Most people complain about Mondays...well I don't work so that's not an issue and I love Mondays! :D For me it's a pretty easy cleaning day (master bedroom and bath) and I get usually get back to the gym so I feel better about that. It's warm but only about 70 right now, I think it's to get to 85 today. I sweat a lot more than usual at the gym, but that might be my inner heater...I didn't really feel I was flashing but it started before I left the house. In fact I went outdoors to get cooler while waiting for dh to get ready.:?:

My back is better...had only a little pain yesterday and while I didn't get to sleep until after 1, I slept pretty well. I had also lain around most of the day and probably slept a little too. I'm getting to like naps;) I'm doing more of my PT exercises and think they are helping.

Dh has a scabby looking bump on the back of his neck and one on his arm near his elbow. I think it is psoriasis but on his dark skin it looks a little different than what I've seen on others. He's going to the dermatologist this afternoon. He tends to have skin issues, and some of our kids do too. So far I haven't but I do notice my skin is dry and itching a lot anymore.

Carole - Your brussel sprouts sounds good with the sea salt and cracked black pepper. I use kosher salt and ground pepper. I have sea salt in the shakers on the table but we only rarely salt our food at the table. I like both sea salt and kosher salt though and I like that many companies are now using it in their products. About triglycerides...I've never taken meds for that. There was a time when my lab was over 400 but then it dropped way down...not sure why. Now it's back up to 306 so more than twice what it should be. I'm cutting back on PB and Smart Balance. I rarely eat meat so don't get much fat that way. I don't eat sweets (except my mocha) on a daily basis and even when I do they are carb but rarely fat as I almost never eat chocolate or anything with nuts anymore. I've stopped eating restaurant desserts. I do still get one ice cream cone a month. It is true it would be very hard for me to really go low carb though I am trying to be more consistent about eating lower carb. Since I don't eat much meat, and am cutting back on my fat too, it is hard for me to get full without at least one carb and I usually have two at a meal. The strange thing is I don't really enjoy really fatty foods, they upset my tummy.... my fat slips in in small amounts of pb or SB throughout my day I guess. I'm sure eating right for good labs will always be a challenge for me! :dizzy:

All three of my kids are or will be moving soon...my dd has her house, our one son will hopefully have his soon and the other hopes to find a place in a few months. Talking about houses with them and viewing them sometimes makes me want to move, but really I love my home and really really love not having a mortgage! :D So our plan is still to stay right here. We are on one floor and have no stairs at all. I never liked stairs when I was young even...now I think if I were young I might like having them for the exercise, but I didn't think that way then and now at our ages I'm glad we don't have them. Hopefully neither of us will ever need a wheel chair but if we do I think we can mange in this house. Cooking would be harder but hopefully manageable. I have heard of homes that are made for the disabled...counters lower, easy opened doors etc. Door knobs can be changed to the lever kind quite easily...we have two that way already. I am very thankful that dh installed AC for us around 2000 ...can't imagine how we (and 4 kids) lived without it so long!

Glynne - Had to smile at your doing tail re-attachment surgery. You are a good grandma, never doubt it! You are a much better grandma that I.

Well I guess I'd better stop yakking and get busy ...have a good day.

I haven't been watching the Olympics on a steady basis but have seen some of it here and there. I am very proud of the American athletes who have done so well!! Today they showed a race where one of the female runners threw herself on the ground over the finish line in order to beat our American runner. I didn't think that was fair, but I guess the judges did.

Mary, my DIL uses sea salt, but I heard that it doesn't contain iodine so I don't buy it. I really don't know what the difference is. I don't like my food salty and I don't use much salt when I cook. I let people add salt at the table if they want it.

I hope your husband's skin problem is nothing serious. I have psoriasis on a large part of my body. The elbow is usually one of the first places it shows up, and the trunk, but I never heard of it on the neck. I guess anything is possible.

My chiropractor appointment went well. I was really sore when I left there. Last night wasn't too bad but I took Motrin. I feel great today, but my pain is usually only when I lie down. I hope I'm better by Thursday morning or I will have to cancel my sleep study for Monday night. If you don't cancel within 48 hours you are charged $300. I don't want to be paying that!! I'd really like to get this sleep study over with, but it wouldn't work very well trying to sleep with my back hurting.

