Hi,
Guess I'm going to the store this morning with DD #1 to buy groceries. We are out of everything. I will have to use one of those electric carts to get around in and the baskets they have on the front of them aren't big enough to hold my cat food, let alone groceries for a week. I don't know what to do about the diet thing. I asked DH this morning about it again but he's sick with a head cold and doesn't care what I get. He brought home a carton of Breyers ice cream for his sore throat. I guess I'll buy a weeks worth of low fat food and then see what happens. If we spend the next week eating out to avoid eating it, that's the end of that.

Aleka, I never know what to say when people ask me if I"m in pain. I'm always in pain. It seems like after so many years of it, I can now tolerate it much more and a greater amount of it, than when this first happened. It's always there, but I can concentrate on something else and not notice it as much. It's not as intense as after surgery of couse, but there are so many things that are wrong in there, it's hard to even try to describe how I feel. I try not to use those pain pills, they just make me sleepy and grouchy anyway. As far as helping with pain, they don't do much at all.
To be able to understand what the cats say, it depends on the cat. Some are so smart, like Stripe. He will sit on the sink in the bathroom, look at the faucet and look into your eyes and then back at the faucet. He loves to drink from running water, so I turn it on just a little bit for him. He is the great communicator. Should have called him Ronald Reagan. PJ is not very smart at all, so we never know what she's talking about.

Anne, hope your enjoying your day off. I know how your feeling about getting into onederland, that's why I ordered the Slim in 6 plan. We'll see what it's about. From what I can tell from the bulletin boards, it's a lot of exercise. Sorry to hear about your disagreement with I'm glad you stand up to her, she isn't use to that I bet.

Lynn, sounds like your having a good time. Yes, those young animals are great. Our newest cat is 4 months old, so he's still a kitten. He's just learning how to behave. I always miss that part of them, when they grow up and are mature, but then, I won't want to live with a kitten forever either. They can sure tear up the house.

Sugar, it's going to be in the low 50's here (I live in Knoxville, Iowa), how warm is it going to be there? We've been plagued all winter by those lady beetles/lady bug's, do you have them down there? Every time it warms up to above 30, I'm innundated with the little pests. I vacuum and before the day is over, there are several of them all over the place. They say they are worse in the country, where we live, but my DD who lives in an apartment in town (and has a pest control guy come in regularly to spray) has them all the time too.

Oops, better get going, have a good one, Nikki

Good morning and I hope it is for you all,
It is suppose to be in the 50's again today. I have seen many robins this morning, so I am declaring spring officially here, at least in my yard.
I was glad to get the shopping done yesterday. I started my low fat/low cal diet today. I decided not to go real low fat, I'm still going to use regular low carb salad dressing, since I have about 4 kinds and don't want to throw all that out. I know they are made with good fats and some fat is of course necessary in all diets. I ate a bowl of cereal with 1% milk this morning, tasted like wall paper soaked in wallpaper paste. I started my vitamins and supplements again and did Body Flex this morning. I could sure tell I hadn't exercised in awhile, my muscles were all stiff. Not that BF is that much of a workout, but it's certainly better than nothing and I feel better for it. I will add some ab work the first of next week and try to progress from there. Would love to get back on my Gazelle, but that is out for at least 6 weeks.

Hope your all doing well, have a good weekend, Nikki

Gosh, what a group celebrating almost the same anniversaries now. Aleka, your 32nd (and by the way Happy Anniversary!), Lynn coming upon 33 in May, and ours will be 32 in March. Aleka, it sounds like you had a fine celebration. Do you like whole wheat pasta? I haven't tried it.

Nikki, I love your cat analysis. Our Mr. Wilbur Mills was extremely smart. Never had I had a cat who could relate to me as he could. Maybe it was because we got him so tiny and a few months later our 14-year old daughter was killed in a car wreck. Mr. Mills had many many hours of consoling us and it is amazing his fur even stayed lusterous because it was wet with tears for a long long time. But he pulled us through. That silent comfort can sometimes be more healing than a torrent of words. When he died, it was sort of like our final goodbye to Sally.

I think it is interesting as well the difference in your cats' personalities and levels of apparent intelligence. Lucianne is absolutely the smartest dog I have ever encountered. She uses her eyes to direct you to whatever she is wanting to comment on...looking away and back several times until we can catch up with her request. She thinks running water from a faucet is fabulous. Rosalee, however, conceals her mentality cleverly. For a long time we thought she wasn't bright because she was so quiet and laid back...a aloof princess, but she just doesn't want to let you know she's really on top of things we now think. Lucianne is a naughty naughty tomboy, always pushing the envelope with something. When she gets in trouble and I scold her, Rosalee watches closely...her little wheels turning...and if it seems like I am really put out with Lucianne, keep talking to her about her misdeeds, Rosalee will give her a loud bark and hop on her, nipping her ears or boxing them. Remember, she is 3 pounds and Lucianne is 4 1/2....half again as big! We love it. Lucianne cowers and creeps over for consolation telling us about Rosalee's bad temper and wanting sympathy, completely absolving her own sins. Rosalee is now known as "The Enforcer!"

The weather here today should be 63. The mulching will begin in earnest when DD gets here soon. I spread about 10 sacks yesterday and we have about 40 to do today. My back should be a bear by afternoon.

Anne, glad you survived the lunch with the devil!

