hi Michele....meant to say that yesterday. Welcome. I lived in the deep south for many many years but was born in Lebanon NJ. My DD lives in Oldwick and DS lives across the river above Camelback. They both complain of bear problems....seems that the bears have figured out the school bus means kids with lunches and yummy!!!! DD says they have a real problem with coyotes and they are getting hugh. We have hunted and fished all over the county and can't imagine live in town. This is as close as we have ever been.
Am in the middle of finger food making for tomorrow. Made a hugh carrot cake with walnuts raisens pineapple and cream cheese icing and didn't lick the knife. Does inhaling deeply add calories....boy would I be in trouble then! Have 36 eggs boiled and ready to devil. Will put out vegies with dip for the dieters. Fills my car trunk with all the goodies. The diet Gods should give me extra lbs off for not eating all this stuff.......well back to the kitchen...karen3
Hi gang . . . another day of busy-ness . . . and another day of dull and snowy, too. Sun did try to shine for a wee while this morning, but by the time LouLou and I did our run to town to go shopping it was snowing again. Not hard, just enough to be annoying.
Wow, Karen3 - what's the occasion? I am so impressed with your ability to resist the temptation. I'm gaining weight just reading your post
Meowee - hang in there. Spring is only a few months away
Lynn, given your time constraints its amazing to me that you've been keeping up with us as well as you have been. It'll be good to have you back, full force.
Karen3 I salute you! That frosting would have been screaming at me.
Gators? Good grief! My dogs arn't even big enough to be a meal for that! Do they ever come into the houses?
Meowee that weather can get the best of us. Come on down, the weather's usually pretty nice here. You & your cats are always welcome here. Hoping for warm & sunshine on you.
Break's over... back to work for me. Everyone take care!
Marylynn
HI GOLDEN GIRLS thought I would pop my head in and see how everyone is doing. I am so pleased to see this group so busy and as usual so supportive. As it turns out mom started her chemo today -- took us by surprise when she called to tell me she was laughing about it. And as life and luck goes two of my neighbours were there at the same time and thank goodness -- my brother doesn't do hospitals and information well so one of the old neighbours stood by and wrote down all the information for us -- what an angel!!! I will go with mom to the last half of her treatment tomorrow -- just a shock that its starting now -- darn!!!
Pam I can't even imagine being that far away with all that going on. Back in 2001 my husband and father passed away 5 months apart and I was at the hospital every day for both of them -- almost 5 months all tolled. My thoughts are with you as you and your family go through this -- if you ever want to e-mail me just send a PM and we can connect.
Marylynn -- how frikken scary for your DH - never seen a tornado in my life and I guess I should complain about our commute home yesterday - what normally takes about an hour was two and a half because of a freak snowstorm.
To Lynn, Zoe, Phyllis, Linda, Karen, Freda, Sandy, Karen3 and anyone else I missed I will not be far away but this is what I fear the most forgetting about someone and missing a post so please don't take it personally -- I just want to deal with this and get back on track at the same time. At least I put on my test jeans yesterday -- fearing they would be too tight to do up -- they fit so well I actually wore them for the day -- YAY!!! One bright spot LOL
Freda - we got a ton of snow too! I'm glad you aren't frostbitten!
Karen3 - Y'know - cold Michigan winters aren't sounding so bad. Gators, armadillos, snakes, I think I will stay put
I'm impressed with your willpower! I would have a hard time not tasting everything!
Phyllis - good luck with the packing. The last time we moved was 18 years ago, and I still dread the thought of having to move. I'm such a pack rat. I'm working on it, but ...
Birgit - wow - good for you walking to work. DH walks too. I need my car for work, or otherwise I would walk. It would have been easier than trying to drive today. Not much was plowed and the roads were a mess. I am blessed that I live in town and so close to work
Michele - we have tons of squirrels too - brown, red, gray, black - we even had a white one once. Way to go staying OP! Good luck with the weigh-in!
Lynn - I hope the change in your therapy works! Stay strong!
