[sweet tooth]

I'm the BRAT, I'm the BRAT

Welcome to the chat for the week of September 27 to October 3. Everyone is welcome to join in. Pull up a chair and join us for a cup of coffee.

Hope everyone is doing well this week, so far. We have had a very busy weekend starting to plan retirement...

We set a goal last spring, one of which was to find a piece of property in which to retire by the end of the year. We are presently in a large home on an acre of land and the work is more than what we would like to be responsible for during retirement. We also are planning to move back to the city in which I was born and raised (met DH there, too), so we were condo shopping this weekend.

We have put an offer on a small penthouse suite in a heritage building. The building is just about 100 years old (for the west, that is getting up there...), still has the original elevator and just old charm. It is in the area in which we wanted to retire, so that is also a benefit. Hopefully, the offer will go through. If it does, we will rent the apartment until we are ready to move in. We are excited and hoping to get it.

I stayed OP this weekend, while we were away, but did not lose any weight. I am finding that I don't lose on the weekends, but don't do any exercise either. Think there may be a correlation???? Hmmmm.

Anyway, gotta get to work here. Hope everyone has a great day. Take care.

[CJ]

OK Peggy - BRAT BRAT BRAT!!!

Good morning! We had a bunch of company again over the weekend so wasn't on the computer at all ... except to check mail real quick before bed. Hope all had a great weekend.

Peggy: Your retirement sounds like a good thing. We love being retired - although hubby has a little "side" job .. he's actually working today and tomorrow ... there's no one around these 40 acres of woods but me and my cat Elgato .. I've not been doing too well on my low-carb program ... especially when my company is here ... I'm having such a hard time getting back to strictly low-carb .. today is a new day ... I'm trying again! I KNOW I CAN DO IT!

Slyvia: Where are you??? GET OUT OF THAT CUBBARD (unless it's only low-carb thingies) ... lol I should talk, eh? Hope all is well with you! Post soon!

Sharon: ???????? Miss you girl!!! Hope to see you post soon too!

Remember Judy (blunder)?? Well, we chatted this morning on MSN Messenger and she says to say hello to everyone. She has her daughter and family living with her and she is staying busy making quilts. I told her to come and post - hope she does.

Well, think I'll go have another cup of coffee and a piece of cheese before I do some laundry.

Talk to ya all soon ... have a great day!

Love, CJ

[sweet tooth]

Good morning, everyone.

The weather is cool and crisp here...the calm before the winter storms.

CJ, you sound like you are retiring the way we intend...with the exception of abode. We are done with the work of an acreage, so want something more simple and the chance to take public transit if we choose and walk down the city streets....on a sidewalk. DH does contract work right now, so will hold on to those contracts when we retire. Most of the contracts are in Calgary - where we plan to retire - so moving there is a benenfit. Others are in the States, so flights from Calgary are better than flights from where we presently live. Since both of us have lived in Calgary in our younger years, it just made a lot of sense to move back. Family, right now, won't be an issue, either. Two of our children will be moving their entire careers and the third is planning to move to Calgary anyway. He is in an industry where he can live almost anywhere, so that makes sense for him. It is also 1 1/2 hours from Banff and many of my early memories are day trips to the mountains - something that we don't have here. Soooo, we have finally made the move towards retirement. A couple more retirement goals to meet before the end of the year, but they are minor goals in comparison with purchasing property.

Over the past 2 years, we have moved both sets of parents into seniors residences, so all their furniture, etc. is our responsibility to store. Two of our kids have moved back home with their junk, so we finally had to get a storage unit to keep the stuff. I was joking with DH and told him that we could empty the storage unit and furnish the apartment that we bought. Most of the furniture stored there is antiques, so it would fit with the charm of the building. We may just do that, but we'll see, I guess.

I am not having trouble staying OP with low carbs, but I am not losing weight. I probably don't eat enough carbs - when I look at my diet, I usually don't eat any starches or grains most days. I really never enjoyed starches, etc. much anyway, so I have probably gone too far the other way with the carbs.

My DS's girlfriend just started SBD yesterday. She has gained quite a lot over the past year, so thought she would try it, considering I have lost so much on it. I am just wishing that the final 9 pounds would come off faster than it is.

I remember when I did WW a couple of years ago...I was really disciplined with counting all the points and writing them all down, but just found that, by the time I was the weight that I am now, I was starving. This is so much different...I am not constantly planning my food because I am rarely hungry. I do enjoy when I eat, though, just don't obsess with it like before. It does take time to come to that stage, though.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Take care.

[CJ]

Good morning!

I'm just sitting here having my coffee and looking out my window at the valley and it's thick with fog (you could cut it with a knife) ... hubby is working again today so think I shall be lazy for a bit and play on the computer in my jammies.

Going downstate to the old house this Sunday for a week .. hubby is going to Pennsylvania with the guys for a week so instead of me staying here in the woods by myself, I'll stay down there and get some more stuff packed up and visit with friends - get my hair done (going to cut some off) and whatever.

Peggy: Don't worry about those last few lbs ... you'll lose them eventually! Hey, I stayed OP all day yesterday ... didn't have any "sweets" ...

Hi to Slyvia! Sharon! Cat! and Mindee! Miss you all ....

Talk to ya later ...
Love, CJ

[CJ]

Good morning everyone! Just a quick post to say I hope you have a happy day! Not much happening here .. hubby is working again today ... I got most of the laundry done yesterday - will finish up today. We went to the casino last nite for a bit ... yes, I was lucky and won $600.

I also did well with staying lo-carb all day yesterday ... that's 2 days in a row now .. hopefully I am on my way again ...

Well ... not much to say right now ... I'll check back later on to see if anyone has posted.

