, I went walking last Sunday and forgot about sunscreen, too - I remembered once I saw the burn forming on my arms. Ouch! Congrats on the 4lb loss! Oh, and about those catty, immature girls - argh! Sadly I think we have all run into that issue and know how angry and hurtful it can be. Good for you for saying something, though - hopefully they feel as bad about it as they should be and will keep their mouths shut in future.

Cyn, sorry to hear you're having such a hard week. :hug:

Torister - hey chickie! Glad to see someone else back from a hiatus, too - although sorry to hear that alot of the weight came back (same here) but hey, on the positive side of things, at least you kept 30 off and didn't come back even higher than when you started. Sounds like you're in the right frame of mind to tackle this once and for all. Oh, yes, and Happy Birthday! :celebrate:

Kootch, you're right, it's progress and the scale is heading in the right direction, that's the main thing!

Annie, wow, I'm just blown away every time I see you. You look amazing and I imagine you must feel that way too.

Aggie, welcome! Your row of pink cheerleaders made me smile - keep 'em going, girl!

Carol - hey you, here I am again. Hugs and prayers for you and Johnnie.

Gosh, I'm only through the first page and have to get back to work. Hello and hugs to everyone I missed and I hope you have an OP weekend.

- Lesley ... counting down the minutes til she can go home and start her weekend ...

debbie (dgramie) healing vibes and strength on their way to you and your DH.

Hugs,
Rat

I will pray for your hubby and family.

Debbie - My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope this is just one more hurdle that the family will jump over with ease.

Had to state that before I starting rambling and potentially forget. Forgetting is bad. :)

Well, this long week is basically over. I am happy to say we did at work what we needed to accomplish. So that is good, and a relief to all. On a bad note, there were lay-offs at a site in California, and undoubtedly there will be more coming this summer (at additional sites). Apparently they will be doing small pockets of lay-offs to make it less apparent. That will be a fabulous stress I get the honor of dealing with.

Things with my dad....he doesn't need a pacemaker apparently. His issue appears to be his blood sugar, and it just dropping rapidly. The other night my folks ate a good size dinner, and he went to take his insulin later. He took it, and within 30 minutes he had to call for my mom to bring him a soda, an energy, and his BS monitor. He was at a 40. :o He is someone who tries to control his BS so tightly that he tends towards ridiculous lows rather than highs. He considers his glycated hemoglobin result as his grade. I am hoping he gets it under control. In addition, both of his knees are getting bad, and the last fall he took really did some damage. Watching him age is depressing.

I climbed back on the eating well wagon on Tuesday, and am nearly done with the damage I did on Monday. Likely won't be a weight loss week, but hopefully not much of a gain either. DH got a balance/core ball thingie, and so I have been bouncing and doing misc things on that in the evening. Not tonight, I am just exhausted.

Ratkitty - So nice to see you around. You are the biker chick for sure. Thanks for all of the info. I do a semi-squishy seat on my bike, didn't realize I was wasting energy on that. I hate when my girlie bits hurt from riding. I admit, I haven't ridden this year yet, I am more of a walker at this point.

Carol - Hi there. How are things going?

LitChick - It's great you feel like you have found the plan for you (WW). I truly still haven't found the perfect one for me. In my mind, since diabetes is a big thing in my family, I feel like I should be doing either a Low GI/GL diet or South Beach. BUT, sometimes I just need the cheat and I don't want to feel like an absolute failure (which would be on those diets), so I seem to keep plodding along with calorie counting.

Ags - Keep plodding along, at some point you will turn around and say "when did I lose all that weight?".

Cyn - I hope things stabilize for you at some point.

Annie - I still think you are amazing. Each time I see you post I think "how deep and darn she has lost a lot".

Letstry - I hope the job works out for you. It's so hard job hunting. Ridiculous stress. Good luck to you.

OK, that's about it for me.

Take care and be well,
Angie

Hi everyone,

Carol a bunch, I really do like this thread.

So far so good today, I have well with my eating. Went to the grocery store for some healthy stuff, making ceviche this weekend and an Asian Avacado Turkey burger with sweet potato fries (baked of course). Some lenmon and bluebeery muffins find their way into my basket, but I have cut all of them in half, so that way I am not eating the whole thing, think I will send some of them to my daughters house.

