Mary, I do all my exercising at home, and it sometimes requires a lot of discipline to do it. I have a list of reasons why it's better (for me) than going to a gym.

1. In the time it takes me to get to and from the gym, my workout is half over.
2. I don't have to worry about what I'm wearing, what I look like.
3. I don't have to wait for someone else to get off a piece of equipment, or get off sooner because someone is waiting.
4. I don't have to worry about someone else leaving the machine all covered with sweat.
5. I am in control of the TV or music that's playing.

I realize that not everyone has the extra room for the equipment, or the money to buy the equipment. Some love the comadarie of the other people at the gym. It's just what works for me.

Something terrible happened yesterday and I don't really know why. We went out for dinner. After that we did some shopping, and in the grocery store, I didn't feel good. I felt a little weak and tired, and had some discomfort in my jaw. I usually associate the jaw pain with a heart issue. I really didn't have a high carb dinner. I took 1 mg of Amaryl, and I ate steak and grilled shrimp. Veggies, and a small portion of mac and cheese. I ate about 1/2 cup of that. No bread. No potatoes. No dessert. When I got home I checked my BS and it was 509!! No wonder I felt terrible! From what I read online, I should have gone to the ER, but instead I took 2 Amaryl, total of 4 mg. Then I drank 3 glasses of water. I woke up around 3 AM and checked BS again and it was 130. I was so glad. I have no idea how that happened. Now that I think about it, that could have been caused by something on my hands when I tested, and I probably should have washed my hands and checked it again. But, if it wasn't really 509, the Amaryl I took would have caused a hypo, so I think it was right. I don't know why that happened. I can't think of anything I ate that could have had hidden sugars or carbs. Normally when we eat out I just get water to drink, but yesterday I ordered Diet Coke. I'm wondering if she brought me regular Coke by mistake. I don't know if that would have taken my blood sugar that high, but I am back to water from now on. I carry extra meds in my purse, but don't always carry my testing meter. I was really scared, and right now I'm sworn off all carbs, but I don't know how long that's going to last.

Sandy, regarding adding pictures. While you are typing your message, click on "Go Advanced" at the bottom of the page. Scroll down to where you see your post in the little box. Click on the paperclip in the top row. That will bring up another little box. At the top, click on "browse." From there you can go to your pictures you have saved on your computer. Click on the one you want, then click "open." That will take you back to the little box and from there you click "upload." You have to make sure you don't get a message that says "upload failed." It will do that if your picture is too big, for example. The picture will not show in your post, but go ahead and click "submit reply." When you see your post the link to the picture will be there. Actually, you can keep clicking on browse and adding more pictures if you want, but they will not show up until after you submit. It took me a pretty long time to learn this. LOL There might be other ways to do it, but this is how I do it.

This is Rusty's favorite spot in the house. LOL Up on the back of the couch. He's so happy he's allowed up there, and isn't happy when we have company sitting on the couch.

Wow that's a high BS, Carol, glad it came down! My concern when I was reading it was that you might rebound with so much Amaryl at once but I don't know the max of that stuff. My doctor has told me to only take up to four mg/day and I noticed that when I added the last 2 mg, I saw no more difference than I had with just 3 mg. Drinking the three glasses of water was definitely good. Anyway it obviously worked and I can imagine your relief. Hope the high BS didn't do too much damage. That is scary!

Dh just got a new meter and he is seeing a large difference between it and an older meter we have. We usually keep this older meter in the car to use when we are out. I was concerned about the changing temperatures with it being in the car and maybe that affecting it, however the readings on it have never been much different than on my regular meter. But with dh's new meter, it is very different. He gets MUCH lower readings on the new meter. I told him to use the test solution and make sure his new meter is accurate. I have never done that test so don't know how it works but he has the instructions. Forgot to ask if he did it, will try to remember to ask him today.
My morning bs are still high even with the additional med, but the rest of the day I do pretty well. Last night I ate too much snack, but this morning my test was no worse...still in the same range it usually is.

Carol - Your little dog is very cute! I'll try and post a pic of Halo too when I have time to look for one.

I declutter my jewelry yesterday and threw out a lot of old earrings and single ones. I tend to lose them a lot. I should get rid of a lot of necklaces and bracelets but can't get myself to do it...keep thinking I might wear them someday. I doubt I will esp the bracelets as they tend to make my arm sore. I can wear a watch but bracelets bother me. Also went through the miscl drawer...found lots of little makeup bags, buttons and sewing supplies, measuring tape etc. and didn't get rid of anything but some instructions for two old watches. Guess I'm not accomplishing much with the decluttering this way.

Dh went for lunch with two guy friends. I lay in bed really late even though I slept pretty well. The essential oils are helping me sleep. Today I am now moving onto my books with the decluttering. This will be hard. I have a large number of books. They are scattered between the family room (I went through these already), my office and our bedroom. So this will be a big job and it is hard for me to part with books esp if I haven't read them. I will clean my office while I do it. I also need to mop the kitchen floor.

We tried the second Blue Apron meal last night and unfortunately we didn't like it very well either. It was Cod fish tacos. The fish was good but we didn't care for the cabbage slaw. Tonight is Spring Chicken Fettuccine. Hopefully we will like it. I guess we just eat differently other people.

What are you all doing for Mothers Day? I don't know yet as no one has mentioned it except my dd asked me what we are doing the other day, but nothing more was said. Perhaps we will just go out to eat after church.

Well, need to get started instead of just talking about what I have to do.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE

Nan has finished her radiation treatments and is now on IV Bone Strengthening medicine. Next up will be chemo. She is in good spirits but has bouts of anxiety and some occasional depression. I'm ok and am getting used to all the extra work. The nurse comes every second day and the occupational therapist was here yesterday. Her new walker should be here by the end of next week.

I am still getting very tired by the end of each day. My ankle is doing fine and is pretty well healed but I think I will always have a weakness there and I wear my brace whenever I know I will be doing extra walking like groceries.

I miss all of you and will try to check in more often,
Karrine

Happy Mother's Day to Everyone! My step-children are coming over. I tell them they don't have to...I'm just a step mother. Step son always comes, sometimes with his family and sometimes alone, depending on if his mother-in-law is in town. Step daughter comes most of the time. It is not a necessity for me. Sometimes DH and I have other plans and tell them. Today I am going to cook a couple frozen pizza's since they will be here around lunch time, and I made that banana split cheese cake that I tested out on DH a couple weeks ago.

Mary, the max dose for Amaryl is 8 mg per day...in two 4 mg doses. The dose I am on is 2mg twice a day for a total of 4. I have taken 3mg at a time occasionally when I had a higher reading, but never taken 4 mg at a time. I am watching very carefully, so I don't get any more high readings like that.

Maybe you need to do a control test on your old meter. I do one every time I open a new bottle of testing strips. You could also take both meters with you to the doctor's and have them test, to see how close they are with theirs. Usually if they are off, all they need is a control test. I used to have 2 meters, one I carried to work and one I left at home. One day they were 20 points different. I did a control test on both...still different. Then I opened a new can of strips and then they were equal. The strips weren't expired, but were getting close.

One time I left my meter in the car in the winter. When I went to test it gave me a message on the screen that showed a thermometer. After I warmed up the meter it was OK. I would suppose it would work the same if the meter was in the heat.