Linda - we actually had sunshine today - for almost 30 minutes I'm hoping that the groundhog was wrong!
Marylynn - I'm with you on the gators! I just noticed that we joined 3FC at the same time
Joanne - congrats on those jeans! That is a wonderful accomplishment Keeping your mom in our prayers!
I'm doing well - I'm .2 lbs away from 60 lbs. down, so I am claiming it - what the heck. I think that scale is taunting me!
hi you all....it's done and I'm pooped. Geesh and tomorrow they will run me ragged.Should wear my pedometer and see how many actual miles I walk during one game. I have 80 small sandwiches,71 deviled eggs(broke one)dip made and vegies cut up. I did a small evil and bought 4dozen chocolate covered cherries. Actual one chocolate I don't like. Everything is packed in the cooler and ready to move out in the morning. Have brief case with director stuff loaded in the car. Dh said deviled eggs were good. He got the broken one.
Will go thru this same thing again in March and April than the day after Easter everyone is gone. It amazes us every year how overnight the state is emptied. Don't seem to notice increase in traffic but they're gone. After years of have sunbirds all summer in Ocean City Md, I still get my seasons turned around.
I used the forum today to keep me busy and away from tempation and thank you for listening to me I beat another Thursday! Yipeee! Stay warm, eat right and be kind to yourself. karen3
Mornin'....up and running. Have to leave shortly. But had to laugh my earthlink horoscope says that my mind is racing and will be unable to slow self down so recommends writing to others or just doodling. Do you suppose that was really yesterday prediction? Take care of yourselves, eat right and hugs. karen3
Good Morning GG's, I slep late and seems like the day has started without me. I am a morning person and don't do this! I am doing well. I was restless last night. I think I finally got to sleep around 3. When I get those times I seem to be unreasonably hungry too. I did not give in to the urge to eat though. Have to talk myself through those times. I know it's not really hunger.
Karen, you didn't say what you were cooking for, or if you did I missed it. Sounds like an army, with all that food. I could resist most of it, but that carrot cake sounds like the one I make (very rarely) and it's to die for! Not sure I could have made it and had at least one piece. You are right about "one a nurse always a nurse". We do seem to instantly connect when we meet. I don't know it it's true everywhere, but here we have a saying that we're the only profesion that "eats it's young". That is unfortunate, but seems to be true. I've seen it happen. I think it's the stress of the job.
Phyllis, YEAH!!! You're moving! You will be near the grandkids by spring, and settled in. You will be able to spend lots of time with them. I know I enjoy mine so much. And since you'e not taking all the furniture maybe the move won't be so bad. Still stressful, i'm sure. Mentally as well as physically.
Karen, Hope you're seing some action in the house market soon too. In the mean time, stay warm. If it gets too cold the puppies are good little heating pads. Mine always curls up with me on the couch.
Lynn, I'm happy to hear that you are going to continue with the therapy. I always tell my patients "this is not a quick fix". Had a hard time convincing myself of that I was going through it though! We want it done NOW!
Marylynn, Has thing got back to normal there? How much damage did the storm do around you? I agree with you, our little dogs, yours, mine and Karen's would just make the Gators little appetizers.
Counting Down, We seem to be getting the same fun weather. At least they roads are usually clear here. The salt trucks are out as soon as we see snow. The side strees leave much to be desired. The little place where I live gets the streets cleaned right away. My son live about 5 miles away and his never get cleaned.
joann, thanks for coming back and letting us know how your mom is doing. Please keep us informed, we will worry about her and you. Please take care of yourself. We get so wrapped up in taking care of others we forget about ourselves. I think we believe we're disloyal if we take care of ourselves the way we should. Actually, it's just being practical. You can't take care of someone else if you're not healthy. Prayers for both of you.
Pam, Hang in there girl. Prayers for you too.
YoYo, I work rehab and we get a lot of strokes. I've seen some real miracles. Hang in there.
Good Friday morning to all of you. Karen, what kind of game did you cook for yesterday?
