Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I'm holding out that my recent bad test results and liver inflammation is from stress. Hoping my life will calm down and everything else will follow suit.

Anne, I had to laugh at your statement about standards. I had them too before my kids, LOL. Today I bribed both Lacy and Shelbey. I made Shelbey mow the yard and Lacy sweep and mop kitchen and living room before I'd shell out spending money for them to go run around with their friends tonite. Hey, it worked!

As for the bribing with potty training. I used M&M's myself, LOL.

I was a little sad today about not going to the gym. My Dr. said until the bone studies are completed that he didn't want me doing any more weight lifting and only minimal walking. So frustrating. Doesn't he know that exercise is a big key to me keeping the weight off?

My new capris that I bought last week are bagging off me. I must have been bloated when I bought them. I foresee them ending up in Lacy's wardrobe.

Michelel, big congrat's on your lowest WI.

Mel, my last biopsy was 3 yrs. ago. My Dr. tries to adjust my med's according to my labs and always tries to avoid biopsies if it can wait. Especially since I became septic the last time I had a biopsy! My huge frustration is trying to maintain my weight all the while he keeps adjusting my prednisone (which he now plans to increase again!) It makes me so hungry and I really have to tell myself that it isn't permission to eat more.

My oldest SD went to the court house and got married yesterday without telling any of the family til after the fact.. Can we all say "Idiot". This is to the man she split up with 2 weeks ago! Anyway, she is his problem now! Now she wants the whole family to come over next weekend for a cookout and so she can receive wedding gifts. I don't want to go. I already had plans. DH and I were planning to take Shelbey and Lacy to the Amish festival. I wanted to shop for and buy some home-made Amish quilts.

Lily,
I'm sorry to hear of your results from your doctor. That is terrible that you can't exercise. I certainly hope that is temporary. I would hate to have to take prednisone. I hope that is also temporary for you.
Hugs....

Hi maintainers,

Lily - Sending good vibes...pity about the workouts. Would it be allowe to do a yoga DVD? They are not strenuous and I found them calming when i was in a stressfull period.

Anne - I bought my sons potty training with a lego car (a very small one). When he wanted to use diapers again I said that would mean I get the car back. He so craved it that he chose the car! And standards, yes, i had them as well. I'm not so sure now.

Have a great weekend all,
Rabbit

People and dogs . . .
 

. . . are very similar in some ways ( hope I'm not offending anyone with that as it was not my intent).

Lily :hug: I have had some of the dogs I walk have to go on prednisone for acute skin problems. These poor critters were totally ravenous and incredibly thirsty as a result.

If you are feeling anywhere near the cravings that the meds induced in the dogs then it's understandeable if you gain some weight. Don't be too hard on yourself. The meds are in control, which must be completely frustrating as you have worked so hard to get to where you are now.

Potty trainers Bribery works :p! Reward works ;)! I do it every day, many, many times with the dogs. I want a specific behaviour and I give a treat when I get it. As long as the rewards are a means to an end and are not hurting the kids, why the heck not :?:?

I bribe myself to maintain 130 lbs. by rewarding myself with new clothes, shoes, and accessories. I don't go overboard but knowing that I can pamper myself a bit helps keep me away from the cookies :devil:!

Dagmar :dancer:

LOL Dagmar! My dogs were MUCH MUCH easier to "potty" train than the kids.

Anne

Potty training ... good times! Lollipops worked for my daughter. My son can't be bribed with food - a sticker chart did wonders for him. :)

Lily, I am sorry about your test results. :hug:

I had a supercharged run this morning - I don't know why but it felt great. Too bad I only had time for six miles.