I laid awake for a long time last night so I am really tired today. I was thinking of all the things I had to do today. I still feel like I forgot something. LOL

DH usually makes breakfast for us every day. Scrambled eggs. Today I wanted eggs with runny yolks with toast, so I made it myself, since he doesn't know how to cook eggs that way. I used to eat my eggs that way all the time, but haven't had them for a long time since I quit eating toast. Today it was my Mother's Day treat to myself.

Happy Mother's Day everyone ~ mama mamas and fur mamas ~ hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Mother's Day everyone! Last night the kids came over to watch the game with us. So happy the Blazer's won of course! One more game to go. After the kids left, they came back, we thought they forgot something but our son came in with a dozen roses for me, first time I ever got a dozen! He left this morning on a business trip so he wanted me to have them last night.

Carol - When you use the testing solution do you use your usual strips? Dh was unable to figure it out and had no instructions so not sure what he did. Guess I should have helped him but I was busy and forgot. He told me later he called the company and they told him to take the meter to the doctor. I am not even aware the doctor has a meter, since they never test me with one. I then had dh test with my meter...his was saying 89 and mine said 117...I told him don't worry about, that's not that much difference, just means it's in the lower range and he had no symptoms. He is often quite low before lunch. The diabetic nurse at the hospital told me if it's around 50 or less difference it just means it hasn't changed (mine was high and kept showing it going up even though I hadn't eaten.) But the difference between dh's old meter and his new meter was more than that, but really how do we even know his old one was correct:?: I think it's somewhat like scales...you just watch for the trend unless you feel symptoms as they are all a little different. I'm fortunate with my scale right now as it's usually the same as my doctor's, but in the past that has not been true. Oh also you mentioned strips being expired...I'll have him check that as I hadn't thought of that. The new strips for the new meter shouldn't be, but won't hurt to check them too I guess.

Well need to get ready for church. I think we are meeting our dd for lunch afterwards. She's alone today as her dh had a business thing.

You all have a good day!

Mary & Carol Sue RE: Blood sugar. I've never had to worry about it, but wondered what was considered normal. Carol Sue's off the chart number would have had me in a panic attack. May each of you figure out how to stay i normal range and perhaps still have scale go down.

My scale wen UP badly. Then wouldn't you know it DH fixed my favorite Hot Sausage Sandwich with apple butter and on whole wheat bun. We ate on the patio with 16 pots of annual flowers around and the North fence garden in front, and a fully blooming Rhododendron blooming to our left!!! We three had fun just talking.

Pat and our son went to Mass with us this morning. He usually goes at the local one where we used to go, but with his wife and son in Florida, he came over and went to Mass with us. The two churches are very, very different in appearance. One we go to now is contemporary and the other one traditional in looks and function. I don't care which but the sound system now makes everything easy to understand. The Priest has an amazing way of teaching and making Holy Scripture understandable. I love that.

Our Son rarely comes over by himself, and I really enjoyed having time with him. We 4 did lots of talking in the hour before driving to Church. So much is happening at the Office that we miss now that both of us are retired.

Our youngest had a client in crisis so she couldn't drive up, doggone it. Oldest daughter had house full with her 2 and 3 great grands, and in laws of her daughter in law. They would have had a great time, and she will be happy and so tired by bedtime. Her knee is still painful and her limping worries me that she may damage her hips. Sure was glad to have the weekend with them 3 weeks ago.

Yesterday I had my own even. After hours gardening, I started to bend over and looked back, and then went straight to ground. My first concern was that I didn't want to ruin my flowers so I was twisting so I missed them as I hit the ground. DH was near by and I almost scared him to death. I wasn't hurt, landed on my bottom which is well padded AND missed the flowers!!!

Getting up was so difficult. Little space to try to get on my knees on kneeling pad, then both of them to help me up. Amazing that I'm not a bit sore today. I'm not afraid of falling, but DH is really shaken up and said "Don't you dare come out to garden unless I'm with you!!!" He knows I'll forget, but I'll try .

Very, very sad news: Ted's sister that was the closest to him as a sister, died in HOspice last night. They live almost 800 miles away and we won't be going to the funeral. How lucky DH talked to her for an hour the day before she fell and the trip to the hospital and discovery of brain tumor AND ruptured bowel. She had 7 weeks of hellish time then the blessing of Hospice and freedom of pain. Her nearby family were there to comfort one another. We asked the Church congregation for their prayers today.

Mary, we were routing for Portland, too. Some game, right?

Karrine Glad Nan's Radiation treatments are over. Hope the bone strengthening medication helps her.

Carol Sue: Take care of yourself.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Mother's Day went better than expected. That pizza I bought at Walmart was really good! Everyone liked it, and no one knew we got it on clearance. I wish I had bought more for the freezer. We have one more left. They also liked the dessert I made.

Nice that you got roses, Mary. You're a good mother, you deserve them.

Yes, I use one of my regular strips to do my control test. I have a Reli On Meter from Walmart. You set it for "control test" according to the directions that came with the meter, then put some control solution on the strip. It tells you what range the test should be. I would think the old meter needs the control test more than the new one. I agree that the new strips should not be expired. The old strips can fail if they are getting close to the expiration date, like mine did. I don't know if doctor's offices have a meter, unless they are a Diabetes Doctor, Endocrinologist. Some people take their meter with them when they get blood work done and test right after the blood work. Then they compare when they get the results of the blood work. I have never done that. I just consider my meter to be correct. I have so many meters that I was given free. It's the strips that cost the money. My insurance will only pay for strips for 1 test daily, so I use the Walmart meter and strips that are much cheaper. Good enough.

Sometimes your blood sugar goes up if you don't eat. Your body realized that it's not getting any fuel, so the liver releases some glucose. That's why they say we should eat as soon as we get up, to stop the liver from releasing glucose. It's a very complicated system that I will never understand.

Karrine, hope Nan feels better now that her treatment is over.

Sandy, hope you feel OK after your fall. Sometimes you get sore a few days later. Sorry to hear your sister-in-law passed away. She went through a lot. May she rest in peace.

Didn't get to the gym today and so far have not exercised. Doubt I will now really. But I have done a lot of other things. Only cleaning I have done was a little in the small bathroom, but I started going through books in my office and got rid of several. Some were cookbooks I haven't used in ages and I went through them and put the recipes I'd marked that we'd like on my computer software so hopefully now I'll make them again. Dh has always said I try new recipes so much he feels he never gets to eat the old ones more than once. I have been doing better about that in recent years I think but now I'll have more of the old ones more accessible. Last night I also went through some of the books in my office closet and got rid of two bags full. And I moved some of the books that were in the office bookcase into the closet...I will go through them soon but I thought if I can get it down to only having books in the office closet and maybe a few on the wall shelves, I can get rid of the book case in my office. My office is small and I need more space. It is a combination office, spare bedroom, children's play room and storage room! I'd like to go through our pictures but I can't even get to the chest they are in because of all the other stuff in here. So working on that.

Yesterday just before we left for church dh gave me a two-rose corsage he had had made for me. Very pretty, got a few compliments on it. We went to church, then out to lunch with dd and grandchildren. We waited more than an hour to be seated, I've never waited that long at any restuarant but we knew all the others were likely that way too. I shared fish and chips and a small ice cream dessert with dh. This restuarant is always very noisy so it was hard to carry on a conversation but we still tried and it was fun to be with our dd and her two children again. They will be moving to the coast the end of this month. She has a Lularoe stand at an event this Thurs and I will see her there plus we will be taking care of the kids (dh while I'm at the event). Not sure whether I'll see her again before she moves. It's less than two hours though so we can drive there now and then...even stay in our resorts nearby a few days if available or just go for the day. Thankful it's not too far. She gave me a Lularoe top for Mother's Day and I gave her her birthday gifts in advance as she will have a lot of stuff to carry at the event and we probably won't get together for her birthday cause she's so busy this week.

