Brr! It's 8 degrees here but we're supposed to reach freezing by the middle of the week (before it gets cold again). Even my parents in Florida, who love calling me up and telling me how warm it is, are cold. All of the cats are plastered against the heat vents, except for the long-hair who thinks the cold weather is grand.

My knee recovery is going well and I was allowed to take a shower yesterday morning. Lovely! I'm done with crutches and pain pills and am getting around pretty well. But my weight is up 4 pounds from Thursday morning and I'm hoping it's swelling and drugs, not real weight.

I'm going to try some easy cardio in the gym this morning, just to see how the knee feels. If I can, I'll do 10 minutes each of elliptical, bike and walking. Maybe it will get some of the swelling out of my leg? I don't think I have the energy to lift yet so will save that for another day.

How is everyone this morning? Is it warm where anyone is or is everyone cold? Any Girl Scout sightings yet?

I'm still at the dog's house. It's moderately cold here this morning, about minus 10C. Odd how we Canadians have such a mixture of imperial and metric measurement. I do temps in metric, driving, in kilometers, and weigh myself in lbs.

Meg Congrats on getting up and about so fast. Bet you enjoyed the shower. I'm sure the 4 lbs. are a result of the surgery and will be gone quickly.

I have no idea what I weigh today. No scale here. Curiously liberating in one sense but kinda scary in another.

I've got to go shower and then take the dog for his a.m. walk. I'll be glad to get home and restart my morning weights and yoga - I'm stiff this morning!

Have a great Monday all!

Dagmar

Good morning! Yay for the shower, Meg! Hi Dagmar!

I am off to the gym early, because I have to go to the dentist today to have a crown replaced. I hate the dentist! At least I won't feel like eating.

Meg, glad to hear your recovery is going well!

Dagmar, I am laughing about your dog with the possum leg from last week's chat thread. There is a dog at our dog park who loves plastic bags -- even if they are full of dog poop. When people pick up their dog's poop but leave the bag on a table, planning to throw it in the trash on their way out, this dog will come and steal the bag! Then he thinks it's a game and makes everyone chase him around the park to get the bag back.

Morning Ward! Good luck at the dentist!

Yesterday I took my dog to the park (not the dog park, the regular park) so he could run around in the snow. Actually I took him to the dog park the day before but he didn't run around much because he was kind of wigged out by the other dogs. Anyway, this park has a big sledding hill so it was pretty crowded, but the crowd was entirely confined to the hill so I let him off the leash to run in the empty part of the park. He was hilarious -- he would run at top speed, then all of a sudden he'd smell something and stick his entire head under the snow to find it. There's about 6 inches of snow on the ground so he was in it up to his ears!

Good morning! This Friday we are leaving for a ten-day Tibetan Buddhist retreat over in West Palm Beach. It's not a residential retreat, so we have had to come up with housing--but the place we usually stay has a pool and a gym room, sad though it is.

We'll be doing lots of Buddhist practices and getting new teachings from our teachers, and I am really looking forward to it. We don't have much by way of a center where we live, so it's good to go on over.

This week will mostly be making lists and packing things.

Jay

Jay, how lovely to go on a retreat! I've just recommitted to work more on non attachment and meditation in the coming year. I feel a lot better if I do, but like exercise, it is very easy to let something else get in the way. Enjoy!

Meg - Good to hear the knee is getting better. I hope the gym wasn't too much for your knee; you seem to be up and about very quickly! When DS had his meniscus repaired, and again when he had his torn ligament repaired he was not mobile for about a week! Do be carefull !
BTW I second the water weight theory...anastetics stay in the body for a long time.

Jessica - that 's funny about your dog in the park

wart, dagmar

I did BW and flexibility wo today, and some short meditation. I had a killer headache over the weekend, but it has lessened now.

have a great day all,
rabbit

Good Monday morning maintainers.

I guess my 41 degrees this morning could be considered balmy! Personally I'm cold if it is under 80 degrees! I hate the cold with a passion and can't wait for Spring/Summer. I went to the endocrinologist last week and told him I'm always freezing (my fingers are often blue inside!), my heart rate is low (about 50!), my blood pressure is also low.... he is thinking my thyroid levels may still be too low so we are checking that again. It would be nice if I wasn't always freezing!

