Marie, the full moon is not a good time at the hospital! Things happen!!!!

Good morning GGs!! The sun is shining and I think it is will be warmer today. We slept in and didn't go to the gym so will have to get in some aerobics at home today. I'm sitting here eating my scrambled egg breakfast and my dh just left to get a routine blood test.

Marie - Audio books might be a good idea for me too. I have taken a book to the gym before to read while on the bike or treadmill. There are TVs but they are so high that it hurts my neck to look up all the time. And the book is somewhat of a hassle as well. My dh listens to music but I'm not usually that much to just listen to music, I like to sing along and that might offend others! I hope you have a nice weekend. I would hate to get up early and go to work again.

Freda - My hot flashes started in my early 40s at least by 42, It think sooner. I had a hyst around age 37 but they left my ovaries so that SHOULDN'T have started them but I sometimes wonder. I do think it affects the circulation. I'm 68 now so that's at least 26 years I've had them! I took Premarin for 18 years though and they didn't bother me very much during that time. It was only after I stopped it that they hit me with a vengeance! The supplements help a lot though.

Rie - I say I provide my own heat so I'm never cold. Well, except my feet get cold sometimes.

Lynn - Hope you can get some help for your knee! You are so active and that's gotta make it tough.

Rosey - I'd think with the children and the puppies you'd have lost weight! Not fair, but remember it's only a pound and probably is just fluid.

Time to get to work...

Wow…skip a day, and it feels like I’ve been gone for a week! I love it, though! It’s disappointing when there’s nothing new to read, and with the GG’s, there’s always something happening. I guess we’re just a “happenin” bunch!
PT, that SamCat act is just what the felines in the house pull every morning at approximately 4:30 AM. As you know, I set my alarm for 5:30, and do not take well to losing that extra hour of sleep. Ah, well…just one more reason to sleep in the guest room. Dh feeds the cats. That’s one of his jobs. Mine is to get up and go out to work every morning. Anyway, if they’re going to hound him at 4:30, let it be him and not me. OH, yes. MY double-wide will be, I think, very sleek and modern, no clutter whatsoever, and NOTHING TO DUST. Desert colors, perhaps – tans, cool off-whites, lots of shelving and closet space (I’ll need a new outfit for every campfire….OMG! NOT! If I don’t have to go to work anymore, I think I’ll wear baggy jeans and little T-shirts for the rest of my life!) Whatever gave you the idea that YOU wouldn’t be welcome, Nancy? Of COURSE you are welcome! If you don’t want to haul the travel trailer when you need a break from SO, you can stay with me. (Just bring that backyard swing of yours…I’m sure that with ALL of us GG’s pitching in, we’ll figure out a way to get it up without having to call in any men. Tsk. Oh, and sorry that the food stunk – I just hate it when I eat OUT and don’t like it. Seems like eating out is supposed to be a treat, not a step down from what you’d have at home!
Wow, Marie! That’s quite a routine you have for your coffee! You don’t just grind it, you roast it, as well! SO awesome! Kind of got me thinking about our routines around food, and how easy it is to eat more than we should when we’re just whipping it together as quickly as possible and then eating without hardly noticing tastes, textures, etc. The whole idea of some ritual involved in the preparation, and then fully enjoying what we’re eating seems like it would result in eating less. I mean, maybe I need to become more “Frenchified” and serve less, but arrange it more artistically. Hmmmm. I’m not sure exactly what this has to do with roasting your own coffee beans, but I sense that there’s some correlation there…you got me thinking along those lines, though, and I kind of like the direction my thoughts are taking..
Mary, one of my ex’s better characteristics (possibly his only one) was his capacity to handle all the kinds of stuff yours does around the house. I paid the bills, but he did all the household labor. Not cooking or dishes or anything of that day-to-day stuff, but all the heavier chores and car washing and such, he handled. I guess I really took all those things for granted, because dh#2 doesn’t really like yard work or washing cars or chopping wood or cleaning gutters…etc….so we pay people to do it. He’s the literary type…the “artistic”, “creative”….etc., etc., type that doesn’t like to be bogged down with mundane household tasks. Now see, you have a man that does it all – handles the household stuff AND communicates well with you and has things in common with you. Have I mentioned before that you are one lucky GG???
VERY glad, KarenFla that you’re happier with your treatment now. We DO have to take things into our own hands and speak up for ourselves if we want to have our needs met. I’m just happy that you’ve progressed to feeling well enough to see what you needed to do and then did it! Kudos to you, friend!
My gosh, Rosey, that doesn’t sound like your dh, does it? I mean, in addition to the flowers, I had the impression that he did a lot more than he appears to be doing lately. Is he feeling okay, do you think?
Okay, Lyn…turquoise it is. Good choice, too….it really looks good with a tan, and after summering on the Cape, you should be, as my old mum used to say, “brown as a berry”. Now that I think of it, what berries are brown, anyway?
Rie/Val, it’ll be interesting to hear about your friend’s experience once his ordeal is over. I hope he has some meaningful visions.
KarenMo, you GO, girl….I knew you’d have those few pounds off in no time! Gotta be slim and svelte tooting around in that red mustang. We’ll have to call you Mustang Karen, now.
Glad your dh was able to help get rid of that headache, Bobbi…odd, because mine has been GIVING me a headache lately!
Lynn, oh, YEAH….I know ALL about those stinkin’ meetings! In fact, I have to finish this later because I have one to go to now.
Okay. Back – 2 hours later – good thing I learned to write my postings in word & then copy & paste them into our thread.
Hope that you have a nice restful weekend, Gayle, and feel lots better once you’ve relaxed and rested.
Hi Tea, and welcome, Wannabe.
Z

