SeeMyFeet, Even though it feels like you are falling apart, you are doing a good job taking care of yourself with the things that are arising. I hope you get some new meds that work. Is it the meds making the weight gain/difficulty losing? That really sucks.

My trip was almost entirely bird counts, but we had some time to do other things--visited the Bay of Pigs museum, Che Guevara's hideout during the missile crisis, walking around Havana. But mostly in nature preserves, villages. A few touristy areas, but mostly not. A smorgasbord of lodging, incl.resort hotels, simple beach front cabanas, private hostels. A 4-star hotel in Cuba may or may not have hot water. They have been through some very tough times; things are better, but still tough. The villages are picturesque, and even seeing the country out of the bus was fascinating, eg sharing the interstate with horse-drawn carts & bicycles, old American cars, new Russian & Chinese ones.

SMF We live relatively close to 3 casinos, withing 1-1/2 miles. DH is probably addicted to gambling, so we go a few times a month. I hold the purse strings so he doesn't gamble away the house, and the money we spend is AFTER all the monthly bills are paid. I'm not crazy about it, but the food sure is good!

Rennie, did you think that because that little piece of cake was dark and hard and didn't taste good that it wasn't fattening? LOL If you're going to eat something you shouldn't be eating, don't waste it on a part that's going to be thrown away, anyway! Have a bite of the middle of the cake and enjoy it!

Prairie Queen, I have weaned myself off most carby foods and especially sweets. It's because of my diabetes. DH usually has 3 desserts, and they don't even interest me. I would rather go back through the buffet a second time. Or third. They used to have regular ice cream and I would get a scoop of strawberry topped with hot fudge sauce. Now they changed it to soft serve ice cream and it's runny and doesn't really taste very good, and there's no toppings. So now I don't even go over and look at the dessert bar. You'd think I'd lose weight. Most people blame their weight on their lack of control with sweets and snacks. I don't eat them and my weight won't budge.

Jacqui, my friend had a cat who was only around 5 years old and developed blood clots. I don't remember what her symptoms were, but they took her to a vet and had to put her down right then and there. The vet said nothing could be done for her.

Most of our animals have lived a long life, except for 1 dog who developed cancer and had to be put down at 11 years old. He should have lived to be at least 15 or so.

Oooohh Mars, what lovely words for Jac!

And what a wonderful snapshot in time you have for that part of the world! I know what you mean about views from the bus...I was in Beijing when everything was frantically being built and polished for the Olympics. We drove through a new settlement area, slums actually, where workers formerly from the countryside were living. They built a stacked warren of tiny one-room dwellings, probably from scrap building material and, surprisingly, mostly brick, and I'll never forget the image when I looked up from the taxi window and saw the most amazing spaghetti-noodle nest of electrical wires floating in the air that fueled all the new TVs, which you could see blaring from the open front doors! I doubt that part of town is accessible now, as the govt was quickly walling it off and surrounding it with clean, spacious and westernized touristy shops.

and you panged my guilt nerve. Last night was the first time this week I exercised. Lots of excuses...car trouble, forgot my gym bag, but let's be honest and call it laziness.

Gaw, WannaBe...I know what you mean about not eating sweets and not losing....Good thing I'm a patient and understanding person, else I would punch holes in the table after reading all these "whoops, my mouth fell on the cake and I at the whole thing, but lucky for me I dropped 5lb overnight" comments on this forum. And, no, I can't blame the meds. I wish I were a more proud person--I'd be strutting and bragging and patting myself on the back for having such an exceptionally efficient and stupendously Superior metabolism! "Baah Ha Ha! You can't starve ME!!"


...words to live by...:rofl: :rofl: Boy Howdy! I needed that chuckle.

I gotta weigh in on the cake, pun intended! I LOVE that hard crusty part. :drool:

Thank you all so much. You made me cry. Of course, that's not hard today. I've been crying on the drop of a dime. I'll respond to you individually tomorrow. I know you understand. :grouphug:

Today, I weigh 171.

Hi Everyone :wave:

Jacqui :hug:

Jacqui this must be 'all pets go to heaven'day, because my mom had to put her 19-year-old malti-poo down today. . . Her one and only. Her sister from a different litter was my little Lily that passed three years ago.

Friday's menu ....

