Freda - I would appreciate hearing how your mother makes the Chow Chow. Our green tomatoes area gone for this year, but I might make it next year. I am more interested in knowing the prodedure more than the ingredients. The recipe I have doesn't really explain in detail how to do it.

Ladyinwaiting - In answer to your question about my upcoming surgery...I think I am ready to talk about it now. In June, my bowel perforated and I had to have an emergency colostomy. It was very stressful for me. I really had a hard time accepting it. Now, even though I still don't like it, I am getting used to it and it's not as bad as it was. I am supposed to get it reversed in December, provided my heart can go through the surgery. The general anesthesia is the main concern. When they did the colostomy, I had peritonitis all through my abdomen and the surgery was a life-saving emergency. They didn't have time to check my heart to see if it was ok. The cardiologist seems to feel if I got through the colostomy surgery ok I should also get through the reversal ok. I'm just waiting to get this overwith so I can go on with my life.

I am a Golden Girl with an 11 year old! Here is his costume for Halloween. We worked on it all weekend (paper mache") and we are no artists. But it was fun and he was a hit! (He is a "Threepeater" from the video game "Plants vs Zombies"
three peater.jpg
Click to Enlarge!

Hope you all have a great day!

Morning everyone. i had 4 tricks or treaters.it was hard to control sadie while they where here. i finally had to kennel her.shes too much dog for me the dye washed out of my hair i was a bit worried it wouldnt. my dh friend stopped by to bring me our mail. the look on his face was priceless. his eyes twinkeled and didnt say a word i got the won ton skins in the produce section of out grocery,they where by the foo foo salad dressings.my dh called and hes having fun chasing around after deer. its my gs'd b-day today. he 18. i can't have an 18 grs im too young lol.ttfn and hope your day is awsome rosey

Hi Carol Sue,

What an awful experience. It is difficult enough when you know you are going to have surgery and can prepare for it. Terrible when it comes as a surprise.

Is there anything that your doctors want you to do prior to the next surgery? My cousin has LOTS of heart problems and last time they put in new stents, she had to go to physical therapy before the surgery to prepare.

Lynn

I realize that I have been missing in action here. Have been having some stressful family issues. Youngest DD has severe bi-polar condition and is not doing well. She moved out of NYC, (which is actually a relief), and we have set her up in an apt house we still own near Rochester. Went to help her settle in Columbus weekend (an 8 hour trip one-way), and she would not even speak to us. Ended up in an emergency psych ward for 3 days. we went back home, and 2 weeks later she's back in the hospital. (A different one). Though she was originally diagnosed when she was 17 (11 years ago), she is now refusing to believe she has this condition and will not take the medication that is being recommended. We are sad and frustrated, but really can not do much more to help her until she agrees to help herself. So sad as she is a very talented writer and actress, but the illness makes her delusional and psychotic.

So... I have been trying to distract myself from all this. Have turned to exercise and have been going to the fitness center 6 times a week. So far it helps and I'm down a couple of pounds from my summer gain; Anyway, I have been reading about other GG's problems with family and just wanted you all to know I can relate big time. Bye for now...

Omg big hugs for those with troubles family or health issues,i think we all can relate as we have all had similar experinces. well today was certainly interesting.it was very windy and i just knew we would have a power outage. and we did. thankfully it only lasted 2 hrs. in the past its has been several days. i was abit un-nerved as im alone and when the powers off,no phone. what did folks do in bygone yrs? persevered and rolled with it i suppose. hoping your evening goes well (((hugs))) rosey

breakfast coffee and vitamins
lunch turkey salad with apples and walnuts
snack 45 cal mocha smoothie and an atkins protein bar
dinner slice turkey,fresh aspagus
snack green grapes(1/2 c) sunflower seeds and iced tea

We arrived home today from a couple nights at the WA coast. It was quiet and relaxing ...all we did is walk the beach, and go out to eat (lunch), otherwise just stayed in the condo relaxing. We almost cancelled and I am glad we didn't. I love the ocean. I didn't really watch my eating that closely, but two of the three lunches had foods I didn't care for so I ate less because of that. Still got plenty calories but even bad food can help I guess! After my lunch each day I only ate MF meals (or my "adapted" ones) the rest of the day. So far the scale doesn't look any worse but tomorrow is weigh-in day and I really don't expect to lose. In fact I think I'll probably gain a pound or two because even before we left, I had gained one pound (typical) and it hadn't dropped off again as it usually does before a weigh-in. Not sure why because I had eaten ok but with that and the restaurant meals, I'm expecting a gain. I honestly don't mind if my weightloss slows down a little as long as I keep on losing slowly. At my age, if I keep losing too fast, my skin will not catch up and I'll be a sagging mess! So just as long as I lose some each month, I'll be satisfied now. I still have a lot of MF meals left...of course, most of my favorites are gone but I'll continue to eat them along with other things as needed.