Carol - Perhaps dh didn't have his meter in the right mode to test. If he wants to try again I'll do it with him. But I think hismeter is within close enough range of what he really is so I'm not worried about it. It's more to give you an idea of where you are esp if having symptoms. We get labs done every 3-4 mo. My bs was over 200 this morning, so guess I got way too many carbs yesterday. Yes, what you are describing is what they call carb hunger and I have experienced it. Quite a bit before starting on Amaryl I think it was. The glucose that is stored in the liver is called glycogen and it is normally released to wake you up in the morning but with diabetes 2 it can release too much. I have not heard of this happening during the day as you describe but perhaps it does, however in the case I described (when I called the nurse out of curiosity) I had not gone long without food.

I rarely experience lows but yesterday while waiting to be seated at the restaurant, I felt like I was in one. I asked one of the servers for some taffy (my dd told me they keep it on hand) and it really helped. I had a bottle of glucose tabs in my purse, but there was only one left. Dh was feeling it too so I gave it to him and I ate the taffy. I have since replenished my supply of glucose tabs. I wish dh would carry some too, he does sometimes I think but not always. The doctor told me that the effects you feel are not necessarily because of the lowness so much as due how fast your bs is falling. Which helped me understand why sometimes my number when taken was not as low as I expected despite my physical feelings.

Sandy - Glad you weren't hurt when you fell. Be careful, girl!

Well need to get back to work. I just stopped to have lunch...grilled cheese sandwich (light bread) and some cherry tomatoes with iced tea (no sweetener/sugar). Take care you all..

Mary Long restaurant waits work even last night, a Monday night at Cracker Barrel. My beloved nephew (almost my age) and his family came down from CT and we all had a great time just catching up and talking. His daughter is a female contractor who is well qualified, experienced, and really smart. I've always enjoyed her so much. Mike and I grew up as more brother and sister since he was my sister's oldest and we lived near each other for a time. He is a musician and artist so he and Pat had lots to talk about. His wife loves Massages as I do, and the others look at us like we are crazy.

Mother's Day became better and better. After the morning with our 2 middle children, our oldest daughter from Cincy called and we talked and talked and now she and her husband are coming to the river to fish here Friday!!! Then texts from our youngest as her client was in crisis and she will celebrate with us later. Then: Our "almost" son and his wife were just back from Singapore, in California with her new granddaughter and near his parents and younger sister. He called and we talked and talked and I really feel I caught up.

Today was spent with DH and we really enjoyed ourselves on errands. He can make simple things fun.

Pat is giving a talk on Thursday to help other Artists with the good information she learned while in Washington, DC at the Portrait of America workshop. We'll go for info (altho we won't use it) just to get to see her talk. She is really good and impressive so I hope shee gets some turn out.

Since DH retired almost 3 yeears go, we are far more social and I believe it is good for me.

Good morning GG's,

It is a nice sunny day (well, off and on). I walked today ~ to that little park ~ I didn't stay very long ~ the mosquitoes (probably because of all that rain we had) found me right away. It was warm outside, wouldn't have seemed so hot if it wasn't humid too. There was a slight breeze at times ~ that helped a little. Glad to be back home with the fans blowing on me.

I had my appointment for check up with the diabetes doctor yesterday ~ A1C was up a little, but still a good number. And weight was up a little too, but I knew it would be. I think these increases are partly due to some stressful family things going on and falling back into old habits of eating to deal with these situations. Cholesterol numbers had improved and were good. I'm back to behaving now. Nobody is gonna do this for me, I have to take care of my health myself. Hope I can make some real progress.

Sandy ~ it sounds like you had a really nice Mother's Day time ~ connecting with lots of family. Glad you did not get hurt when you fell. So sorry about the loss of your sister-in-law ~ glad she is not suffering any more though. Thoughts and prayers for your family. I have a cousin (not close with her, as her family moved away when we were kids) who is an artist of some kind. And a young woman who was one of my daughter's friends growing up ~ she and her husband are artists ~ the young woman is a photographer ~ her husband paints I believe. They are all in the Maryland/DC suburb area. Wouldn't it be something if they were all at this workshop where your daughter is speaking?

Mary ~ you are really going to town with your decluttering. I need to do that, but have some other projects I need to get to first. Your family did such nice things for you for mother's day, the roses, the corsage and the Lula Roe top. Glad you had a nice mother's day.

Carol Sue ~ glad you had a nice day as well with your family. The pizza sounds delicious. My niece ordered some pizza when I was up home visiting. She got two kinds, I had one slice of each kind. It was like heaven ~ I had not had a piece of real pizza for a long time. Thank you for sharing the picture of Rusty ~ he is so cute.

Karrine ~ glad that Nan's radiation treatments are done with. Glad she is in good spirits, but sorry for the episodes of anxiety and depression. Hope the next segment (chemo) goes well. Sorry that you are feeling tired. Glad that your ankle is doing better. Prayers continue for both you and Nan.

Guess I'd better get off here ~ need to get dressed and my hair fixed before Maddie gets off the bus. Hope you all are having a good day.

Sandy, I know you have a lot of perennials. I have a Hosta that has come up around the base of the bird house pole for 20 years. This year it is completely behind the pole, and a bit of it ha spread out to the left, like a whole new plant. I have no idea how that happened! I'm going to dig up the portion that is growing toward the left and plant it in front of the pole. Nature can sure be strange sometimes!

Went to the gym this morning, then came home and did a little decluttering in my office. Found my dad's old violin. I gave it to my son when my dad died but it got broken. I insisted he bring it back thinking maybe dh could fix it, but it's in pretty bad shape. I'll keep it though just for the memory of him playing it. I'm sure it was not an expensive violin but my folks didn't have much so it probably was a lot to him. Made me sad for a few minutes, but I finally got back to decluttering and got rid of a few things. Found lots of hangars I'd stored here when our son moved in, so I put them back into the spare bedroom closet. That's all I've gotten done other than some daily cleaning in our bathroom, picking up and making our bed.

I had my best morning bs this morning! Still a little bit high but I don't think I've ever had a morning bs as low even when prediabetic! It was 129. Then I just took it again ...would be before lunch but I haven't eaten yet and it's almost an hour later and it was 125. So I'm doing well today. I didn't eat healthy yesterday but I didn't eat a lot plus the new med is kicking in I guess
.

Carol - I like hostas...we have three in front of our house. They grow so easily.

Glynne - glad your checkup went well. Yes it is up to us to take care of ourselves.

Sandy - Glad you had such a nice Mother's Day too!

I've already posted today but wanted to add a few things. Humana (they manage our medicare) now has managers to handle any issues/questions you may have and she called me today. She will call every few months to see how I'm doing. Never had that before and don't really feel I need it but whatever. She asked me if I'd consider having someone call me to support me in losing weight...I'd already turned down food ideas etc as I know all that stuff, just need to apply it...and I doubt this person can help stubborn me, but I am willing to listen so I said yes. So she will be calling me on Friday.