My dd is on her way back to college today. She is not wanting to go back. I hope once she gets there so feels more positive. She is going to try to find a part-time job which I think would be positive for her. She hasn't heard from her boyfriend since her bday on Jan. 4 and doesn't know what to think-- he is in Senegal now and his communication methods are very limited-- he often doesn't have internet at all. We tried to talk to her to place the seeds of thought-- that this relationship might not work in the long run-- she seems **** bent that they are "meant to be", but I'm hoping she files away what we are saying.....

Rabbit-- glad you're feeling better-- hope your headache stays away!

Jessica-- sounds like Carter was hilarious in the snow!! And what a funny dog with the poop bags!! Last week, we went to the dog park and one of my dogs wasn't ready to leave. My dd tried to catch him (doberman), he ran away and she fell on her bum. A little puppy came over and started jumping on her. She managed to grab Ozzie, and the puppy started jumping on him. It was a 9 week old puppy and it scared Ozzie! He was jumping around in circles trying to get away-- the puppy thought it was funny and kept jumping on him-- my dd didn't let go and we managed to get out of the dog park with the rest of the park rolling in laughter at us!

Jay-- hope you enjoy your retreat. Sounds interesting....

Ward-- good luck with your crown. I had mine done a week or two ago. I'm still having problems and may need a root canal but I'm ignoring it for now.

Dagmar-- minus 10 sounds very cold to me! I don't remember how that relates to F. When we lived in Africa, we got used to Celsius, but it didn't get too cold there. Hope you enjoy your dog walk and your yoga.

Meg-- good luck at the gym today. Are you allowed to do whatever you are up to or do you have restrictions? I'm sure the shower felt great! And, yes, you know the four pounds is water from the surgery-- that is what the swelling is.

I am going to chaperone my younger dd's high school choir on a trip to Disneyland in a couple of weeks. I am very excited though I've never chaperoned anything longer than a day trip. We'll be there for three days. I've also never been to Disneyland (though I've been to Disneyworld) so I'm super excited!! I'm wondering about food there..... will I be able to bring my own snacks, water, etc. into the park? Will there be some reasonable options in the park? I won't have any control over my hours there and I think we'll be in the park from very early to very late. Any advice?

58 and balmy here--I still have a heater on at my desk, but I don't feel the need to keep my coat on. lol

Meg~your description of your knee making velcro sounds is exactly what I experience. It makes me wonder when I'll need a replacement. My woes come from years of downhill skiing when I was younger. I haven't skied for 20 years! But stairs present a problem of pain when going up or down. The treadmill gives me no problems, although I do wear a brace on one knee. Bicycles can be painful as well and I'm not sure how I'll do when DH gets his elliptical later this week. I may or may not give it a try. I used the elliptical at the gym and while it didn't hurt my knee I did have a hard time keeping up the pace.

I managed my 45 minutes again this morning on the treadmill and then took DH to work after my shower. I got home and proceeded to pack our lunches and my breakfasts for the week and then managed to walk right past the bags as I got in the car to take DS to school. Thankfully I remembered within a few blocks and turned around, but that 2 minute delay made dropping him off at school much more difficult. I've found that if I drop him off at 7:20 it goes smoothly. 7:22? Not so much as everyone else is doing the same and more of the students have parked their cars so there's less room for maneuvering.

Ok, gotta get to work. Everyone have a great day!

OMG, I'm officially freezing my tushy off. The fat in my butt is the coldest part of me right now. I've managed to avoid going out on the boat in this weather thus far, but today was the end of that. 38 degrees + wind and spray from moving boat = frozen face, hands, and toes. I've got to figure out how to fit another pair of wool socks in my waders. We came in b/c we were too cold. Tomorrow is our big boating day. I'm off to find out if anyone sells ski masks in Florida.

Michele, I can relate to how your DD may feel... In college I was still overweight, and no guy had ever shown any romantic interest in me (in retrospect I was also very shy and not very outgoing, I'm sure that had quite a bit to do with it too!). But at the time I just felt like I must be a big fat toad. The first guy who showed any real interest in dating me was in Australia and I had illusions the relationship might last long-distance... of course it didn't. Life has turned out fine for me but I had very low self-esteem for a long time.