Well, this morning I went to the gym and did my first weigh in since last Friday -- so, for my first week, I lost 4 1/2 lbs, and something I never do as a rule, I also had measured myself last week, and since then, I have lost 5 1/2 inches. I have been here so many times before, but, maybe, just maybe, this will be the last time I will ever see 181 again!!
Well, on to the second week. Hope all of you have a good day and continue to inch downward!! Michele
Wow. Has it been four days since I last posted? What is it with life, anyway? I mean, as unexciting as my life is, you’d think I’d be here every day, wouldn’t you? Well, I actually do stop by and read most every day, but by the time I finish reading, it’s time to do something else – something unexciting, to be sure, but something nonetheless.
This week has gone by quickly, which is a good thing, because I enjoy my weekends, but a bad thing, too, because the quicker the week goes by, the older I get, right? Well, I’m happy to report that I have stuck faithfully to my reduced-intake plan – I haven’t EXACTLY weighed and measured everything I’ve eaten, but I know (because of being a veteran dieter) that I have exercised portion control and have NOT eaten anything I shouldn’t. How about that! First time in a couple of months that I could actually say that! Unfortunately, portion control is about the only thing I’ve exercised. I swear that this cold, miserable weather makes me want to move around as little as possible. But, even being a lethargic slug, I seem to have gotten rid, at least, of some (water?) bloat. A pair of slacks that I bought in my recent shopping frenzy at Kohl’s in a skimpy size 12 – Vera Wang, and we all know that Vera Wang clothes are made for slim, elegant women, one of which I am not - but what I’m saying is that last night, these babies FIT! (I don’t know if there are Kohl’s department stores all over the country, but if there any in your area, I HIGHLY recommend that you trek on over there and comb their 60, 70, and even 80% off racks. I made a killing, I swear! Spent $70 one time and $30 a couple of days later, and walked away with about $500 worth of clothes! ) Okay. So now I’m kind of back on track – move’s over, sis is recuperating nicely, and I’m fresh out of excuses for why I can’t do my diet.
Well, Birgit, regarding the Patriot’s loss – I’m sure that all of Boston (and probably half the east coast) would be after you with tar and pitchforks if they knew that you could have saved the game and chose not to. I’ll never tell – and I suppose it’s too late to claim your firstborn child in payment, but I’m sure I’ll think of something sooner or later… CountingD, I just noticed your ticker. Wow! You are really DOING this thing, aren’t you? I’m impressed! I was going to ask if you had any tips you could share with the rest of us – well, with me in particular – but I’m afraid that you’ll say the *bad* word (exercise) so I’m not asking… Lynn, no matter what they claim, car manufacturers are not going to be evolving to the point where they’re producing ALL hybrid, or even cars that get tremendously terrific gas mileage. Just ain’t gonna happen. Nuh-uh. Exxon made a 40 BILLION dollar profit last year, after all. And I suspect they rather LIKE making those kinds of profits, eh? AND they have lots of power and lots of influence over the decision-makers in this country. And it’s not like the hybrids that they’re producing can alleviate any of the low-income population’s problems – they will continue to pay top dollar for the fuel they need to run their gas-guzzlers because they can’t afford hybrids. It’s just like it’s always been – if you’re poor in this country, you pay more than the rich folks do for the necessities. (Sorry…I haven’t done social work for years, but still find myself climbing up on the soapbox to preach about society’s inequities on occasion. Must be a flashback. Eh?) Anyway, be careful with that shoulder, okay? We need you to be able to TYPE, after all!
And I’m loving the book group idea. Have you decided on a book?
Hey Freda! You took bellydancing lessons????? Whoa! AND you’ve lost all that weight…hmmm…’fess up, sis….you’re just hanging out with us because of our charm and wit; you never needed to lose weight, right? (Oh, jes’ kidding. But lessons? Wow. I am sooooo jealous of those of us who aren’t quite so self-conscious as I am. Gawd. I won’t even look at my OWN belly!) Pam, I’m so sorry that you and Jo-annie are dealing with mothers who are so ill. You’re right about one thing, though – you DO have to take care of yourselves in order to stay strong when they need you to be.
