Good morning friends,
I posted yesterday & it submitted. When I checked the messages this morning, it was gone!
Hope all are well as can be.
Good to hear from you Happy Canuk.
Hope you're feeling better, Chrily.

Not much going on here, either. It's been really hot & humid. Didn't have the air conditioner in until Sunday. I nagged until DH got around to putting it in. Bless his heart....he works all the time, but I couldn't take it anymore.

Well........I got older last Friday (3rd)...


I really had a great day! I was showered with gifts (especially angels!) & flowers all day! When we did "Tennessee Valley Now" at 4 pm, everyone at the TV Station came out on camera with balloons & presents & song...then, afterwards...had a surprise party waiting! I'm spoiled rotten there. DH got me the juicer that I've been wanting! I've been juicing up a storm.

Well...I just heard DH get up, so I've got to cook his breakfast. Hope all have a good day. I've missed everyone.

Charlotte, Happy Belated birthday! You share the same day as my stepmom. Hers is on the 3rd too.

I'm feeling somewhat better with the exception of the shoulder. It is just killing me. I can't lift my arm away from my body or over my head. I'm hoping it goes away. I've noticed more little aches and pains in my body. I'm praying the methotrexate is still working. I think I'm at the maximum dose. I don't know what would be next, but I'm sure it would be expensive.

Gotta go...sorry for such a short post but I have alot of errands to run today.

~chris

[SIZE=7]HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGEL[/SIZE (Belated)
We can have our B/D for as long as we want!!I really liked your saying about being old. It is really true of me..
Chrily- Hope you feel better soon..
Bye..Joanne

Hi,
Its me again. Sorry I haven't been here lately. I haven't been feeling well. I went to my normal Doc. today. Meds check for my pain medicine and something for stomack.
I go see my rhuemy on the 22. I have been back on the methotrexate for a month and a half. Still not feeling much better. I am going to ask him how long will it take to feel some improvment.
I am so upset. I have gain back more wait. Before when I was living by myself I was down to 155. Of course that was when I couldn;t eat becauce of depression and the anxiety. After getting better I gained back 15 lbs, but I expected that. But Now since I have moved in back with my aunt . I gained 5lbs bring me to 175 which wasn't to bad. but now I am back up to 182 or 183. I know how I gained it I went on a sugar binge, but I have stopped that and still I gained. It must be from not exercising at all. Last friday I started walking. I walked slow for 10 counts then speeded up for 20 counts, but felt sick again over weekend. So I need to push thru the pain and the fluuy feeling and try again today for at least for 10 mins or 15.
I hope all of you are doing better than I am with diet plan and w/o. And I pray ypu are not having any pain, of course thats almost impossible to do. It seems something always hurts just others times are worse than other days.
Chrilly, I sorry to here you about your sholder. Yet You did say that you have been feeling good except for that. I know how you feel. I imagine we all do. Get to feeling Good again.
Happy Canuck,
it is good to here from you again. I to have missed all my girl buddies here, It does help to come here and vent or to just chat.
Joanne D
Angel
oldie
and everyone else who aren't here. I love you all. Yes thats goes for happy and I sure I will love chrilly to. I WILL KEEP YOU IN MY PRAYERS.
Gotta admit sometimes I forget to pray and times I just fall asleep before I can start to pray. I worry so much about my one daughter, I know I should pray but I worry sometimes instead, so Make myself to say my prayers thru out the day. My beliefs are more spiritual based the a doctrine from just one church. My beliefs are more gnostic, but I do belief in Christ. I also fervently believe in pray. You all take care.

Don't forget to give a smile to someone today.
Love laura

sw
196
lw
155
g
gw
25
cw
183 (yuck)

Hi everyone,
Laura, stop beating up on yourself for the weight gain. Sometimes our bodies do strange things we can't explain. If you have RA...water retention will really fight the weightloss. I have a lot of water retention. I can starve myself, & not lose, sometimes. I'm just holding my own at the moment. I gained last summer about 10 lbs, & can't get it off for anything! I even went sugar-free. I feel better, but haven't lost any weight from it. At least you can exercise, where I can't. I have a bad back.