The kids just left and dh is fishing so I'm alone right now. With no mocha mix (of my own, my dil has some), I made a "normal" breakfast for myself...eggs, toast and milk. It tasted good but my mind was still longing for my mocha.;) About the only difference in the nutrition is much more cholesterol in the eggs but also 16 gms more protein. My protein levels are always low normal and have been for many years, so don't think it's a problem. More protein is usually more filling however that doesn't seem to be true for me when I eat eggs...I always want to eat something else soon after. Probably just emotional. And I guess you'd have to call the mix a processed food something I normally don't eat much. I'm doing pretty well at eating intentionally but I still have a craving for licorice...not sure what's up with that. So far I've ignored it. Yesterday our dil gave dh some cashews they didn't like and he offered them to me...I easily turned them down and I love cashews...just didn't appeal to me at the time and I had no regrets. Nuts are healthy but with my triglicerides so high I don't need more fat.

No, sea salt (or Kosher) doesn't have iodine. It is added to the usual "table salt" among other things. Most people these days can get plenty iodine from eating fish and several other foods that most people commonly eat...and you only need a small amount. I like Kosher salt for cooking...it is coarser grained and sometimes if it's it's very large I grind in our coffee grinder (we never use it for coffee..:D). It's great at bringing out the flavor of food and I think I use less since it's coarser. I prefer either sea salt or kosher also because both have less additives than the usual "table salt." I don't like a lot of salt but I do prefer to salt my food when cooking and then we rarely use the table salt.

Dh does have psoriasis as I thought....he's picking up some cream today but I am also going to have him try one of my essential oils that I've read is helpful for it too. I've seen psoriasis lesions all over bodies...head to feet. I've seen very large lesions. Dh's are only about 1 1/2-2 in. wide. My oldest son used to have it when he was small...I didn't know what it was til the doctor told me. His was on his scalp and his chest. The doctor didn't give me anything for it but I'd soak him in Vasaline Intensive Care Bath Oil Beads and the lesions would go away. He says he still gets it now and then but not bad. I feel that dry skin contributes to it, but it is thought to be an immunity disorder.

Well I 've been working on this post off and on for a long time...time to close and get to other things. You all have a good day! I see the sun has finally come out here.

Our older son came early this morning with his so and baby. She is really growing...seems longer now and is talking and grabbing everything. Says da-da and although our son says he's not sure, it is obvious she is calling him. She turns and looks right at him when she says it....I think he is secretly pleased.;) Oh and she has one tooth, actually she's had it a while, and is biting everything incl mama. (ouch!). We walked around the back yard...our son always likes to do that..he loves growing things and he has to check on his grapes he planted here. He helped pick up some dog poop too so he is helpful. With two dogs now it keeps dh busy. We sent our son home with some green peppers from our garden.

Mama is now selling Lularoe too...so I have two consultants in the family. She will not be working with my dd though as she signed up under a friend.
Speaking of Lularoe, I bought three new tops....a very colorful red one (with lots of other colors in it), plus a brown one and a olive green one. Hoping the last two match a skirt I have.

Today I need to change the kids' sheets and clean my office, but I didn't have a clean fitted sheet so had to start a load of laundry first. With the larger hamper bags, I don't wash often enough sometimes.:dizzy: I'm feeling very lazy and don't want to do anything really. We went to the gym and I'm tired I guess...that's my excuse anyway but dh is working in the yard. The kids went to get registered for school. For the little ones it will be a new school and they want to get them all in the same school. Looks like their house will be busy next week in time for school, so that's good.

Last night's dinner was fried cod (I had planned to bake but dh wanted it fried and it is tastier), served with a lot of chopped up raw veggies...tomatoes, sweet onion, cucumber and radishes; and rice. Topped with a little soy sauce, yummy! I still have some leftover veggies for lunch today. I did very well on my eating plan...and even ate a few praline pecans..and still had cals and carbs left but decided to not eat anymore. Felt very satisfied. Hope I continue to do this well. Breakfast this morning was oatmeal, a little milk and tiny bit of brown sugar.

Have to take my bs now...you all have a good day..

Good afternoon GG's,

It has been dark and dreary and drippy all day. Raining some every day the last few days. Some of the days, it has cleared off and the sun came out later in the day. Other days, dreary all day. I know the rain is good so it doesn't get too dry ~ thankfully we are not getting the flooding again ~ and having the troubles like in Louisiana. But, I like sunshine better ~ I feel in better spirits and a little more peppy when it is sunny.

Two more days for Maddie with us (all day ~ we'll still have her after school), then school starts for her on Monday.

Made a pot of chili yesterday and some cupcakes with Maddie. Made a pot of soup today. The frosting for the cup cakes was a recipe I found on Pinterest ~ seemed like it would be more healthy than the regular recipes for frosting with powdered sugar and margerine. It was made with cool whip and instant pudding. Very easy and less calories and fat ~ just right ~ lightly sweet. There are other versions of the recipe with more ingredients, but this one worked for us. You just mix the packet of dry pudding powder (small box 4 – ½ cup servings) into the cool whip (an 8 oz container of light cool whip). That's it ~ how much easier could it be?

