Hi everyone, I made it to the Dr.'s appt. yesterday. They gave me some Lasix and I was awake all night having to pee. Lol, my weight is down by 4 lbs. this morning. I have to see the Dr. again this afternoon for a recheck. My old family physician should never have taken me off Lasix in the first place cause I was diagnosed with CHF over 5 yrs. ago. I do pretty well most of the time until I catch a cough/cold or FLU and then I fill up with fluid that just won't go away (especially since when sick I always end up with increased prednisone which causes water retention and puffiness). Seems like a losing battle, but I can tell this morning that I do feel a little better.
One of my big problems is dining in restaurants, they put too much salt in the food and this causes water retention big time for me. At home, I'm super careful to avoid salt in my food. It should teach me to not eat Out, but it hasn't.
I'm loving my new floors, but my doggies aren't liking it much. They haven't quite mastered yet how to keep from sliding on the wood laminate. I know there are little clip-on things that can be ordered to put over the dogs nails. But, my Lucy would chew them off and eat them.
DH went back to work yesterday. The girls wanted to ride the new mower, so they mowed the whole yard for me yesterday. Yipppeee.
After my Dr. appt today, I'm going to shop for new kitchen and living room furniture. Hope I can find some that I love. Lol, with my new floors , I need new furniture so it will all look beautiful. Majorly hoping that whoever delivers my furniture will haul off the old furniture.
Meg, LOL, at you say I'm remodeling my house "one brick at a time". That is what it feels like. I told DH just the other night that with all we have learned to do, that we could build our own next house with our own hands.
Michele, jump right in here. What kind of dogs do you have? Mine are labs, Molly weighs 110.7 lbs. and Lucy weighs 65.7 lbs. I do a lot of dog walking too.
Shane, so glad to hear that you got a new job that you are happy about. Congratulations.
Blue, my mom used to make the friendship bread too. She tried giving me the "starter" stuff and I didn't take it. Looked like way too much work for me. LOL.
Megan, I thought since you and I always talk about "redneck" living that you could appreciate this. Since my old couch had a broken spring, I had the girls move it out on to the deck yesterday. Plus, DH had replaced a commode and a water heater and set it out there. And, my Christmas tree is out there waiting to be put in my storage building. LOL, I need to take a picture and send it into Bill Engvalls Redneck backyard picture contest. LOL.
Anne, I can feel your excitement at wanting that maternity leave to hurry up and arrive!
Pat-- I am a librarian too! I am at a large elementary school in N. California, and when we lived in Houston I was at a small private school. What type of librarian are you?
Shane-- that is great news about your new job. It sounds like a perfect fit.
My dogs are Ozzie, a 6 year old Doberman who weighs about 75 pounds, and Jozi, a 4 year old Great Dane who weighs about 115. We got Jozi when we lived in S. Africa, and we joke that she speaks Zulu and that is why she doesn't obey us well. Jozi is what the locals of Johannesburg call their city, so that is where she got her name. They both get so excited when we go to the dog park that they practically drag us there. Coming home is at a much more normal pace! I've never lived anywhere with a dog park before and we are all loving it.
Thank you all for the warm welcome.
Last edited by traveling michele; 04-02-2008 at 10:32 AM.
Yesterday I was faced with a lot of temptation of leftover pastries, cookies, beligan waffles, and sticky buns from the staff meeting. For a second I almost reached for one. I made myself stop, I wasn't even really hungry! It's just bad habits I've fallen back into that make my hands do that. 30 more days like that. I had a really good NRLW workout, too.
Lily, lol, you're so right, I love the visual of your porch. I never thought redneck comedy was particularly funny until I moved here and then I started "getting" the jokes - I wasn't extremely sheltered as a kid but life was different where I grew up! On that note, my BF's old truck has been sitting, dead, in my "yard" (er, sand pile) for the past 8 months. I finally told him to get that hunk of !@#$ out of my yard, that he may be a redneck but I'm not. He towed it 10 feet into the neighbor's yard, who is so redneck he doesn't care at all what is there (already has a bunch of junk). sigh. Glad you are feeling a little better today.