Hi Chrily....hope all is well with you today. How's your mother? Maybe the family is over that sickness, by now that you all had.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yesterday was our Anniversary (37th) I had a treatment, so we're celebrating next week by going on vacation to Pigeon Forge, in TN. We haven't been in a couple of years.

As I said, I had a treatment yesterday, so need to go rest. I'll be back before I leave for vacation, but have a lot to do to prepare. Hope you all have a good day.

ANGEL, Hi I am not really beating myself up. It just means that I have to lose again what I already lost. So will get back to eating right. I am just now trying to just do some walking, unfortunatly I am still not ready for it everyday. I am sorry to here that you can't workout at all.
God willing you may be able to someday. I will pray for you
Love Laura
HI EVERYONE else.

Hey ladies..
You get a group post from me. I've been busy helping set up for a garage sale we are having next weekend. Between me and my 2 sisters, we have a lot of stuff. My mom hasn't put much in yet and my sister's MIL says she has 8 boxes so far and she hasn't even put a dent in her spare bedroom yet. IT ought to be huge....

I'm feeling pretty good. My mom has her appt. next week. I'm going to see if she'll let me sit in on it again. I want to see if she'll actually tell the rheumatologist how depressed and anxious she's been lately. She has been for a long time but its getting worse.

That's it for now. I'm trying to get into my husband's email to find out what time his meeting is tonight, but so far the email isn't working right and I'm about ready to call Bresnan and raise a ruckus. I'll check back later.

~chris

Hey Everybody.. I too have been really busy this week.. I seem to never get everything done that I want to in a day. But, what the heck, I am retired! At least that is what everyone tells me. I hate leaving unfinished things.
Chrily- I always sat in on my mothers appt's towards the end. I couldn't trust what she would tell me. She just didn't always get things straight..To the Dr. or to us..I think she thought she got more attention if she made things worse or more dramatic..
Stirfried- Just find a eating plan you can work with and try and get as much exercise as you can. I go to TOPS and some of the members are doing the South Beach and having good weight loss..Walking is good.
Angel - If I didn't say Happy Birthday then I am saying it now..Have a great trip. I am going to St George Island In the panhandle of Fl. the end of July. I can hardly wait.It is so nice there. We just go there and enjoy the beach, sunrises,and sunsets.Read and enjoy each other. My daughter and her family will be there too.
Bye...Joanne

Joanne, will you adopt me? I am so jealous of all these beaches and sunrised and sunsets you talk about. The closest I have to a beach around here is the concrete surrounding the kiddie pool at the park.

I did a 30 min Walk Away the Pounds Tape tonight. It was the walk and jog interval tape. I love her workouts. They have the easiest steps to follow and I really really sweat like crazy to them. I also started back with WW on Monday. So far so good. Monday was the worst day because I was working and had to run errands on my lunch hour so it was a drive thru for lunch. Nothing healthy there. I'm going to stick with WW this time. I had the most success and I actually can stick with it for the long run. I did South Beach for a bit but I just can't eat like that all the time.

Well the house is in melt-down mode. It's bedtime and Coli is crying...or screaming, rather. I hear some silence again. Well I'm going to get a load of laundry in. Talk to you tomorrow evening.

~chris

Hello everyone,
I'm doing much better now. Good news...my nurse's surgery was a success. Dr says he's sure he got all the cancer. She doesn't have to have chemo. Also, my Dr says my Lupus test showed a low positive... so I can stay on Remicade, & they will keep me closely monitored. He said it's possible that it's caused by the meds, & would go into remission if I went off of them, but I need them too badly. This was good news for me....I've really been concerned. Don't know what I'd do without the meds.

Let me brag on a grand a little! My 16 yr old granddaughter (cheerleader) was chosen by the NCA (National Cheerleaders Association) to be a member!! She is now an "All American Cheerleader"! They are the best of the best. She had an injured wrist, a sprung ankle, & a black eye (from the previous day...catching a flyer cheerleader) She was told by the Dr there that she didn't need to try out...that she could cause further injury & be in a lot of pain. She told him that she didn't go all that way to sit on the side lines. The judges knew nothing about her injuries & she won!! Out of 103 girls, 5 were chosen. She was the only one out of her school. I suppose that shows the prejudice her school has been showing against her & her sisters! We are so very proud of her...although she's in a lot of pain now. Going to her bone Dr this next week. She'll be cheering at the game in Hawaii! Also, at the Florida Bowl, & Super Bowl! Will be up for a scholarship!