Hi Michele, welcome to the Golden Girls! Some of us (me, especially) have become a bit tarnished over the years, but we’re here for each other, and that means a lot. I’m looking forward to getting to know you. YoYo, I’m hoping that all goes well with your friend. That must be so hard for you – but I can tell that you’re a good friend to her, and that, of course, is what she needs right now. MaryLynn! Me? Bellydance? Oh, m’darlin’ woman, you – I think you may have missed the part about me not being caught dead with my belly hanging out for all to see. Now you are an entirely different story, of course. You are the dancer – and the marathoner – and one of these days, maybe I’ll just head on down to ole' Mississippi and get myself a ringside seat for one of your performances. Keyword: SEAT. And my belly will be fully covered. But I’ll whistle and stomp for you, and shout “encore”, okay? And I am SO GLAD, incidentally, that you and yours are safe!
Hi Karen3 – right about now, I’ve got to say that Florida is sounding awfully good to me. We’ve had rain, drizzle, snow, sleet and GRAYNESS all week, and I’m about fed up. I may be one of the first takers on renting Phyl’s condo…I can just imagine myself sitting out in the lanai (?) sipping a cool drink….yeah. Phyl! 4.5 pounds??? Wowza! Yay, rah, rah, sis-boom-bah! Dang, woman, you are seriously WORKING this thing! (No I haven’t gotten on the scales yet). Congrats, though….I am SO proud of you! Jo-annie – hang in there, ‘luv. I think of you every day. Karen31, thinking of you, too. Fingers crossed for the house to sell – but you know that. Any new pics of my favorite little furkids? Cat? You’re being paged! We are craving food porn! Bring us a picture of something forbidden but oh, so, pretty…..you know, something with chocolate and fudgy stuff maybe, and whipped cream, and um, maybe some kinda fruit (just to keep it healthy)?
Or, maybe just some pretty pictures of places that are warm….a flower blooming, maybe? We frozen northerners are in dire need of warmth and cheer…
Okay, of course I missed a few and I’m apologizing in advance, because I sure don’t mean to skip over anybody. Hugs to all the golden girlies wherever you are!
I promised myself that I would grade at least 1/3 of my students' papers today, 1/3 tomorrow and 1/3 Sunday. I just finished the first batch, so I earned some time here.
Marylynn, I'm so happy to hear that you and your family are safe. Also, thanks for letting us know - I was thinking about you when I heard about the tornadoes.
I'm not even going to try to go back beyond yesterday, so let me begin with what's been posted yesterday and today -
Hi Freda, you wrote to YoYo - "YoYo, It's terrible seeing someone you care about suffering. But we have to make sure we take care of ourselves so we can take care of them. Sometimes i think we feel almost guilty for taking care of ourselves."
This is SOOOO true. After my DH died, I didn't cook (didn't take out a pot or turn on the stove) for a good 6 months. I existed on ice cream and peanutbutter and balogna sandwiches. I really think this contributed to my developing diabetes. I finally figured out that I felt too guilty to prepare healthy meals for myself.
I got some grief counseling and mended my ways. Strange how our minds work.
Hi Karen3, oooops - I guess I have to cancel my plans to move to FL - I'm even getting a little nervous about my trip "SOUTH" for my cousins' reunion in March. Any chance of those gators/pigs/snakes travelling to GA?
BTW - I made a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese icing from my Splenda recipe book. I've been eating it 1 piece/day for the last week. I REALLY love carrot cake and cheesecake. This book has great recipes for both.
Hi Phyllis, good luck with getting ready for your move. Don't lift heavy stuff. You have to stay in good shape if you want to be a belly-dancer.
Hi Birgit, Maybe bc I'm a Northerner, but I could deal much more easily with your wildlife than with Karen's. That walk in the snow almost makes me wish for some. We've had none this winter. Almost made me laugh when I heard Puxatauney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter - What Winter?
