Good Morning everyone.

I am up early and took care of my kitties and made coffee. DH is fast alseep. I watch a show called 'Corrie Street' every Sunda morning, basically it is a British soap. I love Brit culture all around. I hope to go to London someday.
Later today I have an inlaw family event with a buffet and gift exchange. I want to eat a good breakfast and then a salad before I go. I may have a drink or two but no more then two and that will depend on what types of food are on hand. If I can make healthy choices for dinner and skip desert then I will have a rum and diet coke or something.

It is raining out so it looks like it will be a chilly, grey, damp day.

Mnem I forgot to mention that meet ups can be just as good as dating online. If you join a meetup for an interest say on yahoo or whatever you will be with people who at least have something in common. It may be walking, euchre or whatever your interest is. You may never meet the love of your life this way but you just might. And you might make a friend.

plucky pear: I read this article the other day that said that when you drink mixed drinks with diet soda (like rum and diet coke), the diet soda makes the alcohol affect you more or faster or something... I was kind of surprised that that would matter, but that seems like a good thing, LOL... 1 or 2 strong drinks are better than 4 or 5 weak ones haha

LOL I will keep this in mind.

EVERYONE ~ back from our trip to see the surgeon; and am getting ready for the bigger one -- the surgery date is set for DECEMBER 24th at 8 am at the Henderson General Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.The surgeon is Dr. Mazurka and he & his team (esp the anesthesiologist) could use lots of and lots of prayers for my surgery (and me too).

I need to be able to stay under long enuff for them to get this very large (humongous actually) tumor/growth out. I can't really explain how big it is except to joke like the surgeon who said I am the size of someone who would be having octuplets ...

So we will be travelling south on Tuesday, the 18th (500+ miles) to my sisters. Pre-surgery tests will be done by the anesthesiologist on the Friday before the surgery as well. So a busy week ahead for me but I am taking my laptop so I can keep in touch as well.

Spent this weekend packing to be ready. I had some chips and dip this weekend but it didn't taste as good as I thought; will be nixing that in the future. I had fish and salad for dinner to compensate. I am just eating maintenance calories for the week up to the surgery so I can be stronger.

MEM ~ my furry baby is a sweet doggy (black with a long, white diamond on his chest that looks quite debonairre). He's part lab and water collie we think. He was very good for our friend, but was so happy when mommy got home; he had a smile pasted on his face for an hour -- so cute!

Will be busy but will try to keep in touch over the next week when I can. Hope you all have a great week coming up too ...

just- praying for you!!
had a good weekend but didnt get much done around here. I am slightly under the weather with a head cold. I was able to go to church twice yesterday and that always makes me feel so good.
Eating was pretty good and skipped dinner last night to make up for the extra calories in lunch.

Justwant I will be thinking of you. Do you know how long your hospital stay will be?

Good Morning.

I am finding this holiday season harder then I thought I would. Had a holiday dinner last night and another one tonight and then one Friday night.

pluckypear - wow, that is great advice. I really appreciate it! I'm not sure how many meet-ups I will find around here - I live in a fairly small city, but I will check those out too. I know that before signing up for a site I do really need to think about what I want and find ways to articulate that, so I'll probably start there. It's amazing how much more comfortable and confident I feel these days.

It is raining here, too. Ugly, wet, damp, gray, and dark. Ugh.

And hah, I also really like British culture. I've been to Scotland but not England, though I always imagine that if I ever won the lottery, I would like to live somewhere in the British countryside. Within walking distance of a tea shop and a pub. When I was in Scotland, we spent one night in a town called Aviemore in the highlands, which is a skiing resort in the winter so the hotel rooms are cheaper for tourists in summer. Anyway, the town was tiny, with the main street clustered around the train tracks full of small shops, and I will always remember the sign in the butcher's window: "Home of Probably The Best Blood Pudding in Scotland." Not "The Best" but Probably the best.

ChunkyDunk - hah, that is interesting. Probably the effect is small, though. When I was in Peru everyone was saying that being at that high altitude made alcohol more potent in your system. I don't know that the effect was measurable to me, though.

Rosebud - I think you're right to eat maintenance calories before surgery, so wise. You will need all your strength for the surgery and the recovery. That is such a long trip, especially if you are driving, but it must be a relief to have a plan in place. And your dog sounds adorable. My mom's dog greets her like that when she comes home from anywhere. My cats just give me an indifferent look, or yawp a bit if their food bowls are empty.

I know everything will go well for you. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers, and I'll look forward to hearing about your shopping sprees when you recover!

dgramie - hope you start feeling better, and soon!