Funny thing is that this time, my clavicles (collar bones) have gotten much more prominent! This never happened before...it's usually my lower ribs and hip bones that start sticking out (to me) when I lose weight. Even when I was young and very skinny my collar bones never really stuck out much. So I think it's because I'm older and my chest has fallen. I know for sure the boobs aren't where they used to be! Well collar bones are supposed to be sexy aren't they? It just feels wierd to me, like they are now more vulnerable to breaking or something...crazy, the things I think about!

Marie - Glad you are trying to work things out. I have learned from having two ds and two dd that men walk a very fine line between their wives and their mothers. They love their moms but they have to keep peace at home and sometimes it is difficult. Joe and I never had these issues because we had no family around.

Don't have time for more personals, sorry...I really need to get to bed. I'm looking forward to the gym tomorrow.

Hi Golden Girls!

Gayle, thanks for asking about me -- sorry it has taken me so long to be able to get back to post! I've been keeping up with posts, with a few gaps here and there (you've been my sanity as I read posts between reports I'm typing to break up the long nights), but work, school with the kids, etc. has been nuts and it's been all I can do to finish working at 2 or 3 a.m. and then get to bed before I have to do it all again the next day. Add to the usual schedule the fact that I was the "band mom" in charge of finding and scheduling band parents to work in the snack bars at the high school football games as a way to earn money for the band program, and every other Friday (when I didn't work my marathon-hour weekends) I was putting in a 5-hour shift in the snack bar due to not enough parents. When we had our last home game, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. :-)

Through it all, though, I've maintained my very slow but consistent weight loss trend and broke into the 150s last week! First time I've been below 160 since around our wedding, or maybe our first anniversary (and we celebrated 18 years in August!). With past attempts, I always stalled at around 162 and I really wondered if it was possible for me to break past it, so it was a pretty exciting sight for me when the scale dipped! Plus, it squeaked me out of "overweight" and into the "normal" BMI range (barely, but I'm claiming it!).

Starting this past Saturday, I decided to start walking again -- I've wanted to, just haven't figured out how time-wise. I didn't have to work this weekend, so I went out Saturday and again on Sunday for 3.5 miles each time. The outer front edge of my hips were sore, but otherwise it wasn't too bad considering the horrible amount of time I spend sitting for work! The last 2 days I decided I was going to keep up with it, though there was no daylight opportunity, so I've been putting the treadmill to good use -- at 11:30 at night, between jobs as a break. Not used to walking so late at night, but I figure any time is better than no time. :-) I'm sitting here "cooling off" from my walk before I head to bed, so it's my opportunity to catch up with all of you!

DonnaMarie -- I'm right there with you -- Golden Girl with an 11 year old (and a just-turned-9-year-old too, along with my 16 year old). :-) So glad to have the company!

Karen31 -- so happy for you that your keyboard arrived! I know you'll love it. It's not quite the same as a piano (ours is a few keys short, which bugged me at first) but it's a great substitute. One suggestion you may want to consider is purchasing a sustain pedal for your keyboard. There's one made for Yahama keyboards for about $25-30. My son asked for one for his birthday and allows you to hold out chords, etc., like you would on a real piano. Not a necessity, but something you may decide is worth it later.

Maryea-- A little while ago you were talking about cataracts and weren't ready for surgery yet. Reminded me of my mom when she finally had her surgery. She took the bandages off the next day and I had called to check on her. She said "Hey! Our refrigerator is white?" LOL -- all that time she thought it was beige because of the cataracts...the world was clear and beautiful for her after her surgery. :-)

Lynard -- hang in there with your daughter! My husband's daughter is bipolar as well and does great if she's on her meds, but she tends to stop for whatever reason she comes up with each time and the effects are brutal. I totally understand the trips to the psych hospitals, admissions, the delusions -- it's so hard! I'm thinking of you and hoping that your daughter is stabilized soon (my husband's daughter is in for a 40-day committment right now).

Zoe -- scary visuals with your icy commute. I'm glad you made it safely!

Marie -- I have another recipe for tomato soup that I'll post separately. I found it online after having it at a restaurant and loving it. I made it at home and the family loved it! Congratulations on the tandem bike, too!