Today I got rid of quite a few books and also a few miscl items I remembered were in a drawer I hadn't gone through. Only books left that I can't decide about are the encyclopedias. I always thought I read them for more knowledge. I know I can look up everything on the web but this is stuff I wouldn't have a reason to search. I know I'll let them go in time, but I'm not decided yet. I now have filled 8 boxes/bags to give away. I think I'm going to have to take them to ARC or Goodwill unless ARC calls soon or we won't have room to walk down the front hall. :) I also am going through a couple old cookbooks I have really liked and typing recipes I marked as good on my computer recipe software. I think I will keep these cookbooks to try more recipes before getting rid of them.

Tomorrow I will be busy with grandchildren and going to a Girls Night Out event with my dil. My dd will be working a stand there too. I think I mentioned it before.

Mary, our medicare manager, Highmark, is constantly calling us and requesting that we use some of the programs they offer for managing our meds and health care. We always turn them down, and I have even asked them to take us off the list of people to call. Now we rarely hear from them. Like you, I feel that we know what we need to know about our meds. This service would be good for someone who doesn't have that knowledge, but after working in the pharmacy for 10 years I feel that I know what I'm doing. The same with weight loss. I know all about nutrition and I know what I should be doing, so unless they are going to lock me in a room and only give me the food I should eat, they wouldn't really help much. It has to come from me, to do the right thing. My diet was managed quite well when I was in the hospital and brought my three meals each day. Nothing to snack on in between. LOL I'm looking forward to hearing what this person has to say to you and how it helps you. I guess I'm just cynical about it.

CarolSueYour comment on NOT needing Highmark to call you brought a smile. You are fortunate for the life's knowledge you've accumulated. Hosta: Bringing part of it back to front of poll makes lots of sense. Today I had a bare spot near back Gate that shows up as you come in the gate. I simply brought one of the baby blue Geraniums over and planted it, watered, mulched and feel that area is finished!!!

Our son called as I was working and sweaty, "Let's go to lunch." DH said yet and I had a real rush to get cleaned up and dressed. I stood under the ceiling fan for a while before I could dry off enough to put on my shirt. We had a great time hearing about our gs and ggs and DIL's trip to Florida. They were checking out where Anthony can go to school when they move there in next year. Loved the area and the school system and are so excited about it all. With her sister living near by and several nieces, too, they will do well. On the other hand, we'll miss them terribly. We simply do NOT travel and won't be going down. Hope they come back at least yearly and believe they will.

Gayle Check up help you feel better? Thank you for the sympathy for our beloved Jennie. Her funeral was today 5 states away. We are so lucky how healthy we still are at our age, and Thank God daily for each good day.

Mary At our lunch with family they were talking about trying to eliminate clutter so they can get each of their homes ready to sell. Our Grandson has only been in his house about a year so his job is far easier. Our Son has been in his 16 years so they really, really have a project that will take months. Glad we are NOT moving.

I'd hate to try to locate doctors, dentist, etc that I trust. What a lot of work to find people for different functions and then finding who can recommend someone. Thank goodness we don't have small children, either. We moved almost every year the first 6 years of our married life till we came here and realized we couldn't afford our "dream Home" and this became it. Truly we've adapted this place to suit all 3 of us and are doing fine.

My dil and I had fun at the Girls Night Out event. We got there early enough to get a swag bag filled with all kinds of little things, there were lots of yummy appetizers, some cookies, wine and beer and vendors to browse. There was a young guy playing and singing for us and a fashion show just before the raffles. We had six tickets and I won a very nice crate of all kinds of things...from 2 wine bottles, to bath products to candy and much more. I shared some with my dil since she didn't win. My dd said she did well (Lularoe) but most sales were at the end of the evening after we left. I had a hypoglycemic episode as soon as we got there but luckily we were able to eat right away. Came home leftover chicken dinner, but I was so tired and achy I went to bed asap. I had to get the grandchildren in bed first but they were good as usual.

Then the next day I played a card game with them and watched my grandson's videos. He is 9 and makes his own little movies. Very impressive what they can do these days. When they played outside I tried to clean house a bit and washed two loads of laundry but didn't really get much else done. Last night I tried a new recipe using the precooked 3 cheese chicken Italian sausage links. I chopped them (Joe prefers his meat in small pieces), browned them and then cooked with red pepper and onion. At the end I added an apricot and broth sauce. We both thought it was ok. I served it with roasted asparagus with a balsamic vinegar and honey glaze and cheese grits. I liked the grits and the asparagus was good but prefer without the sweet glaze. We ate almost all of it though so it wasn't bad. ;)

Today I plan on dropping off the items I'm giving away and doing some laundry. I haven't done much housework in a couple days now, but doubt I'll have much time to do much today again. I making Tater Tachos for dinner (uses tater tots). Again something different.

The lady called (nurse, nutritionist?) yesterday. She sounded very nice and very young. She had me tell her my meal plans for the day (I'd only had breakast at that time), and she said my eating sounds pretty good. I told her my biggest problem was snacking esp in the evenings and about my fondess for my PB mochas. She asked me to try to limit them to only two a day (I told her some days I drink 3) and she said after each mocha I drink to also drink 16 oz of water. Yesterday I only had one mocha and I did drink the water although I didn't get to it til much later. This morning I am drinking it now, just finished breakfast (mocha) a little over an hour ago. Oh and all the candy that came in my prize I have given most of it to dh as I didn't like it. I am giving one that I didn't open to my dil. So glad I didn't like it! :D

Sandy - I think Spring makes people want to dig out from under all their clutter. Only decluttering I did yesterday was a good size stack of reciple magazines I'd been keeping for years as I wanted to try the recipes. Now I can find them online so tossing the magazines. I gave my dd three books yesterday. I am not sure whether to give away my childhood books, so far my grandchildren are not interested in them but I keep hoping. And then there are still those encyclopedias.:^: Next in my ongoing decluttering is papers. I'm hoping to set up a simpler storage system and keeping far less if I can. Not today though..

Carol - I suspect my relationship with this nurse/nutritionist (not sure which she is) will be short lived, but figured it's worth a try. Anything to motivate me. If I tell someone I will do something I feel commited to it so it may help. I hadn't thought of drinking 16 oz of water after my mochas for instance even though it is recommended to drink water after each cup of caffinated beverage, but my mochas have so little coffee in them, they are more like milk shakes except not so sweet.

One of the reasons I'm decluttering too is so when dh and I leave this earth we won't leave quite so much for the kids to have to go through. There will still be plenty but if I can keep the cluttering down it will make it easier for them. I know much of it will probably fall to my dd and she is busy enough with her own life.

Ok, gotta get ready to take the bags out to Goodwill, so bye for now.

Good afternoon GG's,

Thursday ~ 5-12-16 ~ A nice sunny day here today ~ kind of warm out. I woke up with a bit of a headache this morning ~ not a terrible bad one, but just enough to make me not want to get out and do my walk. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Messed up my 2 day streak ~ LOL.

I did do some puttery stuff that needed to be done, so even though I didn't do my walk, the time was well spent.

