HI,
How's everyone doing? I didn't know the forum was going to be down, so kind of missed it all weekend. I'm still exercising like a maniac and doing very well with my eating. I can barely believe it's me, I've never really been very good at staying on a diet. Now, I'm looking at things and making better choices with what I eat. I'm even eating Grapenuts and liking them
The weather here is starting to straighten out. It's sunny and will be getting warmer. I'm looking forward to getting back out in the garden and we will start mushroom hunting now. Can't wait to get my first morels.
Talk to you all later, Nikki

Hi Guys
I have had a very hectic few days. Dad is back in the hospital. He has
been there since Wednesday He has pneumonia both lungs and his
potassium levels are really low. He is on the mend though and we are
hoping he will be home early this week. He is undergoing treadmill and
breathing tests today to see if he needs os at home. Before my dad went
in the hospital he had a dream that he was tied up to the kitchen chair. He
was struggling hard to break himself free because he knew everyone iwas
depending on him. I think it means his breathing problems myself.

He told my mother last evening he had a wonderful dream about Molly
Barrett (a deceased close friend) sitting on the side of his bed. He said
they were having a lovely visit and she was helping him. (I don't know about
these dreams ladies, it creeps me out) My dad is sound in mind so I don't
know where he is getting all these thoughts from The irish in me does
not like this : I am just hoping he is not getting ready to cast off. He looked
really well yesterday when I went to visit him.

is still off of work. She has some real health issues. Apparantly the
doctors still don't know whats wrong with her.

Lynn, no I could not believe the Khan trial. These people make
me want to hurl.

Hi Nikki, and Aleka. Hope you are both well I couldn't get on the board
this weekend?????

Talk to you later.
Anne.

Anne,
I'm sorry to hear about your dad and glad that he is doing better. You know, dreams are ways that we deal with stress. I know that when people are dealing with illness, (thinking of my own father here, especially) if they feel like they are needed, that their family is depending on them, they are able to fight it much harder and endure much more. I've heard many patients who were ill, talk about dreams like your dad's with the friend. I think she was someone that was giving him comfort and a little extra strength, when he needed some extra support.
I know your really worried about him. Sending all my best thoughts and prayers your way, Nikki

PS-maybe will be a new person when she returns to work. Hopefully, this will make her more grateful and less angery about everything. She sure seemed to take it out on everyone.

Good Morning All:

Nikki, I am hoping that the illness will be a life changing experience for
Sometimes it is an experience like that, that will change a person for the
better. In the case of she needs to learn abit of compassion and
understanding. We can only hope........

Good News, when I got home last night and opened the door my dad was
there!!! His doctor set him up with os and he looks great. He will be going
back for a check-up in a couple of weeks to make sure all is well. The doctor
has taken him off his water pill because his potassium is so low. Dad is
worried his blood pressure will go through the roof. The best we can do is
try to keep him calm and reassure him. The antibiotics have really helped
with the pneumonia which is good.

Hi Aleka, and Lynn

Anne.

Hi All: I'm with you Nikki, I missed the forum myself this weekend. Instead of being in front of the computer I had to work. Glad your Dad is ok Anne, I liked what you said about his dreams Nikki. However being Irish I know how creepy it feels. Before my mother went into the nursing home she would dream about her mother and tell us the dreams. Everytime she went like that a few days later she would be very sick and in hospital. Interesting eh!!!! It used to freak me out. Well am back on hormones, BP worse than ever. I am back on the lowest dose and she will try weaning me off them in 6 months. I am also on 6 new meds that are for Bp and cholestrol, She wants me to lose 25-30 pounds counting cals and watching Carbs. Basically Dr. Phil's diet and if my blood sugar doesn't come down in the next couple of weeks I will be considered a Type 2 diabetic and will go on pills for that. Boy 55 is not the year for me after the winter DH had. She wants me to walk 3 miles min a day. So I guess there will be a new me in a couple of months. Went and picked up a letter at DS's and Dh's doctor is retiring in August. Dh has gone to him for 32 years, DS since he was 4 months old. He is my age so am glad he is leaving stress behind him and maybe have a long retirement. We have friends coming up today for a couple of days to look at houses here. They retire in January. It would be nice to have somebody that we know here. We are leaving for the trailer on Sat. morning. Friends were at the park on Sunday and went though our trailer, No leaks and best of all no mice. I have a phobia about mice, I leave a half roll of toilet paper in the middle of the livingroom and it is the first thing we see when we open the door. Mice will unraval it to make a nest. If left alone no mice. Are you able to garden Nikki? We could get snow tonight, than back up to high 60's which is as warm as I like it. Aleka hope you trip is going well. Back later

Evening,
Anne, that's great news about your dad. I know your relieved.