Anne, 6 weeks! Hang in there! You can make it. Remove all ceramics from the house.
Shane, congrats on the job!!! Sounds like a great deal, decent pay and benefits and flexible hours! I'm sorry you and your GF had this argument. I hope that she calms down and can see the situation from your perspective.
Pat, have a great trip!
Meg, enjoy your trip! I second what Shane said - it's the perfect time of year to visit Florida. Warm but not too hot and humid yet.
I have gotten better, but you don't even want to know how many plants I've killed, let alone fish in the fish tank. It turns out a lot of plants don't like the salt spray from the Gulf. But I want fresh basil. What am I to do but try, try again?
we just completed our FAFSA. My oldest dd will be going to Gonzaga in Spokane, WA in the fall.
My oldest is heading to college in the fall, too. Filling out the FAFSA was a joke. I don't know why they require it when it is painfully obvious that we make WAY too much money for her to be considered for any financial aid. Unfortunately, she won't even qualify to get an on-campus job based on our FAFSA forms.
Gonzaga! One of the BEST Utah Jazz basketball players ever (John Stockton) is from Gonzaga (and I had a friend who went there for a couple of years in the 80's).
Shane~great news about that FLEXIBLE job!
Lily~if you take a picture of your porch, be sure to post it here, too. We could use the laugh!!!
Update on my back: it still hurts. Yes, it's getting better every day, but it still hurts. I went home early yesterday, iced it for an hour, heated it for an hour and then stretched for 15 minutes. Then back to alternating ice and heat. I took some Tylenol before bed and I felt great when I got up, but just the nuisance of getting ready for work made it hurt again. I stretched just before going to work and that helped. Too bad the carpets here at work are so disgusting--I could get down and stretch here, but no thank you! While I'm not as stiff as I was, it is still bothersome. At least it's getting better.
[QUOTE=alinnell;2130017]My oldest is heading to college in the fall, too. Filling out the FAFSA was a joke. I don't know why they require it when it is painfully obvious that we make WAY too much money for her to be considered for any financial aid. Unfortunately, she won't even qualify to get an on-campus job based on our FAFSA forms.
[QUOTE]
Where is your daughter going to college?
Yes, I knew the FAFSA was a waste of time too but Gonzaga said we had to do it to get merit based scholarships (which she did get some).
I didn't know you could be blocked from an on-campus job based on your FAFSA-- we were kind of counting on that!
Hope your back continues to improve. My neck has been hurting for awhile-- though it isn't too severe-- it sure is annoying!
Last edited by traveling michele; 04-02-2008 at 05:31 PM.
Michelle~DD will be going to Cal State Fullerton. I believe I heard it from another member (currently in college) that the FAFSA she and her parents filled out caused her to be ineligible for an on campus job. It may or may not be true. DD did get a "job" on campus, though--she'll get $2000 a year to tutor music students (they didn't indicate how much tutoring she'll need to do for this).
Michele, I have a friend that has a great dane and it is such a sweet dog. My dogs are usually so excited that they try to drag me too when I walk them (especially if they see a rabbit).
Megan, LOL, at your BF's old dead truck sitting there (well now in the neighbors yard). DH and DS had bought an old Volkswagen to use for spare parts to build a Dunebuggy with. They left that piece of @#$%%^ flipped upside down in my backyard for about 6 months, til I finally threw a fit.
Allison, no such luck on the picture. Me and the girls moved all that junk into the storage building today when they got home from school. Now it's DH's problem til he gets the gumption to haul it off. (which will probably take him at least a year, LOL).
I feel broke now after spending a fortune today on a new dark brown leather living room set and a new dining room table and chairs. I still need new end tables and lamps but they will have to wait til next month. My new furniture was just delivered about 20 min's ago. Lol, DH just called and said "so did you go look at new furniture?" and I said "I'm sitting on it". He cracked up laughing. He knew I wouldn't wait til he got home next Tuesday. LOL.
Allison, glad your back is getting a little better, but sorry you are still in pain.
My chest X-ray was improved on today's Dr. visit. I'm also on Zithromax for an increased white blood count. I'm starting to feel a little better.