Hi Everyone,

My doctor gave me the cortisone shot in my knee – so far, so good. He gave me a little shot to numb the knee so that I didn’t even feel the cortisone. I LOVE this doctor. My DD and SIL and I all have a bunch of specialists, but our GP is the one who always “fixes” us.

Hi Bobbi,

I hope you are feeling better. Sorry to hear that headache is back!

Hi Karen FL,

I hope you are doing well.

Hi Karen,

How are you and WII getting along?

Hi Mary,

How do you like the timeshare program? My DD and SIL and I have thought about it but we’ve heard mixed reviews from folks.

Hi Rosey,

The photos of the puppy and the girls are adorable! 1 lb could be anything. NOT a problem unless it keeps growing.

What do you think happened with Evil Dick?

Hi Nancy,

Do you have any Panera Bread’s by you? They have a WONDERFUL strawberry/chicken/greens salad with a fat free poppy seed dressing. They have it only in the summer and I look forward to it all other seasons. We hold our book club meetings at Panera’s so I get there at least once a month.

Hi Marie,

I have never had home-roasted coffee. Is it really better?

Hi Lyn,

Cycling, yoga, salmon & veggie dinner, and a massage – sounds like you are doing GREAT! I wish I lived closer – I’d join you for that day!
Hi WannaBe,

WELCOME! You will LOVE it here. We have a GREAT group of women.

Hi Rie,

Did you get a training schedule? Just in case you need one, go to http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/5k-run/SM00061 Have you signed up for the Presidential Challenge? The link for that is http://www.presidentschallenge.org/login/index.shtml Let me know if you ever need motivation. Will you be walking/running for a particular cause?

Hi Gayle,

Sorry you were not feeling good. I hope you will be back in shape for your days off. NO feeling guilty about telling us about how you are feeling. You know that this is our SAFE place to share everything.

Hi Freda,

I have had hot flashes for 15 years – ever since I stopped taking hormone pills. They are less intense now, but I have them several times/night. I just grab my remote control for my ceiling fan and turn it on as fast as it will go.
Hi Marie,

I tried a knee brace, but it hurt. Doctor says it is arthritis. I am hoping the cortisone shot will get me through the marathon.