Jay, is the pool heated?! Hopefully by this weekend it will be a wee bit warmer. For real, we don't have the clothes for this. And nobody here sells the clothes for it! Enjoy your retreat.

Jessica, I hope none of the bags break open! Carter sounds very funny. My parents dog did similar things when he was younger. Now that he's "middle aged" and crotchety, if it's raining, let alone snowing and very cold, he won't even go outside. He's spoiled.

Meg, of course it's swelling and fluid retention. Ignore those 4 lbs for another few days. Glad recovery's going well.

Stay warm and have a good week everyone. I'll be sitting here,

I'm glad to see everyone seems to have survived the winter holidays!

Dagmar, temperatures below freezing are more than "moderately cold" in my book! =) It's almost 60F here, but will probably be in the 70's by afternoon. Arizona is great this time of year - my idea of perfect temperatures. August is not so much fun, though.



Michele, have fun in Disneyland! I don't know about bringing food it, but we did a music performance at one of the parks when I was in high school and I remember them giving us meal vouchers... can't speak for the nutritional quality of the food, though.



Meg, I'm glad you're doing well and healing! I did see a girl scout with a little table set up to take cookie orders the other day... *shudder* I used to be a girl scout, so I feel like I should help them out - BUT I also remember that our troop got some really measly amount like 10 cents a box or something.

Ward, I am not a fan of the dentist either. Speaking of which... I really need to go - it's been a few years, actually. It's just so dang expensive.

Jessica, that's so cute with your dog in the snow! My parents have a rottweiler and he's just not that jazzed about the snow. Doesn't seem to mind it, but shows no interest in playing in it.

Jay, enjoy the retreat - sounds great.

rabbit and Allison!

Megan, good luck with the ski mask... that type of thing is not readily available in southern Arizona. My bf and I are going to the mountains this weekend and he's never lived anywhere cold. I've got plenty of warm stuff from when I lived in Pennsylvania but he's having quite an ordeal finding things!

Morning everyone. I keep reading about all the cold taking over the country and for the last 10 days our area is above normal temps. I like not driving on ice to work but I hate that the dirt roads I walk my dogs on are a big mudpie. If I take them, I spend 1.5 hours cleaning my house afterwards. Lately we’re driving them a tarred road and walking back and forth for their regular distance.

Meg, I’m glad the knee is better. Don’t overdo it because all the healing could be undone – but of course you know that…

Dagmar, liberating can be scary but so can obsessive about the square box. Enjoy your walk with the doggies. I wish I were doing that. I’d even rather be doing weights and yoga if I wasn’t stuck in my office.

Ward, eeks on the crown replacement. The cost of those buggards are steep. And dentists, you know they’re just sadists in an acceptable profession.

Jessica, your dogs sounds fun. Don’t you wonder how they smell anything through the snow?

Jay, your retreat will be peaceful. I hope you enjoy it!

Rabbit, I’m glad your headache is easing. Keep up the meditation and it will help.

Michele, next time you, your dd and your pup go to the park bring a video camera. That would have a been a youtube favorite. Dobermans shouldn’t be freaked by a puppy.

Allison, I read your knee problem and worry about the elliptical. Last year I had to not ski (as I love skiing) because of a knee problem (born with it). I had physical therapy all winter instead of skiing. When the PT brought me over to the elliptical to warm up after a couple weeks, I literally started to back away. He said, just try it for a couple minutes. I thought it would rip my knee up. Wow, I was wrong. It’s so gentle on my joints that I get a real aerobic workout that makes my legs turn to pasta, something my treadmill and walking never accomplished in the past. By the time my 10 minute warm up was done, I was plotting how to tell my DH that we were buying one. That was 10 months ago and I love my elliptical and my knee has never bothered me on it. Other places occasionally (walking in ski boots not skiing itself). I’m betting you will love it. Heck, if it weren’t for my elliptical, I wouldn’t be on the maintainers forum yet. My metabolism revved a wee bit using it 5X week. Since I have a snail pace metabolism, I’ll take any help I can get.

Megan, LOL on the boating description. I’m sure there is a reason you decided to go out but I’m at a loss as to why. Brrrr!