Shelbey's eye problem is a sty. She wants it surgically removed, but I'm not sure that insurance would even cover that. The Dr. said it may take 6 months or so for it to go away. Has anyone else ever had a Sty and what did you do? For now she's supposed to use antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day and hot compresses to her eyelid. I had one before and it went away on it's own after a few months.
Hi Ladies, can I come and play too? I got to goal 3 months ago and it took me this long to accept the fact that maybe this time I really can maintain. I've lost the weight before but always regained it. I am trying to make this a lifestyle, not a diet. I eat healthy, normal portions. I try to exercise every day, at least some kind of exercise, even if it's just walking around the halls at work. I lift weights every other day.
Looking forward to getting to know everyone, Freda
Freda, we've got plenty of room in our sandbox so please come and play! I can tell you that hanging out with this group is the very best way to keep the weight off.
OMG. I'm sitting here cracking up picturing all of us playing in the sandbox. Little Lily is rearranging and recontouring the sand dunes and dying them to their best advantage. Little Mel and Meg are doing insane HIIT and sandbag weightlifting exercises. Little Jessica is making mud pies (light of course). Little Shane is ditching the sandbox for the bike stand. We would be an entertaining group of kids, that's for sure.
Lily~I've never known a sty to last more than a few days with ointment and warm-wet compresses. 6 months, seriously? Weird.
Baff~how many times this week have you messed up your post?!? You crack me up!
My back is feeling better, still, but not 100% yet. I wake up feeling GREAT, but within an hour or so of normal activity it gets all tight and sore again. I hope I'll be back to normal Sunday or Monday.
Hi all! I had my first visit with an occupational therapist for my wrists today. I'm supposed to go twice a week for the next six weeks. He seemed really thorough on his intake examination so I'm hopefully he'll give me something that will really help. Today he did ultrasound and "massage" -- basically he put cocoa butter on my wrists, then took a piece of plastic and scraped it all over, so that the areas of inflammation and scar tissue turned bright red (and it hurt!). Plus he gave me some stretches to do and wants me to use an ice pack for 5-10 minutes during lunch time. Mostly I am kind of excited that he told me NOT to wear my splints anymore! Apparently they are useful in acute injuries, but mine is so far in the chronic phase that they may actually make it worse. I'm perfectly happy to not have to deal with them.
Freda - welcome!!!
Allison - glad to hear your back is improving. I am guessing that the on-campus jobs thing means that the FAFSA says she is not eligible for "work-study" jobs. This is where you do some job on campus that is federally approved and then federal money is put toward your tuition for it. When I did FAFSAs for college, they gave me small loans ($2500/year -- tuition was $40,000) and said I could do a work study, but my parents wanted me to focus on schoolwork so they declined the work study (but took the loans).
Megan - Mmm, mud pies!
Lily - LOL about DH and the furniture! That was a great response. I hope your new meds will clear up your problems.
Speaking of redneck backyards, let me just tell you - you don't have to be in the boonies to have one! Or I should say, a redneck FRONT yard! On our way to work, right after we pass through an expensive neighborhood and right before we hit the industrial parks, there is this totally redneck house. They have about 16 cars on their front lawn!!!! I'm not exaggerating, I counted them! One is a pickup truck full of tires. Our homeowner's association has lots of rules to prevent stuff like that (like "no parking broken cars anywhere in the subdivision" and "no parking on the street for more than two consecutive nights").
Michele - I love dogs! My parents had a great dane before I was born, and a great dane/rhodesian ridgeback mix when I was a baby/toddler. I always considered labs to be "small to medium" in size! I used to ride that dog like a horse when I was 2 or 3.
I had a long post typed up but decided that it was too depressing so I erased it.
I will say that I'm on plan with my eating and hoping the diuretics and antibiotics help soon so I can exercise again. I think my body is exhausted and that I have overdone it lately. Today I slept til 11AM and I plan to take a total rest day all day.
Glad you are feeling a little better today.
Megan, you completely crack me up!!
Our homeowner's association has lots of rules to prevent stuff like that (like "no parking broken cars anywhere in the subdivision" and "no parking on the street for more than two consecutive nights").