Rosey -- Awesome accomplishments recently. I'm thrilled with your increased mobility!

I had other comments I had saved, but some are old and a couple I can't figure out (I guess I need to quit writing/reading late at night LOL).

One of my jobs is working at the school at lunchtime and watching over the kindergarteners, who say the cutest things! I thought I'd share a few - maybe it will become an intermittent feature of my posts if they keep me entertained with new ones. :-) We had some monarch butterflies around the playground and one of the teachers was telling them about catepillars and the chrysalis that is created -- so one of the kids spotted one and said "Teacher! Look! He went into his Christmas list!" Another little one was practicing writing and told his teacher "You always end a sentence with a pyramid." And a little girl was practicing today at recess and asked me to watch her do "cartonwheels." Gotta love 'em!

I joined here quite a while ago, used to post in the other 50+ thread. I am getting started over at my weight loss journey, tired of being sick and tired! I usually walk with friends 3x a week, but so far haven't went this week and the weather has been good here! I am heading out to clean up around our grain dryer this morning and I need to string some electric fence wire to replace some that is rusty, that should be some excercise for the day. I have lost weight before and know I can do it, cannot figure out why I can't get motivated, you would think that knowing I would feel so much better would be enough incentive, but this time its not! I tore my meniscus 6 mos ago and had surgery to reshape it, the pain was unbearable so needed the repair, found out both of my knees need replaced! the dr said definately do not gain any more weight, I gained 10 lbs over the summer, had a wisdom tooth pulled and was able to lose that, hoping I don't put that back on. I do best with low carb. Have a treadmill and 155 acres to roam, hubby is willing to go and walk, in fact when I go walk with my buddies he will go and walk a different route and he is willing to go the days I don't have my buddies. our school is starting water aerobics next week, so I am checking in to that too.
I am committing to checking in here at least every other day.
thanks for having me.
Need to get outside, but look forward to checking back in and commenting on your posts if you don't mind
Pam

Good Morning GG's,

It's still dark out! I don't like going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, but it's here again. So few of those beautiful fall days. I went to the Dr. yesterday to see what the MRI showed. I have a FX in my spine. I guess that explains why I was in so much pain. Much better now and I've even started exercising a bit. Halloween was fun, expecially seeing all the little kids. Not so fun the adult male, around 40, coming around with his bag asking for treats.

Darcy, it's so much fun, working around little kids. You never know what they are going to say. Good luck with the walking. I think it's great exercise.

Marie, love the new picture. I think I've told everyone before, but my entire family is heavy. My sister was stareing at me one day and asked what was wrong with my chest. Nothing. She came over and pointed to my collarbones and asked "what are these things". She thought I was deformed! She had never seen her colar bones.

Rosie, The wonton cups look so good. I'll make these for sure. How wonderful to have such good neighbors.

Lynn, so sorry to hear about you daughter. Mental illness is so terrible. so missunderstood. I think most people don't take their meds because most have such bad side effects.

Rie, Love the kids so direct request for candy! My nephue is so literal too, He dressed up as a zombie ( guess we're all watching Walking Dead). He had gunshot holes in his costume and he told peope "my daddy shot them, but not while I was wearing them".

Lynn, we gets lots of patients sent to rehab my their doctors to get them stronger for surgery. Another good reason to exercise.

Donna Marie, how creative you are. great costume.

Carol Sue, We see lots of colostomy reversals. With you losing weight and and exercising you are doing your part to make sure the surgery is successful. Good for you!

Marie, Benny is a really smart dog. I think I could bribe him with doggie treats to tell me the ending. He is very verbal too, and he has us trained so well.

Bobbi, Loved to see your sheets hanging on the line. I'm doing laundry today and hanging mine out too, probably for the last time. I'll soon be hanging them in the snow otherwise.

Karen, I know you'll get lots of enjoyment out of your new toy. We'll be right here for your frist recital.

Pam, we were posting at the same time. Good to meet you. Look forward to talking to you. and putting up the fence would be great exercise!

Freda

Hi Everyone,

Anonymous was OK - not great. Gives an alternative view of history - one in which the Lord of Essex is actually Elizabeth's son. In this view, Lord of Essex and Elizabether have an incestuous affair and a son. Shakespeare is an actor who is illiterate and cannot write. All of Shakespeare's works are actually written by the Lord of Essex.

I didn't really like this view of history. And, I was not crazy about the way the movie kept jumping back and forth in time.

On to my course. If there is not a lot to do there, I will come back for personals.

Lynn