So I'm getting a little freaked out about my upcoming plastic surgeries. The neck and arms I'm ok with everything I've read but the tummy tuck has officially sent me spinning. The swelling posts on another website and "yoga pants are my best friend" have me scared. I can't wear yoga pants to work!!! And I don't have a big wardrobe as I don't want to buy until I'm situated in my weight and body for a bit. Pain doesn't scare me but one person asked how long till people could wear their jeans again. The answers were between 5 weeks to 5 months. So now I'm paranoid. I seriously thought of canceling it, then I looked at my freakish tummy and will figure it out. A coworker said to wear my yoga pants. But I only have one pair! And I like them for the elliptical. I guess that would take a step of getting dressed for work out in the morning after my workout. Of course I'd have to skip the shower and then smell all my coworkers from the building. Yes, I know I am snowballing out of control.
Marie

Marie-- when are your surgeries and what do you have planned besides your tummy tuck? How long ago did you finish losing? I know that I have continued to firm up and am now much firmer than I was almost 2 years ago. I started a little lower than you but I had plenty of skin-- mostly on my tummy. It still isn't beautiful (and tons of stretch marks) but it isn't bad enough for me to consider surgery.

And my Doberman is a big baby. He is scared of his own shadow (literally). The prior doberman we had was much better but this one didn't get much in the brains department!

Marie~the elliptical never did bother my knees when I used them at the gym, my trouble with them is that if I don't pay VERY CLOSE attention to the speed, I tend to go slower and slower and slower. Something that the treadmill doesn't allow me to do. lol

Jay, have fun at your retreat!

Hi Rabbit!

Michele, LOL about the doberman! It's been a long time since I was last at Disneyland, and I admit last time I was there I didn't care about eating healthy. I seem to recall that in addition to the usual burger/fries type stands, they have a couple actual restaurants. I'm pretty sure you can bring in food if you want but you can probably check on their website.

Allison, I have that same problem with the elliptical! I just go slower and slower if I don't pay attention.

Megan, good luck on the freezing boat!

Iris, I'm jealous of your weather. I talked to my dad yesterday and he was saying it's gorgeous and in the mid-70's in LA too.

Marie, do you have any pajama pants or anything you could wear for just around the house? That might be another option...

I got a couple photos of my dog in the snow yesterday with my cell phone, here they are! Sorry for the poor quality, my phone is old and not so high-tech.

Good afternoon! Well, I've spent the morning thinking my house was sinking because the floor in my garage was 4 inches below the level of my driveway. I now think my driveway is floating on the ice below it instead. My builder is going to come by tonight or tomorrow morning and look inside the house to see if there are any signs of sinkage, but really if my foundation had settled 3" in two weeks there would be some serious cracking somewhere. The floating foundation makes a lot more sense. No exercise yesterday - took a long nap instead. Now, might end up with the builder this afternoon with no exercise tonight either. I may be able to get it in though, we'll see.

Meg - I know that shower felt great! I had to wait several days after my surgery, too, and was miserable.

Dagmar - it is a little scary being away from a scale, isn't it. Getting back to the yoga should help.

Ward - ick, I hate the dentist. Hope it goes well.

Jessica - Carter is hilarious!

Jay - enjoy your retreat! Sounds fabulous.

Rabbit - headache better?

Michele - I remember being able to take food into Disney went we went on band trips in school. I packed in snacks and such because I was penniless and couldn't afford to pay for soda.

Allison - funny how two minutes can make such a big difference. It does that here, too. If I leave my house 2-3 minutes later I get caught in a heap of traffic from the school across the street.

Megan - I'm cold enough in my garage, there is nothing that would get me out on a boat today! Wow. Good luck with the mask. I would think you might be able to find a running or diving mask, but ski mask might be hard in FL.

Iris - hey there! Where have you been?

Marie - it took about 30 days for the swelling to go down from my surgery last year. Most of my swelling was around the boobies, but there was some bloating around my tummy. I could wear regular pants right away, but the area with the concentrated swelling was different. I had to wear a soft sports bra for almost a month. I know people with tummy tucks and everyone has a slightly different experience, but they all wear elastic-y comfy pants for at least two weeks. Everything will be fine.

Good day everyone!