[QUOTE=maryea;3938443] My hot flashes started in my early 40s at least by 42, It think sooner. I had a hyst around age 37 but they left my ovaries so that SHOULDN'T have started them but I sometimes wonder. I do think it affects the circulation. I'm 68 now so that's at least 26 years I've had them! I took Premarin for 18 years though and they didn't bother me very much during that time. It was only after I stopped it that they hit me with a vengeance! The supplements help a lot though.
I say I provide my own heat so I'm never cold. Well, except my feet get cold sometimes.[QUOTE]
Hi Mary,

You and I seem to have the same physical issues. Between the hot flashes, the cold feet, the diabetes, and the UTI’s, it’s amazing we’re still keepin’ on! I always tell folks when they ask how I’ve been – “I’m in pretty good shape for the shape I’m in.”

Hi Zoe,

My 2 cats start out every night in bed with me. If they are good, we all sleep together and we all wake up around 5:30. However, when they fight, I close them out of the bedroom and my punishment is that they start meowing around 4. I swear that one of them sounds like he is saying “Mom.”
¬¬¬

Hey GGs,
I’m not feeling very talkative tonight (how odd is that?!). So, just want to let you all know I was here. And, thank you! to all who said I’d be welcome at the DWCC! That made me feel much better. I really didn’t want to miss out on all that female camaraderie!

I can’t seem to keep my eyes open (maybe that’s why I don’t feel like talking?). Guess I’d better head for bed. Have a great weekend everyone!
NCNancy

Good monring GG’s,

Off the weekend ~ yippee. I had missed you all the last several days ~ felt too yucky to even get on-line. (That and turned down chocolate ~ you know I didn’t feel so good ~ LOL)

Thursday evening I did feel sort of better, came here but the site was down for maintainence ~ darn ~ bummer. By the time I got a chance to spend some time here and get caught up, I was about 4 pages behind. That was my enjoyment/treat last night then, to put up my feet and relax and see what you all had been up to. I was 3 hours late getting off work last night (stupid work), so by the time I did my shopping errands and got home and caught up here it was almost 2am.

I looked forward to sleeping until I woke up ~ thinking that I would get a nice rest ~ not having to get up with the alarm this am ~ NOT. Woke up at 6am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Oh well, if I get tired later, I can take a nap. Funny how for kids “nap” is not a good thing, but now I welcome it sometimes.

So, I stayed over at work to help the next shift. But feel like kicking myself. I am torn ~ wanting to stick to my guns and leave when my time is up, but feeling bad for the next shift. Also, kind of scared that if I don’t stay ~ the employers will feel that if I don’t stay they will get rid of me and find someone that will stay as much as they want them to. As frustrating as it is to have to stay over so much, I would still rather do this job I am doing now (unit secretary) than go back to nursing. I see what those poor ladies are having to endure. It is not fun for them at all. My job can be stressful, but nothing like what those poor ladies are going through.

I enjoyed thinking about the DWCC last night as I was going to sleep. When I first read about it ~ I was thinking mine would be purple ~ but Freda got there first. So, I was thinking pink with purple trim. Marie has pink spoken for. Maybe mine would be painted with some beautiful mural ~ flowers or rainbows…… I think I have found my something to think about as I fall asleep ~ not be thinking about other bothersome stuff but dream about my DW and how I would fix it up and the wonderful time of friendship with you all around that campfire. I dream that we will be by an ocean with palm trees or a lake with trees and hear the peaceful sound of the waves lapping the shore. Ahhhhhhhh ~ GG’ heaven. Oh ~ could we have a swimming pool there?

Hoping again this weekend to get that continuing education stuff knocked out. I might be able to pull it off this time. I have the whole weekend ~ Sara and her family are headed out Donna’s direction for vacation and camping, so I won’t be tempted to procrastinate in favor of hugging on my family.

Better get moving now ~ Weight Watchers meeting and weigh in. Be back later and hopefully will get to do the personals.

Take care

Hello again,

Ok, time for some personals

Rie ~ enjoy your tournament today and the time with your friends. Glad you slept well last night.

Lynn ~ sorry your knee is bothering ~ hope the shot helps. You are one of my inspirations ~ you are amazing

Mary ~ you struck gold with your DH and I think he is just as blessed to have you

Freda ~ glad you got some cooler weather and were able to enjoy DGS’s baseball game. I’m off, so you are probably working ~ hope you have a good weekend at work.