Mary ~ when I met with the dietitian the other day at the diabetes doctor ~ we talked about my eating. I shared kind of how I eat ~ which is sort of like you said you eat ~ small frequent meals ~ something around every 3 hours or so ~ I mostly eat when I am hungry. She encouraged me to have regular meals (breakfast, lunch and supper) and a snack ~ said that it would help my body know when to make insulin if I could kind of get myself on a schedule. It sounds sensible and I have been trying the last couple days to sort of do that, but I think that I end up actually eating more and feel too full doing it that way. When I feel too full, I don't feel good. I felt like I was doing good by not eating because it was a certain time and not eating and feeling too full. I may go back to doing it my way. I guess I can see the need to help my body regulate the insulin, but don't like how I end up feeling too full. When I get ready to eat, I sort of have in mind what I want to eat, but I don't always eat all of what I was thinking to eat. If I eat part of it and feel full, I don't eat the rest of what I thought I'd have. Sometimes I never get around to eating that thing. The way I see it ~ I actually end up eating less like that. It is kind of surprising to me, that to look at me (my size) you'd think I could really chow down, but I seem to be able to only eat part of what I think I can a lot of times.

Sunday ~ 5-15-16 ~ Started a reply the other day, but things got busy and I never finished. It is sometimes hard to write and share. Lots of family stuff going on. Some hard times and some drama ~ worrisome stuff. Not sure you all would want to hear that stuff. But that is my life, and takes up most of the time lately, so sometimes there is nothing else to write about. Guess maybe if I try to think of the happy things and share about that.

We had Maddie on Friday ~ she wanted a watch ~ she is real proud that she can tell time with a real (not digital display) clock/watch, so we took her to Walmart and she picked out one she liked. Just 2 ½ weeks of school left for her. Then she will be here all day, every day until school starts up again in the fall. We will have to think up some stuff to keep her busy ~ we try not to let there be too much TV or too much iPad time ~ that is a challenge.

Yesterday was Senior Prom for Corbin and his girlfriend Claire. Where has the time gone? Graduation is on the 31st. He will start college in the fall.

Got to spend time with our son the last couple days ~ trying to help him figure out a program he might study ~ to get retrained for some other kind of work. Then because that took so much time, he was short of time to prepare his food for the week, so I offered to help him do that while he did his grocery shopping. So, we have had some nice visiting times.

Got to see DD Sara a few minutes on Saturday. DD Jen might be coming to visit when Corbin graduates, but we haven't heard for sure yet if that is happening or not. It would be fun to get to see her and the kids.

On Monday, my parents home (my childhood home) goes up for sale ~ Sheriffs sale. Kind of sad ~ the end of a chapter of our lives.

I guess I will get this posted and do the personals another time.

Hope you all are having a good weekend.

Gayle, that is sad that your parents home is going up for sale. I never lived in the same house for very long. 4 years in Philadelphia, then to the Pittsburgh area. 9 years in one house during grade school, then 10 years in another house from high school until I moved out on my own. One time the people who lived in my childhood home passed away, but I thought a family member would stay there. I was disappointed when I heard they sold it because if I had know it was up for sale I would have liked to go to see it. Just for the memory. I often pass the over-100-yr-old house where my mother grew up but I'm not exactly sure which house it is. 5 houses on that street, and it's one of two. There's no one left alive to remember which house it was. I wave toward the house each time we pass by. LOL We have been in this house for 35 years. That's the longest for both of us.

I'm curious. How did you end up in Texas?

I think it's hard to eat the way someone else tells you to, because each person is different. Some people say you should eat ever few hours, and other say you should go 4-5 hours and have a full meal, rather than small meals. I think each person had to do what works for them. I have found since I developed diabetes that if I eat a full meal, I get really tired/sleepy. I think that means the big meal raised my blood sugar too high. I think for me it has to be a happy medium. Meals spread out enough to allow my blood sugar to come back down, but not so far apart that I get too hungry and eat too much. I hate that stuffed feeling.

Sandy, I don't mean to sound like a know-it-all about my meds and medical conditions. It's just that I see my doctors often enough, plus I had those visiting nurses every day for 6 months after my surgery, and that was enough for me. LOL I just got blood work done and sent a list of my 2 weeks of blood pressure reading to the cardiologist, and I have an appointment with him next week to go over it all. I'm hoping I will get to see him, but I'm thinking they will hand me off to the PA, whom I have no faith in as far as knowing enough about cardiology. They are in the only cardiology group in our areas, so there's no chance to change doctors. Just have to hope for the best. I'm going to make a list of questions I want to ask so I don't forget anything.

Mary, I hope it helps you, talking with this nutritionist. I am not as good as you at committing to things. I am just weak willed. LOL I never heard to drink water after drinking coffee.

Your Girls-night-out sounded like so much fun and camaradarie.


Well, DH wants to go to Harbor Freight. He needs me to navigate since he has never been there before.

Carol Sue ~ I ended up in Texas because our daughter Sara was here. Steve and I met in college when we lived in Ohio. I had lived in Ohio all my life ~ in that house I mentioned, until I went to college. Steve's dad was a baptist minister, so he had grown up moving around. My moving around didn't start until I married Steve. He had (since he was a kid and went to visit his grandma and cousins on summer vacations) always wanted to live in Maine. So, he found a job up there and up we went ~ had no desire to live other places, but the company he worked for closed down and he lost his job. We lived there almost 20 years. His new job took us to Kansas City, Missouri. We lived there only about 4 years, when that company transferred him to Greensboro, NC. We lived there about 8 years. He was nearing retirement age and was fed up with his work/company. Sara was living in Houston. Her husband's parents had lived in Kansas City at the same time we were there, but were originally from Texas. They moved back to Texas and got their son (Sara's husband) a job where his dad worked, so Sara, and Corbin and her husband moved down for his job. One weekend, Steve and Sara were talking ~ he was sharing with her his frustrations with his job and she was wishing more of her family were by her. She kept saying, move down here by me. She had talked her brother (Jason) into moving down and that he could live with her (rent from her), so he was already there. So, with two of our kids and grandbaby there, we didn't have anything really to keep us in NC, except our daughter Jen, but she was in college and very independent and had her friends and a busy social life. We didn't see her very often because she was always so busy. So we moved down by Sara and Jason. We've been here going on 10 years now.

My only regret at moving is that at a time when my parents were getting older and were maybe gonna need help, I moved further away from them. In Greensboro, I was only a day's drive from them ~ first time since I got married that I lived that close a distance to them. They understood how much I wanted to be near my kids and grandson and ever since I got married, I had lived pretty far away from them, so they weren't upset with me for moving. They had my brother a couple miles from them and my sister just 6 hours from them, so I didn't feel quite so bad about moving farther from them.

More on the meal/eating discussion. I hate that stuffed feeling too ~ I don't feel good when I feel stuffed. I think that is why I eat the way I do. It is like I eat one thing at a time ~ and all those one things eventually add up to a complete meal. For instance, I just ate a medium sized bowl of chile. That was enough right then. Maybe later I will eat a salad or something. Then later, some fruit. Because ~ a whole meal feels like too much ~ leaving me feeling stuffed. So, it is frustrating to go to all that effort ~ trying to make small amounts of different stuff for variety.

Your mention of Harbor Freight made me smile. My dad loved that store. It was like taking a kid to a toy store ~ all those tools and gadgets ~ he could hardly stand it ~ LOL.

Wonderful service this morning! Then we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, came home with about 1/2 my dish. I got a potato, beans, rice dish this time and it was good. I'm usually not a big meat eater, I like meat and usually eat a little every day but sometimes I don't miss it.