Hey Chrily....I've already tried with Joanne. She's not going to adopt! We may all surprise her one day for a visit & make her share her beach! We'd just sit back & watch her cook for us, too!! I think she must be a wonderful cook, from some of the things she talks about.

Hi Joanne...oh, were you listening to me talking to Chrily? You know we'd help you with the cooking! It would be nice if we all lived closer together. I was on another forum once, where some of the ladies did meet at some resort for a few days & got to meet in person. They posted pics for the rest of us that couldn't go. That was so cool!

Hi Laura...I've gotten use to not exercising. I could in water, but have no pool. Only one is in town for water aerobics, but don't have anyone to go with me, & can't afford it. Maybe next week on vacation I can get in the pool at the Hotel. I'll need to, with the junk food I'll probably eat.

Hi Happy Canuk...hope you're ok. I think about you a lot.

Hi gals.

Sorry to be away, but hubby has been on holidays and will be until the 27th, so we are not home a LOT!!!

I have been reading, but have also had a LOT of pain this month. June has been very dreary and humid, and I have been a walking barometer - along with tons of pain. Finally went to the chiro yesterday, as my darn legs felt like tree stumps and I could hardly move them. After my chiro treatment, at least that part went away. The rest of the pain will have to wait until we get some dryer weather next week (I say hopefully).

Angel - glad you are feeling better. It would be horrid if they had to take your meds away from you, because of Lupus. Sometimes a body just can't win!

Chris - I have some Walk Away the Pounds stuff and I should get at it. Just wish my foot and legs would stop hurting so much - it would be more of an incentive! Good for you doing them.

Laura - when a person is under a lot of stress, they either eat or they lose a ton of weight, because they can't eat. Personally, I think eating is healthier. Just take it one day at a time and get started again. It will come together eventually for you. I hope you are feeling better.

Hi Joanne - well Florida is way to hot for me! I love where I live - even that nice, cold, winter we have

Hope you all have a good day.

Charlotte, give your granddaughter "Congratulations" from me! That is so neat. I never did much extra-curricular things in school. I never even went to a prom. The most I walked away from in high school was good grades. I am such an introvert.

Anne-I'm having some leg pain and alot of foot pain. If I stay moving, it doesn't hurt so much. I think the majority of it is from my shoes. My tennis shoes are all wore out and I've been wearing thongs alot, which provide absolutely no support for my arches or ankles. Not a good choice. I actually feel better walking around barefoot.

Hi Laura, When I'm stressed out, it can go either way. When I went through my divorce, I just couldn't eat. I drank alot of water and smoked cigarettes. And the weight just flew off me. Now I get stressed and eat, and add some pounds. Losing weight by not eating isn't very healthy but that was several years ago.

Barb-Hope your doing okay. Haven't seen a posting by you for awhile.

Joanne-Morning! One morning you'll wake up and see 2 sort of familiar people following you all over the beach and sitting on your steps waiting for some of your cooking. Ummm...that'll be me and Charlotte. Yesterday was so nice around here. We took the kids to the wading pool and we laid out in the sun. It was so nice and warm. I put sunscreen on but missed one spot on my arm. So I have a sunburn about as big as a small plate....but only on the one arm.

Gotta get going. I have to run to the bank and do some errands for Kelly today so that we can maybe get out of town for a bit tomorrow for father's day.

~chris

Hello friends,
No time for graphics. I'm trying to get packed to leave early tomorrow morning
for our vacation to Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg! I'm so tired, but still have a lot to do.

So sorry you are all feeling so lousy(((hugs))) I'll be praying for you.

I'll miss you all!! Not sure what day we'll be back. I'll post soon as I can.

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!
Charlotte

Angel ..Have a great trip!
Chrily.. It would be nice to meet you gals.. I met a friend on another site for lunch one day.. She is really nice.She comes to Florida every year now. I wish she was closer . We met halfway and that didn't give us a lot of time.
Hello everybody...Happy Fathers Day to yours...Joanne

Here is a picture of Joanne as our queen at SRD. Doesn't she look great