Hi Michele, where in NJ do you live? I'm across the river from Trenton in Bucks County, PA. I moved to PA around 10 years ago, but I still consider myself a NJ'an. I was born & brought up in Bergen County, lived in Middlesex, Monmouth, Gloucester, and Mercer counties. My sister and her family live in Sussex county. My brother and his family live in Passaic county.
CONGRATULATIONS on your 4.5 lb loss!!!! Good for you!
Hi Joanne, glad to see you here. Thinking about you & sending you peace and calming vibes.
Hi Laurie, I thought the only place that had black squirrels was Princeton. Learn something new every day. Your Challenge cookbook is on its way. Enjoy!
Hi Zoe, I think we should either read the book you suggested or Kite Runner. I'll post a message on that thread & let's see what everyone wants. If we pick your book, will you lead the discussion?
Hi Ladies - It's good to see everyone doing reasonably well.
Joanne - I'm sending my best wishes to your Mom, as well as to you and your family. Sounds like you're all very close, which is terrific. It also sounds like your Mom's spirits are pretty upbeat, which is amazing under the circumstances. But a positive attitude will really be important for her recovery, I think. Good luck to her. And congratulations to you for fitting into those jeans!
Counting, believe it or not I often have to use my car for work, too. A lot of times I can't predict in the morning whether or not I'll need my car that day. I've actually made a commitment to myself that when that happens, I'll simply walk home and go get it (it's about a 15 min walk). Amazingly, I'm actually holding to that commitment. I'm pretty shocked at myself, actually. But I'm really enjoying those daily walks.
And 60 lbs down -- Holy Mackerel!!! That is fantastic - you have so much to be proud of!
Karen3, I am so glad you used this forum to keep yourself away from temptation in the midst of all that cooking. That's what we're here for.
Michele, 4.5 lbs and 5.5 inches - that's AWESOME! Way to go... you're on your way. Keep posting here instead of eating and even 181 will be a thing of the past soon. I know you can do it.
Zoe - we have a Kohl's here in Burlington, VT, but I've never gone in there. Being 6' tall, even at my very thinnest I'm still a size 18 - with a 34" inseam. Vera Wang just doesn't design her shmattas for girls built like me.
But that's OK - I've learned to live with it. (Re: Patriots. Does it help that I'm hanging my head in shame??? )
Hi Lynn - wow, it's interesting that you're not experiencing any winter so far this year. We've been pretty clobbered here in VT, especially compared to the last few years. VT's economy is heavily dependent on skiers' tourist dollars, and the last 2 years it really hasn't snowed much (well, there was that ONE storm on V-day last year that dumped nearly 3ft at once, but all that did was tie traffic up in knots for a few days - certainly didn't help the tourist industry any). It doesn't seem to me that PA is all THAT far away from VT, and yet it sounds like you're in a completely different climactic zone down there. Fascinating how that works, isn't it?
And I love the fact that you choose to come online and chat with us as a reward for having gotten your work done. Sounds like a good, healthy choice.
Doing well here today. No sign of any of those nasty binge temptations, so I'm a happy girl.
Have a great Friday, Everyone. Time to think about what's for dinner...
Karen3 - I am amazed at your willpower preparing all of that food! I'm afraid it would have been ugly if it had been me. One secret has been getting rid of a lot of those ever-so-tempting foods and replacing them with healthier options. Carrot cake is one of my absolute favorites - especially when it is home-made!
Freda - way to go - staying strong when those muchie monster cravings hit! It IS hard - you did great!!! I hate it when I can't sleep. It isn't pretty if I don't stick to a regular sleep schedule. I get downright growly!
Michele - your loss is absolutely astounding - WOW! You should be thrilled! I am a turlte when it comes to losing. 1 lb. here - another .5 lb. there. Thankfully, I am patient and tenacious. It IS coming off - just soooo slowly!