Glynne, the way you describe your eating is the way I would naturally eat and tend to do when I don't cook for someone. However I do often eat when I'm not really hungry, unfortunately. I cook dinner for dh and I and sometimes when I sit down to eat I'm not really hungry, but it's dinner time and I've cooked it so I eat it but usually in proper portions as I too fill up fast on meal food. My snacking is another thing though... I do need to work on my snacking. Healthy small snacks are one thing, but too large snacks and junky snacks are different. I find even if I don't eat the junky kind, I'll make up the calories with other stuff...like PB sandwiches etc. I also eat the better stuff like veggie snacks but also eat too much of the other too. Like my mocha drink...it is not a terribly unhealthy drink but is fairly high in calories for a snack. I think my snacks should be no higher than 200 calories and I should only have one in the evening. My goal is to eat smaller and mostly healthy snacks. And I'm trying now to drink a lot of water after anything that is what I shouldn't be eating or shouldn't be eating so much of. I'm glad the nurse/nutritionist mentioned doing that after my mochas. I didn't have time to drink it after my breakfast mocha but still plan to drink it.

I was thinking about your bowl of chili...if it were me, I'd have to have crackers with it and if I don't watch it I'll eat a lot of saltine crackers which are a waste of calories in hardly any nutrition. That's the way I am...I always want these combinations of foods. I'm trying to do better and am much better than I used to be, but that's my natural tendency. I don't like that stuffed feeling either, but because of eating so much in the past I guess, I can still eat a lot. It depends, I can't eat a lot of rich, fat, salty food...like is so often served in restaurants...I fill up REALLY fast with that kind of food. Fill up is perhaps not the word...I just get tired of the taste. I may crave something else...maybe something sweet like candy or ice cream (like my mocha!) but not the same taste.

Carol - Well I haven't always drank the water as I said I would but I am trying. If I tell someone verbally I really try hard to do it cause I feel like I've given my word. But doing a challenge or reportin my intake like some do on these forum does not help me at all...I can never keep to it. But I am just so tired of my big tummy...I think the new clothes as motivated me...and I really just want it GONE!

Interesting reading about all your moves...you and Glynne. I was born and raised in KS, small town. Moved to a larger town to attend business school (1961) and met my dh there. Moved a few years later (1965) to So CA when he was transferred by the AF. Then he got out of the service and got a job with Boeing, so we moved up here to Seattle (1968). After about three years he was laid off (along with lots of others) and he got an HVAC job in Portland, so we moved there. They didn't end up having enough work so he was looking for work for nine months, just doing temporary work here and there. God got us through in amazing ways and eventually he got on with a propane gas company but a few years later they transferred him to Port Angles, WA. By this time we had two children. We were there less than a year and he was transferred back to OR. We had another child there. When I was pregnant with our last child, we wanted a larger home and WA was cheaper so we moved here and have been here 39 years. There were lots of house moves along the way, but that's the short version. :D

I'm tired after typing all this, so going to rest.

Good evening GG's,

I'm back again. I woke up with a headache this morning. Not a bad one, but in my eyes ~ probably sinus related. It has been rainy the last couple days. My sister talks about the barometric pressure level and it causing trouble with headaches. Anyway, it wasn't a bad one, but just enough to make me not feel like doing much. So, I haven't done much but play around on the computer today. I guess that sort of takes my mind of the headache. It is finally almost gone, but is now too late in the day to start on any project. I guess that is one of the perks of retirement ~ a day like this when you don't feel like doing much ~ just doing something that is enjoyable even if you don't accomplish anything important and not feeling guilty about it.

I had a couple sewing projects I would have liked to work on, but just didn't feel like I could concentrate on them. Oh well.

I was channel surfing and saw the movie Three Men and a Baby and tuned in to that. I like the movie, but with this head ache, that crying baby ~ it got on my nerves and so I turned it off.

Mary ~ More about the eating. I too eat when I'm not hungry. I think that when that happens is when I am stressed. I am not hungry but just keep stuffing my face to feel better. Even though I do the cooking, we only eat together ~ like the afternoon snack. His daily routine/schedule is different than mine. We go to sleep at different times and wake at different times, so the meal times for each of us are different too. I guess that is from years of living and working different shifts. Often times, I don't even eat the same stuff he does. I have days when I do pretty good and other days like today when I don't. When I have these headaches ~ I don't have the patience it seems to eat the right stuff ~ I tend to just grab something quick. The right stuff it seems requires some degree of preperation and I don't feel like messing with that.

I don't mind the chili without crackers, but if there were fritoes in the house ~ well, they'd be in there. That is a thing they served in the dorm caffeteria in college ~ chili and fritoes. Yum.

About the moving ~ growing up ~ I never dreamed I'd end up living all the places I did. Don't know if we will do any more moves. I would be content to stay here. Just need to do like you are doing Mary and declutter and get rid of some stuff. Either throw stuff out, give stuff away ~ to the kids if there is anything they want or Goodwill ~ stuff that is still usable, but no longer wanted/needed. Then organize the rest. Steve has talked some about moving to a place ~ like a condo, where the maintainence and yard care are done by someone else. That will cost I'm sure ~ so I guess we need to figure out what is the better deal ~ staying here and hiring someone to do that when we are no longer able, or move to where it is paid for. I think I would rather just stay here ~ I kind of dread downsizing and having to figure all that out. There are no stairs here to deal with ~ so it would work for us as we get older.

Thank you all for letting me share and ramble today. Kept me busy and kept my mind off other things.

When I was in my early 20s I went to Ocean City NJ with a friend for a long weekend. She liked it so much that after we came back, she quit her job and moved there. I went to visit her the next summer. She was working in a restaurant near the beach and living with a few other girls in an apartment upstairs from the restaurant. To me, it was very daring to leave home like that. DH and I have vacationed at the beach a couple times, but I really wish I could have lived there. That girl still lives in the OC area all these years later, married, with kids and probably grandchildren by now. I often think how different my life would have been if I had gone with her, but I was afraid to leave home like that. I love the ocean and would really love to live near the beach.

Gayle, A year or so ago there was a house for sale up the street. It was all one floor, on a slab. It had a small yard that would be much less maintenance, and it had a wheel chair accessible bathroom, in case we every needed that somewhere down the line. I wanted to buy it, but DH said no. He said our house is more private, and it is, but since I don't go outside much I don't care about privacy. I really would have liked to move. I know that eventually we are going to have to pay someone to do the maintenance. And what if one of us can't do stairs, eventually. There's no way out of our house without stairs.

Mary, I seemed to remember you saying you were a nurse at one time. Was that you? I know Gayle was.

I don't eat much junk food snacks, but it seems that I am picking at things all day. I'll have a few olives, or a few nuts. Both healthy foods, but still I'm not eating them out of hunger. Or I'll eat a slice of cheese. A lot of times I'm not hungry at dinner time but I'll eat because I'm cooking for DH. That's a bad habit that I didn't have when I lived alone.

This is funny. my step daughter is 47. She texted me today to ask me how long to boil and egg. 47, and doesn't know how to make a boiled egg. I guess it's just something she doesn't make very often, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. LOL

Yes I was a nurse in my "other life." LOL I sometimes feel that I am a totally different person now. I loved the learning, and I loved the patients but I don't miss the work at all.

About your step-daughter, my first thought was, doesn't she know how to Google? ;) I have been cooking for many years, but I still google things now and then esp if I haven't done something in a long time.

