I had a very nice day yesterday-finished the middle school tests and a conflict got resolved nicely. Then I went in another group where the leader has a great sense of humor. Went to the movies last night-an Italian film with subtitles. And I ate only 1 pt. over.Not like the day before. The weather is beautiful here-I am in the western part of the state-mountains etc. Like a working vacation.Gotta go early to breakfast as there are 2 busloads of senior leaf peepers here. One group from Germany and one from England. Hope I get to talk to one of them.Ophelia-My fibro started in my 20's and it came back in my 40's. Misdiagnosed at first-but my internist sent me to a rheumotlogist. It would be nice if that diet and weight loss was the answer. It is healthy anyways.Have a great day everyone. Joke was real funny Meme. Mima

Tomorrow is my day to weigh in. I wish their scales were the same as mine . WW scales are a lb or so more than mine.I did fairly well this month. Some slips. It is not going to be easy for the next few months. My sister is down and they like to eat out and either have us or come to my house. I am just going to have to buckle down. It might help her to lose a few lbs too.
Mima you sound busy. But enjoying what you do. That is what's important.
Welcome Ophelia- Hello Happy ,Candice Memetoo ,Ally. We have had some cool weather for a few days but it is climbing back to the 80s. I have my windows open and getting my house aired out. I enjoy this time of the year. Dust comes in but I can clean that easy.
See you all soon....Joanne

It got near freezing last night and isn't that warm today - I guess somewhere in the 60's. Supposed to warm up for the weekend.

Well, I am having trouble getting started on a diet and am even considering joining WW. I will give it one more try and see what happens, I guess. I don't think I will get started until after Thanksgiving, which is coming up this weekend. They meet on Mondays out here, so I will have to see when it will be. Perhaps I will have to wait for 2 weeks before I can get started. I guess I need motivation. My walking program should start again this month as well, I think.

Ally, how is it going. Haven't heard from you for a couple of days.

Hi Mima, Meme and Candice and Ophelia. I hope you are all having a reasonably painless day.

Rolling Kermit
==============

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see
from her nameplate that the teller's name is Patricia Whack.

So he says, "Ms. Whack, I'd like to get a loan to buy a boat
and go on a long vacation." Patti looks at the frog in disbelief
and asks how much he wants to borrow. The frog says $30,000. The
teller asks his name and the frog says that his name is Kermit
Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's OK, he knows the
bank manager. Patti explains that $30,000 is a substantial
amount of money and that he will need to secure some collateral
against the loan. She asks if he has anything he can use as
collateral.

The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny pink
porcelain elephant, about half an inch tall, bright pink and
perfectly formed. Very confused, Patti explains that she'll
have to consult with the manager and disappears into a back
office. She finds the manager and says: "There's a frog
called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and
wants to borrow $30,000. And he wants to use this as collateral."
She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what the heck is this?"

The bank manager looks back at her and says: "It's a knick
knack, Patti Whack. Give the frog a loan.
His old man's a Rolling Stone".


~~

Joanne....where does your son live? If I were in LOVE myself I might lose a few more pounds. I'm 45 but for the right guy, I would be willing to lie about my age.
Yes boys in love are obnoxious. He went to work today with the excuse that he wanted to check his schedule but SHE is working today and then he volunteered to work. This will only last til I get a report from school that homework is suffering.
Happy....sorry the deal fell thru but you probably didn't want to move in 2 weeks. Arghghghghg. Glad you are hitting your "good" time but I spoke too soon cause I am ending mine.
I noticed it a week or so ago but chose to stay in denial. I am getting totally stiff in the mornings again, AND I started having pins and needles in my legs in the afternoon. Those are my first signs. Darn.
But no matter what I think the longer remission period this time was aided by better eating habits.
Ophelia....I was diagnosed by a GP and stay sceptical still. If you asked me if I had Fibro a month ago I would have said no. This morning, I knew it was back.....
Meme...are you still on 5-HTP. I may try that again if the stiffness stays.

The fish is better I think..he isn't laying on the bottom anymore and responds when I tap his tank but he is not out of the woods yet and the tank is not all the way full yet either. The poor thing would just drop to the bottom like a rock..so sad to see him struggle like that!

Leaves are just starting to change here and I don't have any film. We are supposed to get a freeze here Sat. and I don't have my plants brought in and I can't carry them so if they freeze they freeze! I can't worry about them...(you know I will) just is my nature!