Zoe - yup - nothing magical for weightloss. Counting calories and that *bad* word - about 4-5 hours per week worth. I have also tried to include more protein in each meal, and eat 6 times per day. It seems to really help me stay OP.
Congrats on the Vera Wang pants - I bet they look AMAZING! Your post about Kohls made me sad. I LOVE Kohls. Before Christmas, I popped in and used my $10 of $10 coupon before catching our plane to CA. The nearest Kohls is 50 min. away. I bought 7 tops and spent $7.52. All were 70-90% off. I LOVE their sale racks. So why am I sad? I promised myself a trip to Kohls when I hit goal. Their sales are so wonderful this time of year, I just don't dare buy anything else just yet. I am CRAVING a shopping spree. I have been buying 2nd had clothes since starting this journey and I really, really want a goal weight wardrobe. I know, patience is a virtue. I should be happy with all my new "gently used" clothes.
Lynn - congrats on getting those papers graded! They seem to multiply when you aren't looking, don't they? Funny thing about those squirrels. We never had them when I was growing up - never saw a black one. When I went to MSU, I saw my first one. Then, when we moved back here in 89, they were everywhere. I rarely saw any color except black. Now the other colored squirrels have returned and we have a good mix. They stay in the trees for the most part. The bathe in our pond in the summer, but the cats chase them whenever they come down.
Birgit - I did get to walk tonight. DH had the day off and wanted a walk. I had him walk over to the school and pick up my car. That way, I could walk home. He is working tomorrow, so we probably won't get out XC skiing. Unless I want to go alone. Maybe - we will see.
Thank you all for the congrats on the 60 lbs. I'm amazed that all these little losses have really added up over the last 7 months. Coming here has really helped! Everyone is so supportive. And I LOVE the challenge thread - knowing that I have to post, holds me accountable
Have a great weekend all! I'm off to get some work done on the PowerPoint presentations for church this weekend.
hi you all...I'm back and soooooo tired! Had a full house and everything was consumed. Bridge players love to munch and I have found that fill them with carbos and they get mellow. I carried the pedometer and to my surprise it was only most of a mile. Feels like twice as much. Guess keeping track of so many different things stretches my mind not my foot steps. Biggest problem was I forgot to drink and about 3pm the brain stopped working literally. Pored whole bottle of H2O down and woke up. Now that so plain stupid. Have caught up now but now will be up all night making tracks to bathroom. See told you STUPID me!
A friend wants me to sign up as a bridge director on a cruise ship. At least I wouldn't be in charge of "snacks". Maybe someday.
Lynn, I grew up about 25miles North of Lambertville...Across the river from New Hope.
Yes guys we have all those critters...and all the critters you have,too. well not elk moose or mule deer. Everying else slowly migrates south to Fl. Plus we get tornados with or without hurricanes. Luck us you developed West Nile and it got here to stay since not enough killing frosts. Rabies is so bad the dogs have to have yearly vaccines. We have fire ants and every thing that grows bites you. Palms, lemon and orange trees have hugh nasty thorns. You have black flies, we have nosee'um. But we don't have snow. We have 3 seasons. Our Fall is Dec and Jan some years. I haven't worn a coat in 7 yrs.
Number one reason I want to get thinner is to wear sleeves shirts. Probably need plastic surgery for bat wings but who'll notice if I have teenage body! God better get to bed. Bye, take care of yourselves and eat right. hugs karen3
I'm hoping that the groundhog was wrong!
Good morning all!
with my belly hanging out for all to see. Now you are an entirely different story, of course. You are the dancer – and the marathoner – and one of these days, maybe I’ll just head on down to ole' Mississippi and get myself a ringside seat for one of your performances. Keyword: SEAT. And my belly will be fully covered. But I’ll whistle and stomp for you, and shout “encore”, okay? And I am SO GLAD, incidentally, that you and yours are safe! 
Dang, woman, you are seriously WORKING this thing! (No I haven’t gotten on the scales yet). Congrats, though….I am SO proud of you!