I will be in prayer for Debbi and her husband, I can only imagine how she feels, I was affraid just to have the heart cath and I was fine. I wish I could be there with her to hold her hand.

thanks to all of you for the warm welcome and cheering me on, I feel right at home.

Angie/Realist,
I will be in prayer for your dad as well. Diabetes can be a serious thing but it can be controlled, thanks heavens for that. I control mine with meds and now with releasing the weight, eventually I can come off of it. Stay hopefull.

Litchik,
Great job on trying WW again, I love it, so we can do this together. I'll be your cheerleader.

Winki,
I feel your pain, my hubby is an awful eater. I was so happy when he decided to count points with me. Well it lasted for about three months, he is eating everything he can find now, thank goodness he has not detered me. You will do it.

Rat,
YOu are the bomb!!! I am calling you the Bike Queen or the Bike-n-nator!!! How did you learn so much about them?? Great info kiddo.


Hope everyone else has a wonderful weekend and evening.

Later gators,
Aggie

Hugs..and prayer for you dgramie!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd like to put in a plug for my favorite bike seat. The Hobson Easyseat is an adjustable "two cheek" seat. Instead of riding in your crack, it's got two seats that pivot as you bike, and can be adjusted pretty wide. I have ridden bikes most of my life, and have never liked the seats until I found this one. I even take one with me to the gym when I want to ride one of the stationary bikes. They have one bike there without a seat for people who bring their own.

Hi Ladies,

I'm going to be doing a lot of walking today. I will be at a street fair and am making the promise to myself to stay within my limits when choosing food for lunch.

Catherine,
thanks for the suggestion, I am going out to look for one and I will definetly look at those. Sounds super comfy.

Ags

The Story of BikerChick.. The Early Years

Hrm, Bikerchick has been in existence since the first time baby bikerchick decided to take apart the inside of the bike bottom bracket (where the pedals connect) at the young age of 8 yrs old. Getting it back together was a challenge! Baby bikerchick was always doing things like that. She wanted to know EXACTLY how things worked. Baby bikerchick was off and riding! This was a great time to be a baby bikerchick cuz neighborhoods in the south were safe and the only time there was trouble was when the local kids decided to build bike ramps higher and higher.... "I double dare you to do it one more brick high!" Ahhhh, the scars on the knees. No helmets or gloves. It's no wonder we all survived. Riding with no hands and with playing cards in the spokes. My parents had to hide their bridge pack cuz it kept losing cards out of it.

Baby bikechick grew up to be .... Teenage mutant bikerchick!! For 4 years, she faithfully delivered over 100 newspapers on her own route. Many times, that old 10 speed had no brakes and she proudly emulated Fred Flintstone method of stopping - can you say excessive shoe wear? When the frame broke at the bottom bracket and she took beat up bike to shop where she bought it... the shop laughed at the brakeless mess and newspaper ink all over the handlebar tape and just gave her a new bike. Frames on bicycles are notoriously strong and it's rare for one to break the welds (normally, they have lifetime warranties).

TM bikerchick faded out of the limelight when she learned how to drive a car (and a school bus and finicky VW buses...). Soon, BikerChick reappeared during her Master's studies in Clemson SC! There were these cool bikes called nountain bikes and you could go thru trails set up on campus..she found a group of other cyclists and found out all about taking things apart and putting them back together correctly. She found out other cyclists are eager to share their knowledge an have a form of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome.. much like guitar acquistion syndrome). This form of GAS does propel the cyclist into bike shops were other geek cyclists work.

BikerChick has been alive and well now since graduating from both Master's and Doctoral programs. She infected her Mom (now BikerMa) with GAS and BikerMa is legend at BikerMa's work. 20 something yr olds have riden with her and can't believe how she pedals!!

Now BikerChick lives in the DC metro area and loves to go out riding on her flat route. She is plagued by psychosquirrels, but seems to have a couple of tom cat allies.

Hugs!
Ratkity

Hello Everyone:D

I just want to pop in and say Hi to all the wonderful folks on this board. It is a major source of support knowing that y'all are here.