Speaking of me being a nurse and doing funny things...I just squirted my scalp medication into one of my eyes instead of my eye lubricating drops! Really stung! I have washed my eye out several times plus used my eye drops several times too and now it doesn't hurt, but I was a bit worried about it because it is a cortosteriod and was concerned about eye damage, maybe cataracts. I already have small cataracts due to having to take some steriods for the iritis I used to have. Hope I got it all out in time just in case it could cause more issues.

BTW, when it happened, I was washing out my eye and yelling for my dh. He hates yelling and he comes but he just asked me "what do you want ME to do about it, just wash it out." Well a little sympathy maybe...

You may already know these tips but just in case...
http://diet.mayoclinic.org/diet/eat/...cDiet_20160509

My step-daughter doesn't have a computer, but she could google on her phone. The only thing she thinks of with the internet is getting on Facebook. Otherwise, it's easier to text me. LOL

I try to follow most of those tips, but the 2 worst ones for me is eating slowly, and watching portions. Once I taste something, I want more, even if I'm not hungry. When I was a kid I got into the habit of eating fast so I could go back out to play before it got dark. My mother never told me to slow down. My grandson really dawdles at meal time. They used to tell me that sometimes it would take him 1 1/2 hours to eat his dinner. Occasionally, they set a timer and told him to see if he could finish before the timer went off, but that encourages him to eat too fast, so they don't do that much. I don't know if it has improved as he got older.

This is the second time I tried to post this link. It wouldn't work the first time. I have seen this before, but I am amazed at what a portion really is. Looking at these, I realize they are not the portions we are accustomed to. I would like to try to follow this to see if I could cut back.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slidesh...0yNm4PCC9sE%3d

CarolSue I bet those portions were showing a base ball, a deck of cards, etc. Even when I follow those portions, I'm still stagnant. I wonder what is the worst than can happen if my weight NEVER leaves?
for one thing, I will be crippled because my left knee needs a replacement and has for years but weight must come off first. Grateful to be healthy otherwise except for mild Asthma that is controlled.

Nuts: Love them and I do carefully dole out only what is a "legal portion". They are so healthy that they also are a light way to take in purse for those days I'm gone from home from early to late such as tomorrow. Also carry V-8 juice with me, at least on and often 2.

Lunch Bunch is Thursday after Mass and I'll take Ted's favorite fresh fruit salad with coconut and some yogurt dressing. I'll pick up the grapes, etc tomorrow while I'm out. Wonder who we will meet this time? Such fun moving from one group to another and meeting new people.

Sunday is Pat's Reception at an Art Gallery in West Virginia. Of course we will go. A fried has a cousin who also paints and lives in Parkersburg, will be there for sure.

Back to laundry and house work. Hope all of you are well and happy. sandy

Good afternoon GG's,

It has been a busy day. But it is one of those days when I just want to keep shoveling stuff in my mouth. I guess worry and stress ~ though I don't feel it exactly ~ it is there and getting to me.

Sandy, they did refer to the baseball, deck of cards, dice, etc, but it also showed plates of food with the portions the way they should be. I was disappointed that the link didn't work because those plates of food looked unbelievable! Not what I normally eat!

Gayle, I know what you mean. I don't feel that I have stress, but I eat things like, nuts, olives, cheese....things that are considered healthy, but still have calories and shouldn't be eaten when you're not actually hungry.

Carol Sue ~ your link did work. I was able to look at it. I haven't had time to look at all of it yet, but I want to when I get a chance.

I think the way stuff is packaged is confusing/misleading. I used to buy those Otis Spunkmeyer muffins ~ one day I don't know what made me look ~ I was probably looking at the calorie information ~ it said a serving was 1/2 of the muffin. Who would eat just half a muffin? I guess maybe some people, but when they have it packaged like that ~ you tend to think that one whole muffin is the serving and eat the whole thing without giving it a second thought. Or cereals ~ the serving is like 1/3 or 1/2 a cup ~ when I ate cereal, I would pour out some into a cereal bowl ~ one bowl didn't seem unreasonable ~ it wasn't a heaping bowl or anything, but according to what was listed on the box ~ my one bowl was more than what a single serving was listed as. Same for the small packages of cookies, chips, candy ~ that one small package that you would think is one serving ~ when you read the information on it, it is actually a couple servings or more.

I think if they packaged stuff in one serving portions, people might not buy it. I guess they sort of try with those 100 calorie serving things. But the small amout in those ~ it makes you feel like ~ why bother.

Yes, Gayle, that's what I mean about how our perception of a serving is way out of kilter. It's how we have learned to eat over the years. The one meal in the link I posted showed a piece of salmon the size of a deck of cards. It was sitting on what looked like 1/2 cup of brown rice, alongside 3 spears of asparagus. That's supposed to be normal portion, but that's not what my plate looks like! LOL If it did, I'd be going back for seconds. I guess that's why I have a weight problem. Last night we went to Denny's for dinner. Their portions are not really big, but I tried to eat according to the portions in those pictures and I just couldn't do it. I ate everything on my plate, along with 2 rolls. The worst part is she forgot to bring the rolls, so I asked for them, knowing full well that I didn't need them.

CarolSue we ate out 4 times last week and I really struggled. Tried ordering what I SHOULD eat, then they bring corn muffins.

I agree with Gayle Who would choose to eat 1/2 a muffin!!!

Does this mean we are destined to keep gaining?

Didn't go to Lunch Bunch today as we usually do. I just simply am tired of going and doing. DH must be too because he cancelled our fishing trip for Friday. I'm delighted. We've just done way more going that I tolerate. I want to stay home. My home "must do" list is huge, but can't tackle it when I'm not here.

Glad to see SUNSHINE!!! I prayed too much for rain in April and now am asking for "moderation, please" Garden is growing extremely well, but so are the weeds. Can[t catch up.

My volunteer job has grown to consume way more time but I don't dare stop because there is no one who can take my place.

Going to take cup of coffee and go outside to simply do nothing!!! Sandy

I think with something like the Spunkmeyer Muffins, you can eat the whole muffin as long as you take into consideration that you are eating 2 servings, and all the nutritional information is double. Then you figure that into what you're eating for the whole day. Or you could cut it in half, and save the other half for later or the next day. Sometimes you can do that if you know the food will still be there when you want it. Companies like to make things bigger, so you have to spend more money to buy it. I find that if something is in front of you, you automatically eat the whole thing. For example, I used to eat 1 egg for breakfast. Now that DH has been making breakfast, he cooks more scrambled eggs and I know I'm eating closer to 2 or more eggs. I could just eat what I visualize as 1 egg, but I don't. I eat the whole thing. Also, at this one restaurant we go to, they have a $3.99 egg breakfast that is really enough for me, but M-F the bigger breakfast is on special for $4.99, and I order that because I'm getting so much more for that extra $1. But it's extra food I don't need. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't do it. Luckily, the only time we eat breakfast out is when I have to go for bloodwork a couple times a year.

We arrived home from a few days trip to central OR. It was a nice trip, quiet and relaxing. One day we walked about 2 miles, maybe more. It was an easy walk for me, but dh had to stop and rest several times. He enjoyed it though. Another day we browsed some shops in downtown Bend. Dh was able to find a bench or chair to sit on while I went into the stores. I bore quickly with shopping, however, though I did buy a small candle, a new metal spatula, griddle and pan scraper I've never had a pan scraper before, so maybe I don't need one but thought I'd try it.