Mary ~ every time I see leggins ~ it makes me think of you.

Carol Sue ~ I hope your back pain is better and that you are able to keep your sleep study appointment.

Sandy ~ did you have a nice day out the other day? It sounded like it was gonna be a busy one, but a good one.

My eating was not too bad on the trip ~ came back and had lost 3 pounds and at my diabetes doctor visit, my A1c was good ~ they were pleased with that. But, I kind of splurged after I got home. I had my birthday while on the trip and though I don't need it ~ kind of felt cheated because I didn't get to have a piece of cake or anything. So, after being home, I decided to have myself a little birthday dinner after my doctor's appointment ~ I wanted a slice of pizza from Sam's, but my doctors appointment ran late and there wasn't time for that, so I bought a Lean Cuisine little pizza, a little single slice of cheese cake (for my cake) and a little container (like 5 oz) of ice cream. I wish I had waited till another day for the slice of pizza ~ the Lean Cuisine one was ok, but not like a regular piece of pizza. And the ice cream (said something about lower fat on the container) was kind of a little disappointing. Oh well. Confession ~ while on the trip, I kept seeing fudge in some of the gift shops and I wanted some, but knew Steve would ~ if not say anything ~ give me those rolling eyes ~ so I didn't buy any, but the thought of it kept nagging at me, so I made some. I have a recipe I like that makes really tasty fudge ~ I cut the recipe down to 1/8 of a recipe ~ so it made just a few pieces and enjoyed that. Of course, the weight I lost came back and a little more. Always after being away like that and not following my regular routines of what and when I eat, it takes me a few days to get back into the routine. The last few days, I have been back on track and the weight has started dropping again. Now, if I can just keep it up and make some new progress.

Hope you all have had a good day.

Happy Belated Birthday, Gayle!! It's OK to have a birthday treat! I occasionally buy a small Atkins pizza from the frozen food dept. I see coupons for it in WW magazine. Glad that you're back on track and losing. It might also help you not having Maddie there as much. You won't be as tempted to eat the things she wants.

My back is still OK. I have been using a pillow under my knees when I lie on my back and between my knees when I lie on my side. No laying on the right side, which seems to start the pain.

I'm glad you didn't have any trouble with the flooding. It's terrible, as well as the fires in CA.

Mary, I think the dry skin comes from having the psoriasis. It is caused when your skin cells reproduce faster than they should, faster than the old skin cells die. They push the old skin cells up and it cuts off their blood supply and they dry up. That's the way I understand it. I have a lot of it. It is around my waist area, on my butt, and on my legs. A little bit on my arms. Getting sun on it helps some. I think that's why it's not on my arms so much. Right now it's not too bad. I hardly have any on my elbows, which is one of my worse spots. I am glad that when I am dressed normally it can't be seen. When it's on my elbows, I wear 3/4 length sleeves. I just use OTC lotions to counteract the dryness. It is worse in the winter when you aren't out in the sun as much, and skin seems drier anyway.

Mary, I think if you eat something that's not what you really want it doesn't satisfy you as much as what you really wanted. Such as eating eggs rather than your mocha. I love eggs and they are very satisfying to me. I think they are my favorite food. I am losing interest in a lot of foods, but it's not helping my weight any. I think that's because I still eat them, but I'm just not enjoying them as much. So many times I want something, not out of hunger, but I just want to eat something, but I can't think of anything that I want. This is when I wish I lived alone because most of the time I eat because DH wants something. He loves to eat out, but I can never find anything on the menu that interests me so I end up ordering a salad of some sort. They are not always low calorie, but they usually have some type of protein in them, along with the veggies.

New experience last night...checked my bs before bed and it was only 63. I have never been that low...and was beginning to feel it and was finally hungry which I hadn't been most of the day. Maybe eating this way IS filling me up more, I don't know. Anyway, I ate 3/4 apple, 2 bacon sand (5 thin strips bacon on low cal/carb bread and 2 pickles on each. No spread. I never use spread of any kind. I also drank 1/2 c NF milk. I was still shaky when I went to bed but my bs was then 95, so I felt safe. It was it's usual high this morning. I slept in til a little after 10 this morning...but I'd was up at 5:30 to say goodbye to my son. He went bear hunting with his brother...first time for both of them, and I was a little concerned about it. Praying they are safe. Anyway, I was up and down until about 6:30 and even then lay awake for a long time, then fell back to sleep and overslept. Dh went with dil to help with kids while they get haircuts. Then we are to babysit a little while again tonight.