Break - McD's sausage burrito w/hot sauce and ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - leftover chicken w/mushroom-lemon sauce & angel hair pasta
Snack - skinny popcorn
Dinner - homemade meatball hoagie w/o lid
Snack - two drinks because it's Friday and the start of nine days off work!

I'm going to have to be so careful this week with overeating at breakfast and lunch since it will be very easy to overdo it while home all day. I've got lots of "jobs" planned to burn some extra calories if I can stick with it. Today I really need to finish the garden chores before the real cold sets in. And, of course, there's always plenty of cleaning to do in this big old farmhouse....it's a dirt magnet (having four pets indoors doesn't make it any cleaner either).

Today, I started out with organic oatmeal w/stevia and a teaspoon of low-sugar Apple topping that I canned last month. It was lacking something though. I think tomorrow I'll add a small chunk of Irish butter to "richen" it up.

Have a great weekend all!

Ugh! I had all my personals written and ready to send and when I hit enter, I discovered that my internet service had been interrupted and my computer was offline, and of course, hitting the back button didn't help to save what I had written. So frustrating! I don't have time to re-do them now, but I will try again tonight. I hope everyone is having a great day! I weigh 171.

Today's menu.....

Break - oatmeal with stevia & cooked apples, Coke Life
Lunch - leftover chicken w/mushroom-lemon sauce and angel hair pasta
Dinner - bourbon chicken w/broccoli and rice
No snacks!

My blood pressure came down the first day with the new med but now it's back up again. It might have something to do with the timing of taking it. The first couple days I was taking the new med cautiously mid day so I could see if it was having any poor effects of me, but I think now I will just take it in the AM with my other BP meds.

Yesterday, DH was up in the attic looking for the outside Christsmas decorations so he can start putting them out after Thanksgiving. We have accumulated so many Christmas decorations over the years the whole attic is full. I wanted to go through them and get rid of a lot of it since I don't put out as many decorations as I did before. He brought it all down so I could go through it and there's boxes all over the house! I forgot I had half of this stuff! I told my step-daughter she had a few days to come over and go through it to see if she wanted any of it then it's going to Goodwill. I hope to get done sorting it today. We can hardly walk through the house.

Enjoy your time off Prairie Queen! When I worked, I think I ate more at work than I did when I was home and I thought I would really lose weight after I retired. In fact, I used to lose weight on the weekends and gain it back during 5 days at work. The problem was the availability of snacks at work. Not only did people bring stuff in, but we had very well stocked snack machines. I wore a lab coat wit big pockets and always had something in my pocket to munch on. I also ate lunch because everyone else was eating, even thought I wasn't always hungry. I thought I would lose weight when I retired because there's not usually any snack food here, and what DH has doesn't usually tempt me much. But it's not working that way. He recently bought some honey wheat pretzels that I love! He will probably continue to buy them since I like them and I will have to learn to stay out of them.

I really like oatmeal, especially during the winter, but it raises my blood sugar. DH made some Cream of Wheat and I ate a spoonful of it and it tasted great, but up went the BS. And that's what it is...a bunch of BS. LOL

Carol Sue, I sure hope you get the BP figured out! :goodvibes: I have been trying to clear out my Christmas decorations for the last few years. I keep telling myself I'm not going to do it up as big, and yet each year, I still put out so much, even after weeding through it. It's exhausting! :faint: Thank you again for your support on the subject of Ichabod. I hate that you've had to go through this type of heartbreak so many times too. :hug:

PrairieQueen, were you able to beat the cold weather to your garden? :brr: Good job on the no snacks! That should show on your scale! :goodscale: Thank you for your kind words concerning Ichabod. :hug: And I'm so glad you found Mr. Darcy! Oh, I know that scare well! :fr:

Mars, thanks on the weight compliment. I'm trying! :) And thank you so much for your kind words about Ichabod. :hug: I know it was the right thing to do. It's just so hard. :( I'm glad your mom has accepted some of the changes that are needed. When my Dad fell and broke 4 ribs, that was a huge wake-up call to him to slow down. Now he uses a cane in his house and a walker when he goes out. He has a chair lift on his stairs. We've put a tall chair in his bathroom so he can get ready in the morning without having to stand the whole time, and he now has a bath chair in his walk-in bathtub, so he's doing a lot better now. I hope your mom continues to recognize that life is much easier with the necessities that come with growing older. :yes: I'm glad you have adjusted to your time zone once again. Step on that scale, girlie! The sooner you do, the sooner you will get back to being on plan as you know you should be. :dancer:

Rennie, thank you for always being here for me. :hug: How are you doing? Is TOM over? Were you able to keep the Military Diet going? I know it's very strict. :drill: I so want to see you back in the 160's where you belong! I'd love to see you maintain that steadily and then drop even lower. :yes: The holidays are always challenging, but you have what it takes! You just have to believe in yourself! :dust:

SeeMyFeet, thank you for making me smile when I was at my lowest. :hug: I'm glad to know you're mostly housebroken, lol! :lol: Oh, I hear you on the dentist. :( You are so right on RA playing a part in periodontal disease. I am fighting that battle too, despite my fancy-schmancy spin brush and water pic. Just keep doing the best you can to take care of yourself! :flow2:

I weigh 170 today! :carrot: Since I am moving Carb Day all the way up to Thursday this week, I decided to just wait till then to take it, rather than to take what would feel like one right after another. Besides, I didn't have much of an appetite. I didn't want to waste a Carb Day when I didn't feel like eating the usual goodies. DH even wanted to take me to Dairy Queen for a pumpkin blizzard and I just didn't want it. I'm glad I did wait now! I get to move my ticker and change my little blue cheerleader to pink! :cheer2:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Week 28: High 173, Low 171
11/15--173
11/16--172.5
11/17--172
11/18--172
11/19--172
11/20--171
11/21--171

Week 29:
11/22--170
11/23--
11/24--
11/25--
11/26--:thanks2:
11/27--
11/28--

Wow! Looking at my ticker, I just realized I've lost 50 lbs! :woohoo:

Yay on the bp, Carol…keep tweeking….I said tweeking, not twerking…but you should keep twerking, too. Good for disposition AND weight loss. (post videos for us)


“I’m not the Smithsonian” :rofl: My mantra is “if I can find it on the internet, I don’t need to keep this piece of paper.” Need DH to get on board with both of those.

I’m surprised you thought I was joking, Jac. Oh no! You’re worried about PD disease, too? I thought your RA was well controlled—you don’t have to take RA meds, right? What is your RA like these days?

I’m so bummed about my lack of weight loss. But DH informed me I was farting up a storm in my sleep last night, so maybe my body is brewing up some good surprises for me. (I’m still LOL at that information—DH is usually well-mannered and proper. He slept in away-at-college DD’s bedroom last night. I asked him if it was the noise or the smell that drove him away. Didn’t wait for the smell, he sez. Ah the joys of married life!) sorry TMI, but I am still laughing and crying at the same time because I don’t know WHUT is RONG with my body!

I’m so sick of bran cereal, I went back to oatmeal for breakfast this morning. Not sure I’m ready to end the high fiber experiment; not sure it’s doing anything for me either. OK….big girl panty time..…what I ReallyAndTruly need to do is tweak the timing of eating a la Carol and her meds. I need to keep the kitchen (Kitchen….meaning…my mouth) CLOSED past 6 or 7pm…Problem is, I’m often up until 2am and I often have very few calories morn & afternoon. (excuses excuses). On paper, it doesn’t make sense, but I’m suspicious that my gut might be much more efficient with nutrient/calorie uptake when my brain & body are resting….like a night-time cat burglar who puts more food in your pantry. It’s really the last and final thing that I can think to tweak…well, almost the last…the last would be an 800cal per day limit. OK Here goes...Closed Kitchen...and remember to take vitamins.

50 lbs!! Good for you Jacqui!!

As much as it breaks my heart to have to part with a long-time pet, I still get another one because they give so much unconditional love. Rusty has really helped me get through the loss of Pupper. I think that one was the hardest on me because I feel that it was due to the tick we removed from him and we didn't follow up with the vet. I feel very guilty about that, but hindsight is 20/20.