I did pretty well with my eating I think, overate one day but mostly did ok even though we ate out once a day. In the evenings we ate leftovers or easy things we brought a long. I always used to cook in the nice kitchens in our condos but now that it's just the two of us, I usually don't. I did make hamburgers and stir-fried broccoli one night. One day we went to the outlet stores and I bought two pastel tops...one is mint green and one is yellow. They are not my usual style but I like the colors. We also returned to a good BBQ rib place we enjoyed the last time we were in Bend. It is still SO good, I don't often eat pork but now and then I can't resist good ribs or bacon. I can only eat it once though and then I'm usually done for a long while. This place makes the best ribs I've ever eaten. With this meal, I ate only 1/2 but did eat the other 1/2 that evening and I ate only about 1/3 of the beans and gave the rest to dh. However I did indulge in some "real, not diet" root beer. This place makes their own and it is SO good. At least I declined a refill.

We have a big day planned tomorrow...our son and fam will be here and here I am up late. So really when I said today above It was really yesterday! I worked til late catching up with somethings then couldn't settle down when I went to bed. I'll try again now. Good night!

Mary, I'm glad to hear you had a nice time on your trip. It seems you always do.

I will have to google to see what a pan scraper is. I don't think I have one. I need a new metal spatula but I can't find one like the one I have so I'm still using it. It's a little beat up, but I really like it.

My cardiologist gave me a new med to take that's supposed to help with the problem that my systolic BP is high and my diastolic is low. I haven't started taking it yet. I didn't really want to add another pill to the many that I'm already taking. When I worked at the pharmacy I used to feel sorry for the old people who took so much medicine, and now I'm one of them. This med says it can cause headaches and dizziness. Doesn't sound like fun at all. I guess I will start taking it today but maybe after I've eaten.

Carol, I was thinking yesterday that I probably don't really need the scraper much as I almost never fry anything. I did use it yesterday to clean up an old griddle that someone had allowed to get black in some areas. Too high heat used probably. It worked pretty well. It's just a small plastic thing...you hold onto the top part and scrape with the bottom. I got it for $1.99 but wouldn't be surprised if some places you could get it even cheaper.

I lost one pound on the trip but that just put me down a bit in my usual range, no new loss. And since I've been home I went down another pound. I was at the higher end of my range when I left. Last night I made my mac and cheese and served it with salad. The kids don't like my kind, they prefer the kind in a box, but my son likes it, however I don't think he ate any...he had eaten pizza earlier. I also made brownies and everyone liked them. The junkier food I make, the more this family likes it.:(

We babysat all day and dh was working outside so I did most of it. I was exhausted by the time I got to bed. I didn't sleep very well on the trip so had to sleep last night. I think I probably would have anyway cause of I was so tired, but just to be sure I took 2 Tyl and a Benedryl. I slept very well for me...only up once and went right back to sleep until about 7:30 when I heard Halo. She wants to get in the bedroom and sleep on the trundle bed with the kids but I don't want her in there...but the kids don't help as they continually get up and leave the door open. They also have a little dog but she sleeps in her cage in the garage and we try to keep her outside during the day. One dog in the house is plenty for me. Halo knows her restrictions but that dog jumps all over the furniture. They will be staying with us for a while so have to set boundaries.

Ok about time to leave for church. Have a good Sunday!

Good afternoon GG's,

Busy, busy, busy ~ I haven't gotten here much lately. I do read and follow your doings. The stuff keeping me busy ~ some of it is worrisome family stuff ~ too complicated to tell about. I just keep praying that things will work out for everyone. Trying not to worry, but that is a struggle, easier said than done. Trying to trust God's plan ~ also a struggle and easier said than done.

Can't remember if I had shared that Jason has has a back injury at work. We are trying to help him line up training for some other kind of job. We keep running into snags and frustrations. It doesn't go smoothly ~ one person tells us one thing and then someone tells us that that was wrong. Jason is so discouraged and frustrated ~ and the process goes at a snails pace.

Worrying about my mom ~ she fell again. The nurses have talked to us about her code status. We are working with them and mom's guardian trying to get a ~ do not resuscitate order for her. We still don't have that in place ~ praying that we can get it before something happens and they have to do a code ~ would hate to have mom have to go through that. My sister just called ~ she had been with mom for a bit today and said that mom is nothing like she was just 3 weeks ago when we visited her. So sad.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me ~ I have all kinds of x-rays to be done. Hands, feet, chest and (L) knee from the rheumatologist. Mammogram from the PCP. Thyroid ultrasound and bone density scan from the endocrinologist. I am lucky that the scheduling lady was able to work it out so I can have all these things done on the same day.

Been working on some little sewing projects ~ if I can keep busy, it helps keep my mind occupied so I'm not just sitting there worrying about stuff.

Mary ~ glad you guys had a nice trip and enjoyed yourselves. Hope you have been able to catch up on your rest a little. Kids can sure tire you out ~ even when they are no problem, somehow when they are around, you just can't relax like you can when they aren't.

Carol Sue ~ I hope that medicine helps your blood pressure. I know what you are talking about, about having to take quite a few medicines. I hate when I take my med list to places and someone makes a kind of little comment about ~ wow ~ that is an awful lot of medicines. Makes me feel bad ~ like they think I am some kind of hypochondriac or something. Like I like having to take all this stuff. NOT.

Sandy ~ hope you enjoyed your cup of coffee and doing nothing the other day. I totally understand. I like to go sometimes ~ mostly my going is to run out when I need some grocery things or stuff for a sewing project. Otherwise, I am perfeclty content to stick around home ~ don't really have any desire to go anywhere. My husband likes to take trips ~ it wouldn't bother me, not to, but he worked so hard all his life, he deserves to get to go.

Karrine ~ hope you and Nan are hanging in there ok.

Almost time for Maddie to come on the bus. She has only like 6 ½ more days of school left.

Hope you all are doing well.

That new pill I have seems to make me very tired. It is extended release, once a day, but doesn't say when to take it or with or without food. I will have to google it. Yesterday I took it in the morning because I wanted to see if it gave me a bad reaction. It was good other than feeling tired. So today I took it with dinner. Then tomorrow I think I will take it at bedtime, so it won't matter if it makes me tired.

Today it started out cool, and it's supposed to warm up as the week goes on, so I got out there and started working on my raised flower bed. I weed whacked around it and pulled out all the weeds. Then we went to Walmart and got some mulch and spread that down. Then it was time to start dinner, and it started to pour down rain. Early tomorrow I will go out and plant the inpatiens. I got pink and fuscia. What I have left over will go in a pot beside the garage door, and if there's more left, I will set a pot on the wall next to the driveway. I got these hanging baskets 5 for $20, so there's lots of plants in them.

Gayle, will you be watching Maddie over the summer? She will really keep you busy.

I love to just stay home. I don't really care if I never go anywhere. I think I got that from my mother. She had no choice but to stay home because she had my disabled brother, but I don't think she even wanted to go anywhere. After she had her heart attack he was signed up for an activity group he went to several times a week to give my mother a break. Sometimes I would take off work and take her somewhere. Shopping, or out for lunch. She seemed to like that OK but was ready to go home after a few hours.

I'm sorry to hear your mother isn't doing well, Gayle. It must be hard that you can't be there with her. It's good that you got to go see her.