I had oatmeal again for breakfast today...this time with the remaining 1/4 apple from yesterday. It was good but I still miss my mocha.

I just realized I'm behind in my cleaning schedule ...due to my laziness the other day. So I need to vac the office, dust and vac the hall, and clean the main bath today...need to also clean the tub and shower this time. This is usually pizza night but not sure whether it will be since son is hunting. So maybe we will go out.

I ended up buying three tops! Didn't intend to but my dd got in a beautiful blue top that will (I think) match several things I have. I have 2 darker blue but this is more of a sky blue and she knew I'd like it so waited to send my other order til I could check it out. So I bought a kind of rust brown, an olive green and a blue. I haven't shopped as much as I have in the past year in many many years! And I still need things to wear around the house and to the gym and I'd like some new sandals. Never ends! :dizzy: I'm hoping to lose enough weight to wear jeans again too.

Glynne - I haven't been wearing my leggings ...too warm...but I will again when the weather gets cooler. It's suppose to be 100 degrees today! I agree it's ok to have a birthday treat! If it had been me, I'd probably have bought the fudge, despite the eyes rolling.:D

Carol - Didn't know that about psoriasis and dryness. Just know Joe's always had a problem with dry skin...and he's had other rash issues too but not so much for a few years until now with the psoriasis. He uses Aveeno nightly and after showers as it's the only lotion that has helped him. Showering only every other day has helped him too. My kids's skin has always been dryer than mine. Not sure about my younger boy but the oldest boy and the girls and this boy was the one with psoriasis when he was little and my oldest girl has eczema. I've never had skin issues other than my face has gotten kind of blotchy as I've aged...mostly since I turned 70.


Time to get to work..

It is 94 degrees now and supposed to get to 101 I think. All I know is, it's hot! We went to the gym and then to a couple grocery stores. I'm serving Saucy Baked Chicken, sauteed spinach (I think) and rice tonight. The chicken recipe is new and the sauce is sloppy Joe sauce, so will be interesting to see if we all like it. Last night we ate at Olive Garden...I got the grilled chicken Padillas and ate three of four. I will not order them again though as they are too cheesy...I did like the spinach in them. We also shared salad and I probably had two cups of that with only a little dressing (ordered on side). I declined dessert. Yea! Then did not have anything more before bed. And I have dropped a pound so I'm glad I was careful!!:carrot: Have to remember how good it feels to lose even a pound when I'm tempted to eat. I couldn't think what to eat this morning, didn't want oatmeal or eggs again, so I drank a SlimFast shake. When we got to the store I felt very weak, shaky but I took my bs in the car and it was 211. But I went by the way I felt and ate a couple small samples and I felt better and when I got in the car again my bs was ok. My previous doctor told me that it isn't the number so much as it is how fast your bs is dropping and mine had to be dropping fast to get down that fast.

Lots of emotional stuff going on last night, but the kids went to the river today so hoping they work things out. They think they have lost the house and I know that was a tremendous disappointment and that's probably at least part of it. It's like they've been led along all this time, things would come up and the realtor would say don't worry, it's just a little thing it will work out and now this. There is another meeting going on today so there may be a chance so will see. We were very sad last night but after praying we feel at rest about it.

I didn't get my kitchen floor cleaned yesterday so hoping to do that at least today while the kids are gone. If I can also weekly clean the living room that would be good.

How hot is it where you live now? Hope you are all surviving the heat.
Take care...sip cold beverages and stay in AC.;)

Some stretches I did today. I'm trying to do a few extra exercises in addition to my PT exercises and my bike at home or going to the gym. These are fairly easy. I try to hold them for 30 sec but do what you can. If you can at least hold for 20 sec it's most beneficial from what I've been told.

http://www.prevention.com/fitness/st...851_0001565656

Got up late today because I didn't sleep well, and the more I moved around the more my arm hurt plus my head and eyes were hurting. I am using the lubricating drops several times a day but seems like the more I take them the more my eyes hurt. And sometimes it goes up to my head so it's like mild headaches...sometimes in my eyes it hurts a little more but usually it's mild but annoying. Otherwise I'm fine. We are babysitting tonight for about 4 hours, praying I can do it. They got the house (if they don't bring up something more! :dizzy:) and they said they should get the key next week. I thought with all that's been going on they probably need a night out alone so that's why I agreed to babysitting.

We didn't care for last night's dinner (Saucy Chicken) but our son and dil seemed to like it pretty well. Not sure yet what we are doing tonight. Dh may want to cook or I may fix Spanish Noodles and Ground Beef. I'm a little afraid it might be too spicy for him though.

Didn't get my kitchen floor mopped so maybe today. Going to be a hot day. Dh is out there getting things done in the yard before it heats up too much.
I'd like to get my nails done but not sure I can get in as Sat are busy.