Lynn, glad your back missed you too. Wow, lots of medications and changes going on in your life. I suppose your suppose to watch your sodium intake too. Really sucks getting older and having to deal with all the changes that the body goes through. I hope you feel better and your b/p stays stable. I've not had a regular Dr for so long. We have different ones coming through here all the time. Just when I find one that I think knows what their talking about, they leave.

It was a beautiful day today. DH greased the camper up, I pulled weeds, went to the greenhouse and bought some flowers. We went in the woods and looked for mushrooms, but it's too early. I think in a few days, they will really start to pop. Tomorrow is suppose to be in the low 80's, so I will spend more time in the yard. I have 10 more tomato plants to plant. I've planted 6 so far and 4 rows of green beans. Everything is looking so nice, I love this time of year.

Better go see what DH is wanting, Nikki

If you need a laugh, check this out on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=4146756343

If the address doesn't work, go to ebay and enter 4146756343 in the search box, it's hilarious.

This is just kind of sweet and kind of funny

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark... One: Don't miss the boat. Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat. Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Six: Build your future on high ground. Seven: For safety sake, travel in pairs. Eight: Spe`ed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. Nine: When you're stressed, float a while. Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting..

Have a good one, Nikki

Goodmorning All: That was sweet Nikki. Our company has left, they are 99 % sure they are buying here. Will make a decision soon. We are on our way out to get my driver's license renewed. I hate that!!!! I have to have a new picture done. Was just talking to DD and he has to take a afternoon off to go stand in line to get a justice of peace to certify my grandson's birth. They have to fly into LAX and should have a birth cetificate but can't get one as the government is 8 months behind in providing them. No wonder this country is going to **** in a hand basket. They crossed the border with him at Easter with his hospital proof of birth and had no problems but were told that there could be trouble at LAX. I find it so sad that we have been crossing our mutual border for years with just a birth certificate and now we need a passport. I can understand the USA's concern because I wouldn't trust Canada Customs security systems in place, they are pathetic.Anyway off we go the weather is fabulous, today will be our first short day. Hard to beleive that Tuesday we had snow!!!!!! Later

Hi,
It was almost 90 yesterday and really windy. I wanted to get out and do so many things in the yard, but the wind was gusting up to 60 mph, so it was limited what you could do. Catching your breathe was about it. I did finish getting the camper ready, put away dishes and linens. DH fixed the water pipes, again. Now, we are set. On his next days off, if the weather is nice, we will go out to the campgrounds for a few days to see if everything is really ready to rock and roll.
Today has been cloudy and windy, but not as windy as yesterday and it's cooler. I was able to plant the rest of my tomatoes and get some geraniums and viola's in the ground. They said on the noon news by the weekend, it could be in the 30's over night. Figures.
Lynn, even though our government has stepped up security, I've never been impressed by it. I use to work for the government and all I can say is, it's a mess. Seems like the people that screw up the worst are given better jobs. If you have the right education, you can get a high level job, but common sense is not a requirement for management, in fact, I've never met one yet that has any. I know how you feel, that handbasket is carrying us to **** too. Must be a big one. The administration says that tech jobs going over seas, like to India is a good thing. Then they turn around and say that we can't order our medication from Canada, because that would be displacing American workers. What a joke. They are obviously protecting the big drug companies here. It's always been for the big business, but never so blatantly so as now. Guess I better stop, or I'll really rant and rave
How are you feeling and how's your b/p? Sounds like you had a nice visit and that would be great if you had some neighbors that were old friends too.
Aleka, bet your going to be one tired lady when you get home today. Hey, I've always wondered, do oranges taste better off the tree? We have been getting some really good ones here lately, but I've always wanted to know if they are better down there.
Hi Anne, hope your doing well.
Talk to you all later, Nikki

Hi everyone!

We got back earlier this afternoon. I'm taking a little break from all the unpacking. It was so nice to come into our driveway and see the leaves on my flowers popped through the ground!

ANNE, you had quite a scare with your Dad. I'm glad that everything is ok and that he's home. I too liked Nikki's explaination about dreams. I know what you mean about dreams and being Irish! I remember one time a few years before my mother died, she had been taking a nap and she said that she heard my late aunt (her sister), call her name. I told her that she must have been dreaming, but she said she wasn't. That freaked me out.

lynn, hope everything turns out ok for you with your b/p and sugar. Have you looked into the South Beach diet? That is fairly low in carbs. I bought the cookbook while on vacation. That's a shame your DD is having such a problem with a birth certificate. Glad you had a nice visit with your friends, and I do hope they decide to retire near you. Nikki is right about our government, they're sending all the jobs over to China and India, and they say it's good for the country. Ya, right. It's good for the big corporations.

nikki, glad that you're having some good weather. It's in the 70's today, and they say we may even see 80 by tomorrow, then it's back into the 50's. I've never really had any oranges from the tree, but I have had grapefruit right from the tree and they were delicious.