Lynn, you are very brave to attempt spelling that dog's breed!!! I am afraid I would have had the h in a prominent spot and shamed myself.

DH was pretty good yesterday with his new committment to his WW way of life. I supported him as best I could, using their new low carb/hi pro (\ plan. Starved all day!!!!! How can people do this for the long haul? I am not into hunger at all since SS and Atkins have influenced my life. I longed to sneak into the kitchen for a big meat feast or some nuts but didn't think I should scold DH if I couldn't be good myself. Two weeks of this will definitely be it for me. Hope he does well.........

Sugardrop

Sugardrop,
I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. I can't imagine your sorrow or intense pain you must feel from your loss. I think God sends us special help during times that are so terrible, Mr. Wilbur Mills had to have been sent to you on purpose. When animals die, I do think they go to heaven and that he is there now, a friend and comfort to your daughter. Actually, I think that we are all part of some kind of large plan that we as humans can't begin to imagine, so God gives us the image of heaven to help us to grasp the idea, but it is too immense for us to understand at this time. I can understand your feelings when you lost Mr. Wilbur Mills. My dad had a cocker spaniel that I inherited when he died. When she died, it was like the link was gone. Still, I knew she was in a better place and I think she is helping dad too.
Animals are so different. Some of our cats want to communicate with us, some of them could care less. I think it is part intelligence and part of being a cat. Dogs are much more in tune to their masters emotions. When you cry and your dog is there, they will lick your face, cuddle up and worry until you stop. I've had a few cats that do that too, but most of them just take a bath and/or walk away. Still, they can be a comfort and help to get a person to see the world differently.
I love hearing about your little dogs. I can only imagine how much fun they must be. They sound like little angels to me.

That is sweet of you trying to not eat to support your DH. It's hard to do this low cal thing or eating less. I decided that to just maintain my weight, I would have to eat 2300 cal a day, so to lose weight, I should eat around 1800 calories. 1800 calories is much less than I was eating, so I'm sure I'll lose weight this way and when I hit a plateau, I will then have some room to subtract calories until I get to my goal weight. That's the plan, don't know how well it will work though. I think I've eaten more carbs today than I usually eat in a week. I have tried hard to not even think of my carbs, just to eat sugar free and sugar alchol free.

Take care, Nikki

Sugardrop, I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter. I can't imagine the pain and suffering it caused you and your family. It still must be hard for you. I know Mr. Wilbur Mills is with your daughter now. Have you ever seen the story about Rainbow Bridge? It's about dogs that go to heaven and wait for their "people". I don't see why it can't pertain to cats or any animal. I cry everytime I read it. When in March is your anniversary?

nikki, I had to laugh at your description of cereal and milk. Do you like egg beaters? If you do, you could still have your bacon and eggs. If you're doing low fat, use turkey bacon. It tastes just like regular bacon. You could still have your eggs if you use mostly the whites. Good luck with your calorie counting. Two of my favorite breakfasts are either toast with part-skim ricotta cheese, or toast with peanutbutter & sugarfree jelly. WW advocates everything fat-free/low-fat. I will do some low fat, like cheese, but will not give up my full fat salad dressings. I honestly think the full fat dressings are healthier than the fat-fee dressings that are loaded with sugar. I have read the Sugar Busters diet book...are you surprised?? I go by their rule, I won't eat anything with more than 3 grams of sugar on the label.

Enjoy the rest of the day.
Aleka

Aleka,
When I went to the store, I bought the part skim ricotta, thinking of you. I haven't tried it yet though. Do you add anything to it, or eat it like a spread on your toast? What would it be like if you added splenda, vanilla and cinnamon to it?
Personally, I hate egg beaters (too rubbery) and turkey bacon is not the same to me. But, I've eaten plenty of bacon in the last few years, so I can make it without it for awhile. I will just add a sprinkling of it on occasion to my salads when I want to have a taste. I agree about the fat free foods. I don't think a lot of them are very healthy, because they substitute sugar and chemicals (mysterious chemicals with long names and no nutritional value) for the fat. I do like the Carb Options dressings I'm using. They are made with splenda, but are full fat. I'm just limiting it much more than I was before. I also bought some Dannon Carb Control yogurt. It has 3 carbs and is made with Splenda. I ate the first little container today and thought, wow, this is like eating watery yogurt. Looked at the label and the first ingredient is water. Not real filling or anything special. I'm trying to eat more calcium, since my bones are trying to heal. Of course, I take calcium supplements too, I think they are good for all of us.
Nikki

nikki, I just spread the ricotta cheese on my toast, and for a different taste I sometimes put sugar-free jam ontop of the ricotta. I found Polaner All Fruit made w/Splenda at Walmart. It is good. But, mixing the splenda, vanilla, & cinnamon sounds YUMMY!!!! I'm going to give it a try. I have some vanilla DaVinci syrup that I can mix into it and the cinnamon. I don't like egg beaters either, and using mostly egg whites I have read that calcium helps with weight loss. I forget, is the Walmart you go to a Super Walmart? If it is, they have Blue Bunny Yogurt made w/Splenda and it's delicious. I don't know how many carbs it has, but it isn't low carb. I haven't seen those Carb options salad dressings in our area yet, but I'll start looking for them.
A few snowmobilers just went whizzing by, and by the sounds of it they were going pretty fast. I just hope they haven't been drinking.

Take care and have a good night.
Aleka

Happy Leap Day guys:
I started new thread, see you there.
Anne.