Because of the heat I bought some popsicles and fudgesicles. Knew the kids would like them and help me eat them. They are the low cal kind and the popsicles are sugar free. Was a little worried I might overeat on them but so far I've done well. Really thinking before I eat so hope I keep that up. My weight was down a 1/2 # this morning.

Seems like I'm the only one posting. Hope you are all doing ok.

Mary, I hope the kids really did get the house and nothing more comes up. I know they were probably very disappointed thinking they didn't get it. I think your prayers did the trick.

For some reason, no food tastes very good to me lately. In a way that's a good thing, but I'm eating it anyway. Just don't understand what's causing this.

Good evening GG's,

Well, by the time I get done typing this, it will probably be morning ~ probably is already morning for some of you.

Sorry Mary ~ don't mean to make you feel like you are the only one here and posting all alone. I read every day ~ check several times a day to see if anyone has added anything. I should just say hi every day ~ even if there is nothing to tell.

That is why I don't post every day. Sometimes nothing very exciting to tell. Same old eating struggles. I keep busy, but don't do things that are very interesting for you all to read about. And no one wants to hear the family drama that is more of my life than I would like for it to be.

I was up too late Friday night ~ an online friend couldn't sleep and I hadn't gone to bed yet and get lonesome, so I visited with her until she got sleepy.

So, I slept later in the morning than I usually do. That made it seem ~ when I look back on the day like ~ where did the day go?

It is starting to come back to me now.

I got to talk to mom. I fooled around on the Kindle thing trying to find an ebook I had downloaded to another device. And trying to find how to adjust the brightness of the screen ~ my eyes seem to need a lot of light these days.

Then trying to get a word processor program on Jason's laptop. Used to be the lap tops came with a microsoft word processor program loaded onto them. But the last couple we have bought, had no word processor program at all. Steve downloaded a free one (Apache Open Office) to mine, so we were trying to get that on Jason's.

Jason took a class a couple weeks ago to retrain for another job and was wanting to type his notes from the class into the computer ~ to help him remember the information and have it so he could study for the test he has to take for it.

He came over then to study some and for his dad's help ~ showing him how to highlight things to make it easier to pick out what is important to remember.

He brought me his work jacket ~ the zipper had broken and he needed it fixed to wear to work tomorrow. So, I ran to JoAnn Fabric and got the zipper. Came back, had something to eat, then began working on that jacket. Then (would usually have been the day to do the vegetable project) worked on the vegetables ~ since Jason was coming here, I told him to bring them with him and I would work on them while he studied.

We had Maddie this evening while mama spent time with some friends.

And woosh ~ there went the day. Forgive me if I don't do the personals tonight. I'd better stop fooling around on here and get to bed. I like it better when I don't stay up too late and wake up earlier (around 7 or 8 in the morning). Later than that and I feel like I have wasted my day. I guess I am more of a morning person than a night person. Funny how we are all different. Steve stays up until 2 or 3 am and gets up at 10 or 11 in the morning. That works for him, but I wouldn't like that. I think after working the night shift for 30 years, I had enough of that and want to enjoy being awake and doing things in the daytime.

Hope you all are having a good weekend and are able to maybe get a good rest tonight.

We just got home from church and Costco. Since we were there picking up a few items we shared a slice of pizza. I didn't realize so many people shop there on Sun as we don't often go then, it was really busy. It's pleasantly warm at 73 degrees so far today. After I got the groceries put away, I went out and worked on my roses a bit. I'll actually be glad when they die off at least most of them, the ones with thorn...there is one that has no thorns and it blooms beautifully again and again plus is very fragrant so I hope I can keep that one going. Otherwise I'd be happy to get rid of the roses and plant another shrub there or maybe tulips...we used to have tulips and I miss them. Our corn stalk has grown well...it's a bit taller than me now and has one large husk of corn. I'm trying to pollinate it from it's own tassel (the thingy at the top) as I read that works. It said when the silk (at the end of the corn husk) is all brown it's pollinated...ours is partly brown right now. I'm
mostly just curious whether it will work. I just hope the corn does not attract rodents into our front yard. We used to have three squirrels but I haven't seen them for a while and we've had mice now and then in our back yard, but since dh cut away all the vines I think they are gone. I don't mind a squirrel or two but don't want mice or rats! Ugh! I also know we've occasionally had signs of possums or raccoons on our roof. Again ugh!

Things are happier around here now that hopes are up for the house again, so we are sure praying they get it. ;) I know this has been hard on them. I was so busy this week...with me getting up late, it is hard to get a lot done esp if I go out. So I never did get my kitchen floor mopped...it needs a good sweeping, but it at least it didn't get so messy this week. ETA: the kids were very good last night and my prayed for strength came to me...I wasn't hurting and was able to handle it all well.