Wannabe ~ welcome ~ looking forward to getting to know you. You’ll like it here

Rosey ~ your puppies are so cute and so are your neices. Love all your creative ideas for fun stuff for the kids. Maybe time with you is just what they need ~ something fun that will take them away from the bad stuff.

Bobbi ~ sorry for the return of the headache. Another wonderful husband ~ brushing your hair and helping you feel better

Donna ~ I love your posts ~ you always make me smile ~ love your sense of humor. Maybe it is a good thing that you have dediced to pass on that teaching job ~ that sounded like a tough job to tackle.

Mustang Karen ~ (sorry ~ I stole that from one of the others ~ but really liked it) will you be flying around town today with your hair-a-blowing?

Marie ~ another inspiration to me ~ getting up early and all the exercise you do. The mental picture you painted of your walk and the moon shining was beautiful. If only it didn’t cause such funky stuff at work.

NC Nancy ~ your little pink and green travel trailer sounds perfect ~ your home away from home ~ you could have the best of both worlds ~ your regular home with your SO or geezer then your other one with us in the DWCC for when you needed a break from the annoying times with the man in your life.

Karen FL ~ glad you are up to doing the happy dance. Prayers for continued healing and feeling better.

Lyn ~ sorry about your daughters struggles ~ it is so hard to watch our kids have a hard time. No matter how old they are they will always be our kids. Glad your sister came to visit just when you needed her and that she was able to help you feel better ~ thoughts and prayers are with you and your husband and your daughter.

Koala-Lou ~ you did awesome to pick yourself right back up after the bad day and the grocery shopping trouble. Sorry for the yucky day at work.

Tea ~ I’m sorry that the scale is being nasty to you. Thankfully though it is not going up. Stay away from that oven

Sherry ~ glad you are having a nice visit with your granddaughter. Send some of that will power dust my way please.

It is 92 degrees outside and Sissy is my little Sun Worshiper!! Ginger prefers to stay in the house with the AC!!!!

Rie, I hope your Big Sky pool games are going well and your play comes back to the level you want. Rie, totally agree that a man’s ability to “clean” is severely different than a woman’s. DH will “clean” the kitchen – dishes in the dishwasher. The counters aren’t wiped and the mail is stuck in a pile. If the pile isn’t dealt with it tends to grow – hello!?!?!?! I guess since I make the piles go away, they don’t grow in DH’s world.

Mary, audiobooks are great but normally my intensity is much higher with music. I get the singing along but if you can sing, your heartrate isn’t high enough. So now that you’ve upped your intensity a tad, maybe the music will work.

Zoe, your posts always make me laugh and grin. I do like putting the effort forth in my food. When I embarked on my journey, I promised myself that I wouldn’t eat anything I truly didn’t like and enjoy. Wasted calories on my hips… Of course, eating at other people’s houses makes that tougher to keep but I don’t eat much. When I experiment with my mocha recipes, if it tastes crappy, I do dump it out. Since there’s time and $$$ invested, it’s hard but in the long run of my hips (and other fatty areas), it is better. I also don’t like much sugar-free or fat-free options. I’d rather have the real stuff and small portions. I found then I’m not looking at it like a diet (as much). But since I lost the weight the portions are growing and I have to stop that.

Lynn, I’m glad your knee is better and yes, home roasted (or fresh roasted at a coffee shop that does it on site) is better. BTW, my drs (GP and orthopedist) said the number of cortisone shots are limited. Something to do with eventually they weaken the tendons. It’s been a few years since I talked about it with them, but I thought I’d mention it.

Gayle, I loved the comparison to naps as GGs versus the naps as a kid. I love my Saturday and/or Sunday naps. This afternoon is cloudy and cold (again) so I’m taking the doggies for a nap. BTW, there are so many shades of pink that we will share. And I’m hoping for the palm trees and ocean breezes. Rarely a mosquito on the beach. And the sharks, well, they can be pesky I suppose.