I love poodles..I have had 3 and they were like my babies!!!! What is there not to love about a poodle! Slept on my pillow too!
Ophe.....My Fibro gets better if I watch what I eat too! The less sugar the less pain...I am following the WW plan right now and keeping the carbs low or trying to anyway! It is very hard cause that is what I want! A Rheum diagnosed me in 1982.

Happy you find such cute graphics and give WW a try!

Well my arm is hurting so I better go! Hi everyone

Here is the corn crop which is no longer there! A storm is brewing..this was taken in August!

Can't sleep...had a migraine and now have the jitters! Ugh! Hate those things. Can't be still! And it's after 3 in the morning.

Jenna liked preschool today...she got to visit this morning and play with the kids...only 5 others in her 2 yr. old class. She starts 3 days a week on Mon. I'll be glad...I love her but will be glad to have 3 days a week off from babysitting!

You're right...what's not to love about poodles. I love my golden, too. She is so sweet natured! And curious! She wants to examine everything she sees!!! I finally got her to be still enough to take a picture of her...but her tail was still moving! ha.

Again, thanks for all the replies and welcomes!

Ally - I feel the same as you, but mainly feel that I just don't have as many signs and symptoms as most fibromyalgia sufferers.
The only parts of my body that aches are my neck and shoulders (mainly neck.) What really concerns me is the fatigue and occas. brain fog.

Candice - Since Sunday I have been eating very low carb, no sugar and my brain fog started to disappear (with some of the fatigue) yesterday. I still have this darn sore neck tho!!!

I've made a deal with myself that I will keep up the low carb/no sugar thing until next week. If I am still suffering with this neck pain I will make an appt. with my Internist and push him to refer me to a Rheumatologist.

A question to all of you (again!): when you are in pain, is it all over or in just one area of your body?

Thanks!

Ophelia - I have other problems than FM. I also have arthritis, so it is sometimes hard to tell what hurts. Since the arthritis is in my lower back and hip etc., I have a lot of pain in that area. The FM tends to affect my shoulders, arms and legs, and the sternum area. I sometimes have a hard time getting a deep breath. That is caused from the muscles in the neck and sternum area, they say.

If you don't have pain but have fog and exhaustion, perhaps you have Chronic Fatigue. Not much difference really, but apparently with CFS, you are more tired than achey, and with FM you are more achey than tired.

Ally - Young love - ain't it great? Any you have two boys - boy you are a lucky lady How is the diet going, by the way. Have you now lost tons of weight of what exactly is happening?

As far as dogs go, Meme, I love your dog. She is beautiful. I prefer large dogs to small. I find those small ones are snappy and not very good tempered animals. I also like one I can wrestle with. Meme that will be nice to have some time just for yourself. It is a hard job, looking after those little ones.

Candice, we had frost last night. I don't think it has been a real killer frost yet, but it certainly isn't far away. It was raining a bit last night when I went to bed and the temp. was about 34 outside. They thought in some areas, the rain may turn to snow during the night. It didn't here, thank goodness.

Joanne, I am with you on the poodle thing. My cousin has a toy poodle and she is very sweet, but more like an ornament than a real dog!

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. My kids will be coming home, and I guess that means I get to cook the turkey. Well, better run, I hope you all have a great day.

Hi Mima, hope you are doing ok. You are a busy lady.

http://www.womansday.com/xp6/WomansD...bromyalgia.xml

Article on FM. You might want to take a gander at it.

Hi You All-- Please don't get me wrong about Poodles.. They are cute and make good pets for some people. But for me ,they bring back some really bad memories. I always liked bigger dogs. My son has a black Lab. That is the most lovable animal I ever say. He stayed with me for awhile and is a very caring dog. When I had knee surgery and had to take him out he would help me down the steps by staying right next to me so I could lean on him to get down first and many other things. He still does that .I can't handle a large dog now. We can't have an outside dog here in Tarpon unless your yard is fenced or the stay on a leash.
Happy , I get to cook the Turkey at home or away. When I go to my daughters for the Holidays We cook the whole day before.
Candice it is in the 80s here in Florida. I lost another 1.5 lbs. I want to lose 7-8 more. At the rate I am going it will be a year!!At least I am below goal.
Hello Ally, Have you put a time limit on the phone yet?That is what I had to do when Mine lived at home.
Memetoo and mema- Hope you are having a good day..Bye Joanne

Happy....I am plateaued at about a ten or eleven pound weight loss. I am a little worried because as the symptoms of fibro return, so does my intense hunger and carb cravings. For the first time in 3 months, I ate 2 cookies last nite. While that is not a big pig out in the bigger scheme of things, it was a big disappointment to me.
ANd then I had to get into a tight suit today and I felt like a stuffed sausage all day....plus had my period and a hot flash due to being in a meeting in an airless room and unexpectedly it was 80 degrees outside. Not a pretty site........