Glynne - I don't have anything much to write about either Glynne...I figure I bore you with my writing about nothing but it's all I have to write about. I love my life but I figure a lot of it wouldn't interest anyone else. So if you read mine, I'll read yours LOL I think it's interesting just to hear about other people's lives. Even if they are similar to ours, that is rather consoling or something too. I was reminded of my nursing days when I read how you couldn't remember what you'd done. One day in nursing lab (in hospital) my nursing instructor suddenly came up to me and asked what I'd done all shift...I couldn't for the life of me think of anything I'd done even though I felt I'd worked my butt off! :dizzy: I'm glad you got to talk to your mom. Is she still sounding ok and not so confused? Do you know that Amazon keeps your list of books on the site and you can go there and download them to any device? I find it helpful sometimes. Glad too you got time with your son and that you have a good relationship with him. We got to see our older son again for about an hour or so as he came to get his kayak which we have been keeping for him. He and his fam are camping this weekend. I think I told you the boys went bear hunting on Friday. They didn't see any bear and ended up with a flat tire so it was kinda disappointing for them but they knew that might happen and even though it was a hot day they said it wasn't bad in the woods. All that tramping around is good exercise I guess and they enjoy just hanging out together after 20 years apart.

I've always been an evening person...and maybe up to 12 or 1 pm, but I'm usually in bed by at least 12 more like 11:30. In fact this summer I've been going to bed quite a lot by 10:30, but I usually don't get to sleep until much later. I don't have trouble getting up but I do get my best sleep in early ams...have always been that way. When I worked day shift ....I had to get up at 4:30 and I hated that! First, because I had to leave my kids (2 were small) to get off to school by themselves and second, I just hated getting up because that's when I would normally have been sleeping well. At least I didn't work full time although many months it was close to that esp in the beginning. In 1991 I got a different position (same company, same facility) and it was an office job (except I did the new patient assessment) and then I didn't have to be there until later. I chose to go in at 10 am and worked until 6 pm...perfect hours for me but it meant dh had to fix dinner during the week...in that job I had all major holidays and weekends off which I loved. I loved that job and felt so blessed to get it...I was so burned out on the floor and felt something had to change and one day it finally did! :D It felt like a miracle to me! I've had a few things happen in my life like that and it always truly amazes me.

Carol - I've been a little like that too lately....no food really interests me. I still eat but not as much. Remember how hard it used to be for me to get through an evening without eating? Well, now it doesn't bother me much...sometimes I'll think about it but I'm not really tempted. Recently we had popsicles in the house since it's been so hot. They were very low calorie and no sugar so I did eat some of them. They were the only thing that sounded good...them and iced tea. I think the hot weather is part of it with me, but I sure hope this new change lasts. Our pastor was talking about how we are to take care of our body as well as our spirits and I really want to do that.

Tomorrow I see my doctor again...this time about my shoulder/arm but he said he will also talk with me about my slightly high cholesterol and I suspect my high triglycerides.:^: I am eating much more intentional recently and when I realize like today I got a lot of fat in one meal, I try to cut out the fat the rest of the day. Hopefully that will help if I keep that up.

Hope I haven't bored you all too much. Glynne - wish you lived close so we could do breakfast (or lunch) together now and then again. Same with you, Carol and Sandy. Have a good Sunday.

Good evening GG's,

Another dark dreary day part of today ~ some of it was sunny. I guess ~ because of the dryness and fires in other areas of the country ~ I am thankful for the rain. Thankful too, that we are not having so much rain that we have the flooding we had earlier in the year or like the poor people in Lousiana are having.

Mary ~ I guess I will just write about what I do ~ even if it doesn't seem very interesting ~ maybe ~ like you said it is fun for others to hear what life is like for someone else/somewhere else. Trouble is, I get on a roll and the words just come pouring out ~ and it gets kind of long. Sorry.

I had worked on fixing Jason's jacket and his vegetables yesterday, so today had to get those things to him before he went to work. In the morning while I was waiting for him to get up, I worked on inputting information into the several lists I have on my phone. I had the info on my old phone, but got a new one and wanted to keep some of those same lists. Like a To Do list, a birthday card list, a list of store hours of the stores that I go to ~ things like that. I can't remember all that stuff in my head ~ LOL. I had done part of it while waiting for Steve and Maddie while they went on a horse back ride while we were on our trip. I finished most of the rest of it this morning ~ just have some more of the store hours list to finish.