Mustang, (I’m skipping the Karen as we all know who has the Mustang), I’ll trade you your 92 degrees for our @#($&(@ 65 degrees. I’m supposedly hosting a pool party. Brrrr. This morning DH lit a fire so our house wouldn’t be so cold. The pool has dropped from 87 d. to 82 d. and the heavy clouds probably won’t help the solar heating system raise the temp. Please give my your 92 degrees!!!! Pretty please!

I spent the morning ripping apart a Billy Joel DVD (Live at Shea Stadium) and creating an hour mix of my favorites for ellipticalling to. After the movie file is done exporting (2 more hours) I’m going to make a new variety concert exercise video. The walk this morning wasn’t nearly as pretty since it poured (probably the 10th time since we moved to the desert a decade ago) last night. As it was coming done, I looked in our front yard and there was standing water. I’ve never seen that. So this morning it was humid (hello, this is the desert) and cold. BTW, I live 5 miles north of the Oregon-California border so it isn’t like I’m a northerner. I know, I should stop whining about the weather.

I made whole wheat bread in my bread machine. I hated whole wheat bread until my sister clued me into the fact that whole wheat flour goes rancid quickly after milling. So the store bought whole wheat flour isn’t used in time. She got me to buy a mill. Clearly I trust her knowledge as I bought the thing and had never had yummy whole wheat bread. But about 1.5 years ago after the mill arrived and I found hard red wheat berries at my grocer, I did. So anyway, I’m making a grilled cheese sandwich. One slice of my incredible smelling bread (its done baking), fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and thinly sliced home grown tomatoes. Off to lunch I go. Then probably the earlier mentioned nap.

Marie

Hi everyone..busy busy.its amazing how 2 kids and 3 dogs can keep me hopping. and i used to have a home day care business,hmm does that mean im getting old lol. dh went to the dr,i suggested it as he wasnt feeling any better,turns out he has an intestional infection caused by (indirectly) his gall bladder surg and his body not processing bile. hes on 2 antiobiotics and bland diet. poor guy,id rathe be sick than him as he dosent handel it well.being sick doesnt give a person the right to be nasty and when hes sick he is that but he brings me flowers i keep saying under my breath. the girls are watching sponge bob after spending the morning outside collecting bugs,and later they are going to bake.Gizmo usually sleeps next to me and is to little to get down or so i thought.he was on the floor chewing up a newspaper this morning and hes so stinken cute i just laugh at his antics.he struts around like a big dog and he fits in my pocket hoping your weekend is going awsomely ttfn rosey

I am checking in. Worked last night and actually caught myself doing some self talk. "Don't touch that cake!" "Add water to the juice instead of adding another juice."

Little decisions and little changes will make changes!

Ouch - keeping ice on my knee & keeping it elevated - kind of sore.

I hope it is better by tomorrow morning - Training is 8 miles at 7 am.

Check back tomorrow,

Lynn

Good day everyone! So far it's been a pleasantly busy day. It started out cool and overcast but the sun is kinda out now and it's just right for me and my working hard, loves the sun dh even. He started out today a little grumpy but seems happier now. I am almost done with my weekly cleaning tasks...still need to clean the living room. We are rarely in there so doesn't get very dirty, but I do quickly clean it each week. I will do that next. I am also doing two loads of laundry..one in dryer, one in washer still. I got a good sleep after taking pain meds and feel pretty good today.

So far, so good on my new eating plan! I'm excited about it because it is the first "diet" that really seems to fit with my natural eating pattern. As I've mentioned before, I am a snacker. With this eating plan I eat 5 snack-like meals of approx. 100 calories and 1 carb serving every 2-3 hours plus one lean and green meal. Sometimes I go over a little bit but try to keep the small meals to <150 on calories and around <25 gm on carbs at least. Evenings are still the hardest and I am a bit more lenient with dinner and my evening snack but so far I've done pretty well. If I can keep it up I think I'll probably eat a variation of this permanently. I plan to continue like I'm doing for six weeks at least and then assess whether I can allow a few more fruit and grains as I am eating very little of them right now.