My vacation in Northern AZ was good for the most part but all the nature walking really kicked my my butt. Plus our room was at the top of some steep stairs that also challenged me. Overall, the whole experience made realize that I really need to step up the dieting and increasing my physical stamina. Next year, I want to have a good time without all this hassle.

Prayers and hugs for everyone!

Pennie

Pennie: Where did ya go?? Flagstaff?? I want to spend some time near lakeside/Pinetop this summer

Went to Dr today. I basically told her I "looked" at my results at work. She said that she did not have them. I said that the Estrogen was still pendning. She said she will wait for that to diagnois me!!!!

They test that was abnormal that I could see was for microsomal..normal range is below 35..mine is at 488!!! Yeah there is something wrong with my thyroid.!

What makes me so $#@^% MAD,,is I have been telling them since last Sept about my moodiness and crying and periods and they dimisss it with oh its your weight. Well that maybe half true, but it makes me mad when you tell them Something is wrong with me, and they dismiss it. I am not starting on the anti depressants UNTIL she gets my test results back!

I came home and was a little mad at myself. If I had not gotten to this size..maybe this could have been avoided. HOw can you not know that you are unhealthy! I am not bashing myself, just doing a reality check!

I have let soooo much "life" pass me by..out of fear, guilt, regret, and this weight. It is time to LIVE.

Happy Saturday all,

Rat: Loved the Bikerchick story. Thanks for sharing! Yep, I do love learning. My sweet Joel calls me a nerd. lol. He asks me lots of times, HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT? lol. I tell him the truth, I just do. I don't know how but I am such a thinker that some stuff just sticks I guess. lol.

Catherine: I'm so glad that your sewing machine is fixed. I am about to embark on making curtains. I can barely say that without laughing. I suck as a seamstress. I will give it a good try though. Not only am I going to try to make curtains, I am actually going to try to make a fan type curtain for our half circle window that lets the blazing morning sun into our house. Wish me luck and maybe send me some of your sewing genious telepathically.

Ags: So sorry that you had a gain. That is so frustrating and believe me I went through that for so long. Hang in there sweetie. The class that I was taking was at church and it was called "Celebrating Our Differences" It was a wonderful class and I really learned a ton about the differences between men and women. About time at almost 43 wouldn't you say. lol.

Battle: So glad that the interview went well. I will continue to pray for your jobs. Hope you have a wonderful day out and about walking.

Debi: I am praying for your DH. Hugs sweetie.

Julia: you are always so busy in the summer with your kids. You are an amazing Mamma!

Cyn: Hugs. Please don't be too hard on yourself. I mean go ahead and be mad for a bit but then, ease up and love you and just resolve to get healthy!

Winki: Have a great weekend.

Carol: Hi friend. Thank you so much for letting us know about Debi's hubby. If you talk to her please send her our love. Hugs to you too doll.

Leslie: Welcome back! So, so happy to see you. Glad that you are back on WW and the very best of luck to you. I enjoyed WW but it didn't work for me. I wish you all the best.

Angie: I will add your Dad to my prayers. Glad that you horrid week is over and not too much damage done. Ya, I have been called deep a time or two. lol. I think sometimes I get lost in that deepness. lol.

Pennie: Glad that your vacation was nice. Sounds like you did lots of walking.

Well, I have a job interview at Dept. of Labor on Monday morning very early. It is a very coveted job around here as it is a State job with good benefits and good pay. I applied for it last Monday and took the tests for it. I scored a 90% on the one test and on the typing test I scored a 74 words per minute. That is great as they are only looking for someone who can type 45 words per minute. All of that allowed along with my resume allowed me to get an interview.

Joel and I went to Home Depot and bought a new screen door for our slider on the porch. What a difference it makes having a cross wind come in.

Well, I guess that is about all the news for me here in North Idaho.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay healthy.

Blessings,
Annie

Debbi, HUGSXXXXXXX I don't pray but I will be thinking & hoping he gets better quickly so he can be sorted out VERY SOON.xxxxxxxxxx
I'm struggling & feeling rubbish (back/hip pain) don't want to be a downer so 'wallowing in self pity' on my own. I'll be 'back' on Monday, hopefully, once my hormones are back to normal.
xxxxxsharon