I left before Jason sent me a message that he was up and around. So, I got part of my errands done while waiting for him to be ready to let me in with his stuff.

I have to share this adventure with you all. At first it was annoying, then the more it went on ~ it got funny ~ I couldn't help but laugh about it. The first part of my errands was at the Dollar Tree store ~ they have good prices for greeting cards, so I use my list and get what I need for a couple months for birthdays or what ever. Anyway, I was in that store coming to the check out, and there was this little girl who was just shrieking ~ an ear splitting, high pitched shriek ~ it didn't seem like she was having a tantrum ~ not sure ~ or maybe she just liked making that noise. Anyway, I was having somewhat of a headache, so it hurt my head having to listen to that. I know it wasn't just me that was bothered by it. The cashier had her hands over her ears. I got checked out and left to go deliver the stuff to Jason, then went on to Walmart to finish my errands. I walked through that door and heard that same shrieking ~ same little girl, same family. What are the odds of that? Oh my. They were headed to the grocery part of the store. So, I went to another part of the store to find the non-grocery items that were on my list. I sent a text to Jason, telling him about it. I was half a store away from them and could still hear that little girl. I finished getting the things I needed in other parts of the store, then headed to the grocery part. I got a text from Jason saying ~ well, at least that is over now. The funny part is ~ right after I got that text, guess who comes along in the same aisle I was in ~ you gussed it ~ that same shrieking little girl ~ still shrieking. I texted him back telling him that ~ said he spoke too soon ~ next thing I know ~ they are right beside me ~ I texted that to him. It was so ridiculous ~ it just kept getting funnier and funnier as it unfolded. They went on and in a different direction ~ thank goodness. I went on to the produce section of the store. Came upon another family with kids and soon, one of those kids was shrieking. Guess it was just not my day. LOL. The headache which wasn't too bad at the beginning of this was now just pounding. Finally it is gone now ~ took a while.

Is it full of the moon? People just acting up. Even having difficulties (more than usual ~ LOL ~ maybe) with my husband today. That has been kind of funny and not funny all at the same time too. I was telling him about how I keep a shopping list on my phone. Then he wants me to come to the other room to share with me a different way I could do my shopping list. He has this electronic thing (he loves gadgets/technology) called an Echo ~ from Amazon. It is kind of like the Siri on the iPhones ~ you can ask it things and it will give you answers if it can, and it will do stuff you ask it to ~ like tune in a certain radio station. So, he was showing me how you can tell it to add items to your shopping list and it will go on the list on your phone ~ the phone has to be synced with this Echo device.

Well, that wasn't handy for me ~ I usually have my phone by me, so it is just easy for me to add items to the list on the phone. To have his gizmo add it to my list, I would have to go to the other room to talk to it ~ not handy. He got all ugly with me because I wanted to just keep doing it like I am used to doing it. If something makes sense to me, I am willing to try it, but if it makes things harder for me, I don't need that. He was trying to help, but he doesn't seem to get it that what works for one person, doesn't necessarily work for another one.

I try to tell him that everyone doesn't do things the same way. Like at the hospital ~ they recognized that patients do/learn in different ways. That was part of our admission questions ~ do they learn best by reading, watching a video, having someone explain it to them etc. So, this people doing things in different ways is a valid thing, but he seems unwilling to accept that, and gets mad at me if I don't change the way I do something ~ so that he can play with some gadget. Maybe having someone make use of these gadgets he gets is how he can justify in his mind the money he has spent on it. Sigh......Again, I ask ~ is it full of the moon? LOL.

Mary ~ I hope that things work out with that house for your son's family (and for you and Joe too). Mom is doing pretty good and sounds good when I call. So much better than in the spring when those labs were off and it seemed like she wasn't gonna make it. I almost hate to say anything ~ jinx it or what ever. Some days, her speech/words are a little hard, here and there, to understand, but better than it was. And she will comment appropriately to things I say. The other day, she was being silly and making noises, and I made them back to her. I told her if anyone heard us having this conversation, they might think they needed to send the men in white coats to get us. I started to sing to her that funny song from back in the 60's ~ they're coming to take me away. We both started laughing ~ she said that would be ok as long as they carried her.
The admissions job you had sounds like a dream job. For a year, I had sort of my dream job ~ it was when I started being the secretary of my unit (didn't want to do the nurse thing anymore ~ too stressful). When I started that secretary job ~ it was for every weekend 7 am to 11 pm ~ every Saturday and Sunday ~ 16 hours. That was 32 hours a week and was considered full time ~ so I could get my health insurance, and get my whole work week over in those two days. I was off Monday through Friday. I loved that ~ the only bad part was that my family did stuff on the weekends because that is when their days off were ~ so I always missed out on stuff with them. At one time at my job in NC, I worked the 3-11 shift. At the time, I liked that ~ it was just Steve and I ~ the kids were grown and gone at that point in time. He worked late ~ so sometimes, I would get off work and we would meet and go out to a late supper. I liked those hours because I would come home from work, unwind for a bit, go to bed ~ and sleep until when ever I woke up without having to set an alarm and still have plenty of time to get ready for work and all. I even had a walking routine and did that faithfully every day, then would start my getting ready for work routine. I think it was during that time that I got down to the lowest weight I had been at for years. But, eventually ~ even though I liked those hours, I got weary of the long drive ~ to beat the traffic and be able to get to work on time, I had to leave an hour and a half before I was to be there. 3 hours a day of travel time. So, I went back to the 12 hour night shift and worked 3 days one week and 4 days the other week. I had more days off, less days I had to make that long drive, but my good habits of walking and eating kind of eventually fell by the wayside and the weight crept back up. Sigh.......