Rosey - Sorry to hear about your dh being sick. Know it's hard on both of you, esp if he's not a easy patient! Hang in there...hopefully all this busyness will help you lose even more weight!

Marie - It takes a lot to keep me from talking or singing, LOL!! I don't really feel comfortable singing at the gym and that's what frustrates me with listening to music, I want to sing along! My dh doesn't sing much but the other day I heard him at the gym...two bikes over from me, singing to his music I loved it but not sure about others. You made some good points about making good food and not eating it if it doesn't taste good. Wasting is hard for me to do but I'm starting to think like that too. It's esp hard in a restaurant...as Nancy mentioned...if it's not good because you have paid for it you feel like you should eat it. And yet you feel so bad about it afterwards! I don't like buffets for the obvious reasons but that is one thing about them...if I don't like something I can leave it on my plate or give it to my dh and I can go back for something better.

Yes I like the name Mustang for Karen31 or maybe even Red..she looks quite the go-getter in that fine car! LOL Haven't heard that word (go-getter) for quite some time! Sounds like something my mom or dad would say. I love your car, Mustang, and am happy that you have it to enjoy!!

Your lunch sounds so yummy, Marie! We only eat WW bread except for the very occasional specialty bread. My dh likes the white gummy kind but this is one thing I insist on and he pampers me. We were at some people's house recently and they served us sandwiches on white bread and I honestly had a hard time eating it...it was like I was chewing on starch or paste or something. But I will agree that some WW bread is better than others. I gave my bread machine away (I've had 3 and given them all away!) but if I could find a really really good one that wasn't too expensive I'd probably try again. Right now I can't eat much bread though anyway.

Glynne & Zoe - Thank you! It's true about striking gold...I thank God every day for my dh and I feel very blessed to have been chosen to share his life. Glynne, I know what you mean about wanting to be able to sleep until you wake up. When I first retired that what I wanted...and I did it...I'd sleep until 9 every morning. My dh would go out for his walk...he'd walk three to four miles in those days! Then he'd come back for me and we'd walk another 1-2 miles! He called me his cool-down! He was a bit frustrated with me...couldn't understand why I wanted to sleep in til 9. I'd say I want to sleep until when I open my eyes, they stay open. If they still want to close, I need more sleep.
I think women get by so many years on too little sleep with little ones, teenagers and work schedules and many times all three at the same time!

Nancy - Hope you got a good sleep!

Rie - Hope you are having fun at the pool tournament! And I always like getting new underwear! Glad the pb thing is ok in mocha, perhaps it won't go to waste at least. Sorry to hear your knee is so bad! One of mine twinges a little now and then and I notice some exercises bother it while others don't at all. I love taking tub baths but I'm beginning to find it a little hard to get out sometimes because of it.

Lynn - Glad you have a good doctor...makes a lot of difference! Lynn, we love our timeshares! We belong to two companies, one called Vacation Internationale and the other is WorldMark. They are both points/credits systems so not necessarily just one week a year like most programs. I'm not surprised you've heard conflicting feelings. Many people see timeshares as scams, and probably some are but we have been very happy with ours and enjoyed so many vacations we never would have thought we would experience starting from when I youngest kids were home. In fact I feel that buying the timeshares is really what got us started traveling. We bought them back in the 80s when we were both working and now are so glad to have them, all paid off of course. My only regret is that we made payments on them but then we did for most everything in those days...I'd never live like that again...so it's not the timeshares...it's that way of life I regret. About the shape we are in...yeah I say the same thing. Life's actually been good to me...I see many people who have a lot worst things...so I may complain a little now and then but overall I feel blessed. BTW, I envy you with your remote controlled ceiling fan! I'd do that if it were just me, but dh would get too cold, so I keep a fan on my bedside table and switch on/off. Sometimes it's on all night long. I have it aimed so it doesn't go on dh but yet I can feel it.

Well dh has gotten the rest of the wood stacked and had lunch and it is almost time for another snack-type meal for me...just might have time to clean the living room first. Take care, GGs and have a great day!