Ophelia.........right now I am heading for a little flair and I can feel it and it becomes predictable but unavoidable. The weather is changing (read the site Happy sent us to...thx Happy) and I am going to feel like I am just about to get the flu for a few weeks. Achy all over, low grade fever, tired and hungry.
AND I will ache all over....then that will end and I will start having muscle pain in my calves and legs and I will be so stiff every morning that I can't bend over and hook up my dog on her chain.
ANd then I will have a few days of random painlessness but they NEVER EVER come when I need them or when I am about to do something that takes some stamina.
AND if I get stressed in this time.....headaches, more muscle pain, more brain fog.
Summer was the best I have had yet.

That was a good website. It helps to be reminded of the things we already know sometimes. We live with this stuff and tend to forget the "little" things we should/should not be doing to feel better. Seems like we feel bad so much of the time we throw up our hands and say what to heck, I'm going to feel bad anyway, may as well...whatever! I've strayed off the beaten track long enough. I'm hoping, with the little one gone at least 3 days a week and hopefully 5 before too long, I can stick with a diet a little better than what I've been doing. She eats ever couple of hours (and more sometimes)...she is a "grazer" ... and having snacks, chips, cookies etc. out all day long has really done a number on me. It is so hard. I have been having to fix her food and then sometimes, when it is ice cream or toast and philly (her favorite morning snack), I have to actually feed it to her so naturally I want to eat, too! It has been a nightmare of food, food, food for me ever since she got off baby food 18 months ago. But hopefully now I can stop eating during the day!!! Funny thing is, I don't really get hungry...just get the munchies. Then again at night I get them...really bad. So...I've decided to start taking 300-600 mgs. of Neurontin and going to bed early!

Ally...I've gotten off the 5HTP but plan on getting back on. I've got a BD party for over a dozen people here Sun. and after that I plan to get back on the wagon big time. I've got my vitamin therapy all lined up...got my diet and sleep plan figured out and worked out a livable exercise routine. Wish me luck!!!!!!! It's been a while since I've done this on a large scale and made it work! Hopefully I can ease back into it. I have a revival I have to play for every night next week so I'm safe in the evenings...I won't be tempted to eat while I watch TV and they tend to frown on eating in church!!! I plan on coming home and going to bed! Can't eat if you're sleeping! Thursday and Friday will be the hardest...Jenna will be here! I may have to get my M-I-L to come over and feed her... I'm very determined to do this. I only have 12 weeks until 2002 and I'd like to lose 30 pounds by then... That's 2 1/2 pounds a week...don't know if I can do that for the whole 12 weeks! May have to settle for 25. The important thing for me will be going down!

I find that the less I eat...whatever it is that I eat...I feel better. Hubby was commenting the other day that seems like when I'm on just a low calorie diet...no matter what it is that I eat...I seem to feel better. Guess we'll see. I'll be keeping you all posted as to how it is going...starting Monday! On your mart, get set...

Hi everyone-couldn't post yesterday because I was packing up and going home. We worked til 5:45 Wed. night and we got to stay over instead of going home so I went to the mall with friends. When we came back, we found out one of our friends had a mild heart attack.Luckily, the called 911 from the restaurant and the quick action helped a lot. Women get different symptoms than men-pain in the jaw is one. Anyhow-we saw her yesterday and she is doing well in the hospital close by. I'l go to see her again Sun.We are all getting older-most of the people I work with are well over 60-so I guess these things will happen. Glad she is doing well. What a prety ride home. I will take some leaf pictures and hopefuly post one.I feel so tired and I know it's partially do to going off my diet-ate too much sugar.I'm going for a walk with my aunt today so that should help. Thanksgiving in October!I didn't know that. Happy, I love the choices in WW.I'm taking my kids out to eat tomorrow night-one has a new house and the other has a new job.Chinese!!!Well-Ill be good all day. We are going to see my daughter's new puppy-a boxer 3 months old, Bye for now-Have a good day. Mima

Hello Everyone, I hope you have a Great weekend. I have had a busy week. Today I am going to the Mall to get a BD present for my son. Then to the sears outlet to look for a Frig for my sister. I would like to find a quiet spot on the beach where there are no people and read. I need some alone time. Something I never have.
I pigged out yesterday and ofcourse have the guilt today. I did walk 3.5 miles though. I have been doing a lot. Probably because I have some issues to work out.
Bye... I don't want to bore you with my rambling...Joanne