Scary walk with the dogs this morning
 

DH took DS golfing this morning, so I decided to take the dogs for a walk. About a mile or so into the walk, I was headed south on a frontage road near a highway. As I was on the frontage road, I saw a coyote cross the highway to my side. I kept my eye on it and at first it looked like it crossed the sidewalk and was heading south (the same direction I was going). I kept going and when I got to the grassy area where there is a sidwalk (the frontage road ends there), I realized that the coyote was on the sidewalk coming right towards us. I slowed, and perhaps stopped and the coyote then crossed the grass back to the highway where it continued north, passing us (about 10 feet away). I kept my eye on it (and so did the dogs!). At that time, I noticed a silver Chrysler 300 on the frontage road coming toward me—at first I thought nothing of that. Anyway, I assumed that the coyote would continue north as I went south and the dogs and I continued on our walk. A minute or so later, I decided to check behind me and the coyote was following us! He was maybe 10-15 behind us on the sidewalk and didn’t seem concerned at all. I also noticed that the silver 300 was in the turn lane on the highway, inching along as he obviously saw the coyote. Not wanting it to follow any more, we stopped, as did the coyote—keeping his distance. The 300 started honking his horn and yelling at the coyote and the coyote just stood there, not knowing what to do, but not acting scared at all. As soon as I’d start walking again, the coyote would start following. Yikes! At that point, the 300 pulled a u-turn so he was positioned north-bound, kind of between me and the coyote. Again the coyote didn’t seem upset, but did not follow me any more as I started back on my walk. At that point, I saw a guy headed toward me with a small dog. I got up to him and said he really shouldn’t go any further because of the coyote (the guy in the 300 was still trying to get the coyote to cross back over the highway or continue northward). The guy with the little dog finally understood what I was saying (old guy—probably didn’t hear so well) but said he wasn’t worried, his dog’s bark would scare the coyote and he continued on toward the coyote. (I wouldn’t do that!) The guy in the 300 was back going south again, and I heard the little dog bark and I turned to see the coyote finally crossing back to the other side of the highway. Whew! The guy in the 300 then did a u-turn again and we waved to each other as he went down the hill.

Fun morning, huh?

Good heavens, Allison, that is seriously scary! :yikes: Thank goodness the guy in the silver 300 was trying to help you out. Wow, I'd be shaking the whole rest of the day! Do you usually have a lot of coyotes where you are?

That is really frightening Allison!
I see coyotes fairly near me once in awhile but they aren't where I walk at all. You would think they would be a little more intimidated by the size of your doggies.

I am sure I would need to find a place to change my underwear if I ever saw a coyote following me.

Yikes! I get scared when a strange dog starts following me..... We have coyotes around here too, but I've only seen them from the car. I do keep my cats in at night though!

Fall is definitely here. The air is cooler in the mornings, the trees are turning yellow and my lawn has it's first covering of leaves. Darn, I could have used a little more summer!

We have a lot of coyotes around here (and bunny rabbits and roadrunners--but they aren't as scary!). The HOA newsletter always carries a warning to keep your cats and small dogs in at night. When we sleep with the windows open, we can hear them yowling at night sometimes. For those of you who wonder where we live, we're just a couple miles from Bighorn Country Club. They do a lot of golf tournaments up there (I think the Samsung LPGA was the last one). Google the club and you'll see the desert that surrounds it.

A nice little oasis. Saw the home prices at the golf course--yikes! I might be able to afford the master closet.

So scary about the coyote. Had to laugh at the little dog owner having had a little dog with a Napolean complex.

Hello to all. A brief flyby between packing and scratching. I keep coming down with more itchy spots every day--quite annoying as well as unsightly.

Back to packing, patching, painting. . .and scratching. :dizzy:

coyotes like larger dogs
 

We have several coyotes in various ravines and one down at the beach almost every day. They are only around early in the morning (I suspect they hunt/scavenge under cover of darkness) and they are quite intrigued by larger dogs.

Maybe as potential mates or pack members? I once saw two of them wrestling and fooling around on the sand volleyball courts. The dog with me ran down and started barking at them. They yapped back at her and then tried to engage her in their game.

I think they are harmless to humans and larger dogs. Allison, I suspect I would have been more afraid of the guy in the car. And I don't walk anyone small enough for them to eat :) anyway.

Dagmar