I went through all the decorations yesterday and today. There were so many things I forgot I had, and some are so nice I hate to part with them, but want to get the attic cleaned out and I don't put these decorations out anymore. I had boxes marked to keep and some to go to Goodwill. Now DH decided that we will keep the boxes marked for Goodwill in a separate place in the attic and put them out to sell at our yard sale next year. Then whatever doesn't sell can go to Goodwill. LOL At least we're heading in the right direction and the boxes are more organized than they were before. So, back up into the attic!! I feel if we die and his kids are cleaning out the house, all that stuff would go into a dumpster. He also has a ton of their toys from when they were little. They didn't want to take them with them when they moved out, so we are a free storage unit! Everything from Barbie dolls to Tonka trucks, games, etc.

SMF, I had to google to see what twerk meant. LOL

"Dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance: just wait till they catch their daughters twerking to this song twerk it girl, work it girl"

I have been known to twerk, but only in private! LOL There will be no videos.

BaaHaaaHaaaa Carol! I still wouldn't know it from the google definition! My DStoddler would dance to music in his diaper kind of like that, so it's difficult for me to think of it as sektshoooal. I didn't know that word had been around for 20 years! Werk it, Carol!

^^^ You all crack me up!

Jacqui I did get 3.5 hours in the garden before the rain. I dug the last of the taters, took down the trellises (for lack of a better term) I had "built" for peas and beans, dug the parsnips, and picked a boatload of sprouts. I still need to freeze them and pick the rest. I've got to clean it up a bit and till under before ground freezes. I do love it though and it provides exercise.

Today I went to the outlets close to my house and got myself a pair of size 8 jeans and skirt! They're a little snug (definite muffin top on the jeans) but I'm hoping they fit nicely by Christmas. I've been pretty happy since. I've not been in a size 8 since I was 32.

Anyway, today's menu....

Break - fried egg in butter, 2 pieces bacon, piece of sourdough toast w/Irish butter and pear butter, Coke Life
Lunch - small Italian sub from Subway on 9-grain bread
Dinner - beef fajita w/guacamole and sour cream

Carol Sue, thank you! It's hard to believe I lost 50 lbs! :flow1: I feel the same way you do about pets. They really do give us such unconditional love. Ichabod was such a loverboy, always wanting to cuddle, always so happy. He made me so happy and I sure have a hole in my heart now. I know you understand. I'm glad you have Rusty. He seems like such a sweet boy! :love: I had to chuckle at your DH wanting to keep the things to sell. I wondered about that when you said all the leftover decorations would go to Goodwill. I would LOVE to send ALL my extra clutter, Christmas and otherwise, to Goodwill, but my DH won't allow it, because like yours, he wants to sell it, so it goes to the attic! We send things to auction almost every single week, and we still have loads! :lol: We are considering having an auctioneer come here in the spring since we are in an ideal location (Main St, with a big yard) and having a blow-out auction here. I would SO love to get rid of it all at once! :yes:

SeeMyFeet, I don't take RA meds. Needing to take RA meds may be a different story, lol! I weaned myself off them years ago after a flare died down, and although it was a surprise to my doctor, he didn't make me go back on them because my symptoms remained mild. I experience stiff joints and only minor aches and pains in the morning and a few other times like when I over-exert myself, when TOM decides to visit, or when the weather changes or is extreme. I haven't had a bad flare in years (knock on wood), which of course would force even old anti-med me to go get meds. With that said, the RA has still had an effect on my eyes and gums. It's a constant battle. Perhaps meds could help that, but then Plaquenil is what helped contribute to the damage of my eyes in the first place. I do hope your meds help you though! I'm not anti-med for everyone, just for me, lol! (I have a fear of meds and will not take them unless I'm convinced they are absolutely necessary. I won't even take Tylenol if I can avoid it!) :shrug: Okay, I'm going to mother-hen you for a moment and you can totally ignore me if you like! :lol: You said you have very few calories in the early part of the day and as a result, you want something to eat at night. That's completely opposite of what you should be doing. You need to eat a big, protein-laden breakfast. If you want bran or oatmeal, that's fine, but eat protein before and after each bite of carbs. Surround carbs with protein. Protein is really important at breakfast to help keep you full and to offset the more negative effects of carbs. A large breakfast may make you not want lunch, but again, eat, even if it's a small lunch. If you don't, you will be battling hunger at night. And then, yes, after dinner, do your very best to avoid the kitchen. If you've eaten properly the rest of the day, to eat late at night is a habit, one that you can break, as long as your body has been well-fed. Timing does make difference. Okay, I'm stepping back off my soapbox now, lol! :soap:

PrairieQueen, I'd say it provides exercise! That may be a bit of an understatment, lol! :yes: Wow, that was a lot of work! I'm glad you were able to get it done though! :cp: Congrats on fitting into a size 8!!! That's AWESOME! :bravo:

Yay! I made it to the 160's!!! :woohoo: I am now only a lb and a half from my lowest low the last time I did this diet! :dancer: Anything below that, I haven't seen in SOOOOO many years!