Love, CJ

[CJ]

Just popping in to check if anyone has posted ... where the heck is everyone?

Well ... I'm definately on a lucky streak this week ... my 3-digit lottery # I play every day came in straight tonite so I won $300 ...

Well ... I sure hope someone posts in here soon ... have a good nite!

Love, CJ

[aivlys]

Hello Ladies!

I hope you are all doing well. I'm just popping in for a quick hello. I've been trying to be good. I starting to feel frustrated. I did lose a pound but I feel it should be more. I guess I'm waiting for that "big loss" to boost my motivation. It's up to me to make this work and I WILL DO THIS!

CJ- How did you know I was in the cubbard? You must be pychic! Send some of that lucky streak of yours my way....I need to buy my lottery tix! Have fun in your "other house".

Peggy-Sounds like your retirment plans are all set. Good for you! My parents are retired and they are all set. The travel to Mexico every two months...they are going to go back next week.

Well ladies, I'm off to bed. Have a great day!

Hugs to you all!

Sylvia

[sweet tooth]

Sylvia, so good the hear from you. We are excited about the property that we have purchased. The bank was falling all over themselves to get the financing for us...we threatened to take our business away from them last year because they were getting impossible to deal with, so this is a nice change. They actually assigned one person to us who handles everything and knows about all of our accounts off the top of her head. That has been good.

It is funny that you mention that your parents go to Mexico every 2 months. We were in Mexico in the summer, and were actually thinking that, with the weather, etc., it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend some retirement months there, as well. We could do that without a problem and may consider buying some property there, as well. We will spend more time in that culture, though, before we make that kind of decision.

This has been a good week, weight-wise, for me. I lost over 2 pounds and am now about 6.5 pounds from goal. I would love to lose that over the next month, but being realistic, I know that it will be into November before I am down to my goal weight. However, on a bright note, that is also a long time before Christmas, so I am anxious to be a little more flexible with my eating over the holidays.

The college at which I work has a personal fitness trainer program for students and the students get guinea pigs every year for their practicums. Soooo, this year, I signed up to be a guinea pig. That starts next week. I have been really faithful to my cardio exercise since June this year, so I want to have the trainer design a strength and flexibility program for me. I also want to tone up some of the flab that happened with the weight loss. I did do a session with a trainer a couple of years ago, but didn't continue with the program and have now forgotten everything. This will be a good reminder and start me on the machines again.

I didn't post yesterday. I was in a bit of a funk. I had all my tests yesterday morning and the possibility of cancer is pretty high. I will need to go to a specialist in the next couple of weeks to determine a course of action. On the good side of this, though, this type of cancer is ususally slow growing and they have caught it early. Actually, when I was at my last medical, I just mentioned to the dr. that there was a history of this in the family and he had the tests done as a precautionary measure, rather than a result of symptoms. Yeah for him...he needs a big hug.

Hope everyone has a great day and a super weekend. Take care.

[aivlys]

Well ladies, I sit here in a funk typing and munching on oatmeal cookies. What had gotten into me? I know I can do this but what is holding me back? I will figure this out and I will win the battle of the bulge...no matter how long it takes!

Peggy- I'm sorry to hear about your cancer risks. At least it was caught in time for your doctor get rid of it. As for retiring in Mexico, most of my relatives live in the state of Jalisco. There is a large American retirement community close to Guadalajara and I believe there is another close to Mexico City (though I'm not so sure). My parents are from Mexico so that is why they go so often. They just bought a couple of properties down there in July. I can ask what the prices of property is like down there if you'd like. I think the prices are going up due to a lot of American retirees moving to Mexico. It's very cheap if you are on a fixed income like social security. My parents pay $500 (American Dollars) a year for health insurance for both of them....and that's at top notch hospitals and with the best doctors. Here in the US, they would have to pay $1500 a month for comparable insurance. They won't move down there permanantly because we (my siblings and I) are all here.

CJ-How are you chickie?

Sharon- We miss you!!!

I'm off to do some mopping! Hugs to you all!

Have a great weekend!

Sylvia

[CJ]

Hi gals ...

In the process of packing a few things for our trip downstate and hubby's PA trip ... leaving in the morning (actually, if it weren't for getting my hair done and seeing the grandkids, I'd stay up here - it's sooooo peaceful here)

Peggy: So sorry to hear of your cancer but like Slyvia says .. it's good it was caught early so you can treat it .. I'm sure all will be ok.

Slyvia: THROW out those oatmeal cookies! lol ... I had bought some candy corn and for some reason I kept digging into them (it's really so not like me, I usually don't eat those - way too sugary) .. but, alas, I kept at them so what did I do? I THREW THEM OUT! They are gone forever .. burned with the trash! And I won't have to buy candy to hand out for halloween cuz we are so in the woods and on a dead-end road that no one comes a calling! We usually go walk thru town on Halloween to see all the cute little "beggers" that go store to store.

Well ... I just made me a nice fresh pot of Ameretto coffee so am going to go have some on the deck ... trying to enjoy all this beautiful fall weather before the snow starts flying!

Have a great weekend all ... see you later.

Love, CJ

[aivlys]

Nico is taking a nap so I have to make this a quick post. Today has been a good day. I had a cup of cottage cheese with a handful of blueberries for breakfast. I'm going to have a salad for lunch and I have to figure out what to have for dinner. I need to up my water (I've only had a glass so far) because I know it helps with my appetite. I've been chewing a lot of gum lately just so that I keep my mouth busy.

CJ- My husband bought those oatmeal cookies. I don't even like oatmeal cookies and there I was just munching away! I don't really like sweets that much. I prefer a nice loaf of french bread than chocolate!

Nico woke up. My computer time is up!

Have a great weekend ladies!

Sylvia