That would be fun Mary if we lived nearby each other ~ to get together every once in a while.

Carol Sue ~ glad your back is doing ok. Have you had your sleep study yet? What you say about eating something that isn't really what you want and it not being satisfying ~ is true. For me, that has to do with eating the wrong things. If I try to substitute something healthier for the thing I really want, I end up eating a bunch of stuff and then end up having the thing I wanted in the first place. I think I would have consumed less calories ~ even if the thing I ate was a bad thing ~ by eating what I wanted in the first place, instead of all those other things and then the bad thing too.

Sandy ~ hope all is well with you.

I keep thinking of Karrine and Nan ~ wonder how they are doing ~ prayers for them continue.

Well, Maddie is back to school tomorrow. I won't know what to do with myself ~ LOL. My mom used to say ~ I bet you will figure it out real fast. There is no shortage of things that need doing. I have some sewing projects I need to finish. Had enjoyed some time using pools sometimes at the hotels while on our trip ~ so want to go to the pool at the “Y” and do some water walking.

Hope you all have had a good weekend.

Today I go to the sleep lab at 8PM for the sleep study. I know it takes them a while to get you ready, hooking everything up. I am taking a pair of french terry capris and a big tee shirt to sleep in. I usually wear nightgowns but they said a 2 piece set, probably because of all the wires they have to hook up. I am so tired, I would love to lie down for a nap, but I specifically didn't get much sleep last night, hoping to make myself really tired so I will sleep tonight during the sleep study. I usually go to bed by 10, 9 if there's a show I want to watch. Last night I was on the computer late, and went to bed around midnight. I think I fell asleep rather quickly, got up for the bathroom around 1:30 then got up around 6 AM. I am going to ask them about getting up for the bathroom, since I know I will probably have to get up at least once.

I have tried 3 different CPAP masks the past few weeks. One is definately out, and I have to decide between the other two. I tried one night to sleep with my original one and I hated it now, after using the other ones. It has a piece that goes around and under my chin and that's so uncomfortable now that I've used the ones that are so unintrusive.

Gayle, that was something about the screaming child. Sometimes we see people in a store, then later in another store. I never had children, but DH said when you're out somewhere and your child starts to scream there isn't a lot you can do about it. I know it's really annoying, expecially when you have a headache.

DH can get like Jason sometimes when he wants you to do something his way and you want to do it your way. Most of the time I just don't want to change the way I do things. I keep a shopping list on the kitchen counter next to the phone. I've done that for years. My kids and DH always knew where it was and would write things down as we got low. Most of the time they wouldn't write them down until we were completely out! LOL When I leave to go to the store, I just pick up that list and put it in my pocket. The phone list would be nice, but not as easy for DH to add things.

There is an eating plan called Intuitive Eating. It is supposed to break the habit of binge eating. It says to eat when you're hungry, stop when your satisfied, not stuffed, and eat what you want. I think it's important to eat what you want, especially in a case like ours, where we keep eating until we end up eating what we wanted in the first place. What we wanted might not be as healthy, but you eat less in the long run. I lot of being satisfied has to do with what you ate, not just how much.

Mary, I am the opposite of you. I am a morning person, always have been. My mother never had trouble getting me up for school. And I never had to be sent off to bed. I went to bed when I got tired, usually before it was late. I still don't stay up late unless I force myself to like I did last night, and I still wake up very early. It has only been in the past year or so that I have been able to fall back to sleep until 8 or 9 in the AM. After 5 PM I am useless. I usually just sit and watch TV or read. I go into the bedroom early to watch TV since DH is watching something on the TV in the living room, and most times I fall asleep watching.

Hope the kids get the house, and hope your doctor appointment goes well.