I am doing okay with the holidays. I made a bunch of treats yesterday but did not graze as I was making them. Put away a few extra small sugarplums (which are a combination of toasted almonds, dried fruits and some cinnamon/orange zest/honey, all processed together and rolled into balls) for myself but otherwise have them packaged up for gifts.

I also made a Christmas tree out of broccoli and cauliflower. Picture attached.

Just Good luck ! You will be in my thoughts!

I came home today from work and my friend had bought and set up a small Christmas tree with lights in my apartment (I didn't have any Christmas decorations and really didn't have the time or money to get any). My friend has a spare key to my place for back up and to help out with my dog occasionally. I thought that was the sweetest surprise though

That is supersweet, you must have been pleased to see it. Heh, I love Christmas decorations, so I'm glad you have your tree now. I have all mine up, except for the trimmings for the tree. I need to get those soon.

Had a doctor's appointment today, and my doc was so thrilled with my weight loss (and surprised!) that she hugged me twice. Labs were great except my platelets were low. My doctor said that it might just be the 'shock' of such a weight loss, so we'll repeat the test in three months. If it is still low then, she said it would be time to see a hematologist. I am a wee bit bothered because both my grandmother and father have had blood disorders (grandmother had polycythemia vera, dad has mantle cell lymphoma), but I think theirs were associated with HIGH platelet counts, not low. Anyway, it is not low enough to cause bleeding and there's not much to be done about so I will try (mostly) not to think about it. Weight loss seems a reasonable explanation.

mnemosyne My bloodwork was out of whack after the first 50 lbs too. I also lost an insane amount of hair. Here's to hoping that for both of us, it's just our bodies saying "what the heck! I'm melting!".

Been bad all week. Left Thursday for the city for the Christmas party, so that threw me off plan, and today and yesterday all the vendors we deal with have been dropping off Christmas baking. I will give myself credit and say that I made relatively healthy choices and drank only water the whole time I was gone.

Just getting over a miserable cold, that bf now has it ten times worse. Hope its gone by Christmas!

Radio Feel better soon.

Mnem I like your veggie tree. Do you eat it or is it purely decorative?

Chunky I am sure you are enjoying your tree. My small tree brings me joy.

My day was low key. I am looking forward to the pool tomorrow.

wow..its hard to believe Christmas is so close. I am working today and then tomorrow I will be off and have to run and tie up all my loose ends. Baking will start on sat. 12 pumpkin rolls..YIKES!!!
I am excited about the holidays and my grandkids.

Hi dgramie. I am excited about Xmas too. I have one more gift to get, I will pick it up tomorrow. I want to get sis a nice red French wine.

I have a holiday dinner Friday.

I am picking up my fresh turkey on Saturday. I am baking my crustless pumpkin pie on Sunday. Xmas eve we are having sushi.

Jane - oh gosh, I am also losing hair. It is frustrating. I asked about Biotin, but my doc said you just pee that out. She suggested a women's 1-a-day and I am going to try really hard to remember to take one. I have trouble taking vitamins. Maybe a gummy will work.

Heh, there are all kinds of Christmas treats around here. I don't have them in my face which makes it easier to ignore, but they are out there. Heck, I got a giant box of chocolates in the Christmas gift exchange. I was honestly like: wtf. Am giving the chocolates away piece by piece and have only had 2 chocolate covered almonds and 1 chocolate covered peanut.

pear - we ate it! I was concerned that people wouldn't touch the veggies, but they peeled them off, which was great. Then later that afternoon I pulled them all off and put them in some tupperware. I am going to make another one for a dinner party this weekend. It was super easy - just toothpicks, cut veggies, and a styrofoam form. The trick is to put the toothpicks in the form first, then stick the veggies on, because the form has more resistance than the veggies and if you do it the other way the toothpick will up up through the veggies!

dgramie - that is alot of pumpkin rolls! I will make a few more cookies, but that is it. I am looking forward to the holidays, too.

I was going to take a day-trip on Friday (which is Solstice) to a native American site about 2 hours from here - which is a mound in the shape of a serpent, where the head and tail and align with the sunrise/sunset on the winter and summer solstice. However, it is supposed to be gray and snowing on Friday, so that might be pointless. I will wait and see. If I see the sun, I will still go. I will never bet at Machu Picchu or Stonehenge or on top of an Aztec temple on the solstice, so this place is the closest I might come. I will wait and see.

For the hair loss, I've always heard prenatal vitamins help... I've lost just over 20 lbs now, and haven't noticed any hair loss-- ironically, I was losing hair BEFORE i started this journey (again)... A LOT of hair. It seems to have stopped... which leads me to believe I was pretty vitamin deficient before (I've had issues in the past, even when I made sure to eat well- with Vit D and B12 complex particularly)