Well, I guess I better go back upstairs and do some more unpacking.

Enjoy the rest of your day.
Aleka

WELCOME BACK ALEKA!
Missed you and I'm glad your home, safe and sound.
Talk to you tomorrow, Nikki

A quick note about BodyFlex-
I got this as part of a message from Beachbody today. While they were not talking about Body Flex, this would explain why Body Flex works.


Tip of the Week
By Steve Edwards

Work Your Transverse Abdominus for a Flatter Stomach
Most abdominal exercises do not work the transverse abdominus because it is an internal muscle with fibers that run horizontally. Why work it if you canīt see it? Because it gives your torso stability, making other exercises more efficient and helping prevent injury. It also holds your gut in, essentially flattening your stomach. The transverse abdominus aids in forced expiration, which means your work it every time you breathe out forcefully while completing squats, deadlifts, and other heavy exercises. A good way to work your transversus is by doing a simple movement called a "vacuum" exercise. To do this, exhale forcefully, suck in your gut (contracting it so that it's smaller), and hold it for a couple of seconds. You may do this exercise as much as you like as there is very little chance of incurring an overtraining effect from it.

Goodmorning All: Welcome back Aleka!!! Coming home is always great isn't it. Had a great day yesterday, today we pack the car for the trailer. DD arrives later and we will load her car also. Every year I say I'm going to cut back on what I take but of coarse I don't. I take my favorite pots for example, I don't need to, I have pots up there. By the time we hit the road tomorrow DH will be VERY annoyed with me! Oh well he gets over it quickly. Well I'm off to do some laundry, I will talk to you all Sat. or Sunday

Good morning everyone!

Thank you for welcoming me back. It really is good to get home and it felt so good sleeping in my own bed for a change. It's nice to go away but, it's better to come home. I am now in the process of starting laundry, and there is a ton of it!

DH & I will be grocery shopping this afternoon and I plan on stocking up on diet frozen dinners to try and lose some weight.

I am going to have a pretty busy week. I don't know if I told you that for property tax reasons I have to sell the summer cottage my parents left me. Everything is done and the state has approved whatever the buyers want to do, so it looks as though we'll be passing papers next week. I'm sad and relieved at the same time. It's the last thing I had left of my parents, but the taxes were becoming a burden on us. We'll be cleaning it out during the week, as we were unable to clean it out during the winter.

lynn, have a wonderful time at your trailer. I can relate to packing a lot of stuff. It must be a girl thing because DH teases me all the time about how many things I bring with me whenever we go away.

nikki, when you have your frozen dinners, do you also make a little salad to go along with it? I thought for lunches I would cut up some cukes, radishes, tomatoes, peppers, onion, and pour some balsamic vinegar over them, then at night make a little side salad to round out the meal. I put on so much weight over vacation that I'm afraid to get on the scales.

ANNE, hope everything is going well for you. How is your Dad doing? I'm sorry that is so sick and I hope the Dr. can find out what is wrong. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for her and be more compassionate with the people under her.

Have a great day everyone. It's supposed to reach 80 today. I'll believe it when I see it, but it will be warmer than normal.

Aleka

HI,
Well, I had typed out a long message (you know me) then accidentally hit the wrong button and erased it.
Lynn, I pack the camper so full, you can barely wedge a toothpick in there. I still have to make a list of things I forgot, when we are setting up camp. I never seem to be able to get everything.
Aleka, I'm sorry you have to sell your cabin, I know how much that means to you. My parents had a cabin when I was a kid and some of my favorite childhood memories are from there. When they sold it, I couldn't afford to buy it. After they died, my sisters sold or took all their stuff without telling me. I was left with the dog. Some of the best treasures in life are memories anyway.
I do eat a salad with those dinners. If I'm in a hurry, or sick of salad, I will eat yogurt, low carb bread or some raw carrots. They have been a life saver now that I'm in the garden. I have no time for cooking or dishwashing.
I planted most of my gardens and flower beds yesterday. Today, it's cold and wet, so I will plant the planters in the garage. It is not suppose to be nice again til next week.
Better get moving, Nikki