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Week 28: High 173, Low 171
11/15--173
11/16--172.5
11/17--172
11/18--172
11/19--172
11/20--171
11/21--171

Week 29:
11/22--170
11/23--169.5
11/24--
11/25--
11/26--:thanks2:
11/27--
11/28--

Congrats Jacqui in getting into the 160s!! That's so exciting! I have to agree with hubs on the attic finds. I sell my extras online in a vintage Etsy shop. I have a few boxes of not so shop-worthy but still nice things that have ended up in the shed and barn for the yard sale that I will eventually have. But, I do love an auction :)

I'm doing something Today haven't done in ages .... Skip breakfast. I'm going to doc for bp checkup and having a big lunch afterwards w/hubs at his work which is close to my doc. I always pick up Penn Station and take it to his office when I'm out and about his way. I'm drinking plenty of water though.

Have a great day everyone!

Congrats Jacqui on 50 lbs!!!!! Thanks mucho for the nudge, I needed that!

Prairie Queen Congrats on the size 8. Sounds like a nice lunch date! What is Penn Station?

Hi everyone else!

Loooong day with my Mom, nice but difficult to see her so fragile. And still hellbent on a 6 hr trip to my brother's for TDay. I stress ate, but am climbing out of that. Stress, for me, means having to much to do in too little time. So just focusing on the immediate priorities now. I wasn't mentally prepared for the holiday season--my head is still back in the tropics, sweating and swatting at insects, lol.

Weight.....170.2 After yesterday, that is a gift. This is a grace period; there will be a tipping point where i will gain & eat like a positive feedback system. So today I will focus on healthy eating and staying serene.

Prairie Queen, I googled Penn Station's menu. Pick up a grilled artichoke sub for me while you're there. Looks delicious!

Reading your post made me want to go shopping for produce. It all sounds so tasty, and yours is fresh from the garden.

I think I wore a size 8 in 9th grade. A 12 would be a great "small size" for me.

Mars, a 6 hr drive for Thanksgiving sound terrible! Will you stay overnight after all that driving, or have another 6 hr drive back home. There are just so many hours in a day, you know!

SMF, when my grandson was about 2-3 years old, DH put on the song Johnny B Good and dgs started dancing. Ironically, dgs name is John. DH started the song over and made a video of him dancing. He didn't realize what he was doing, but it actually looked like he was strumming an air guitar. LOL DH put the video on a DVD and gave it to his parents so they can show him when he gets older.

Prairie---either one of us needs an eye appointment, or you need a better autocorrect on your phone! :dizzy: We could have a LOT of fun interpreting that last sentence in your post.

Getting rid of pounds and stuffs--you guys are rockin' it! My jealousy is tampered a bit by the over 2lb loss this AM :carrot: Fi-nuh-lee! Shhh...don't talk too loudly about it....I don't want to scare the Whoosh Fairy away! She's a rare bird around here.

Well, I did better last night. By 6pm, I was up to 615calories--and that was after exercising. I did nibble a tiny bit of pineapple when preparing lunch for today and stole some summer sausage from DHs snack, which took me up over 700cals. (Don't worry, the calories have been creeping up with the higher fiber experiment--I'm due for a dip down.) MFP screamed at me again. But I wasn't hungry and did not feel weak or famished. I did have the urge to snack around 11pm, as usual, but that's when I should be sleeping, and I was in bed and trying hard to go to sleep. My protein intake yesterday was 17% of calories, Jaq, which ain't too bad, but now that I'm using MFP, I can monitor that better. (I often get more. Not at breakfast, sorry, but historically, I haven't been much of a breakfast eater.)

Ya know, I hate to say it ('cause I don't want to jinx things), but I think my weight stall/gain might actually really and truly be muscle. I know everybody hopes and wonders about that, and it seems ridiculous to think that 5lb of fat could magically morph into 5lbs of muscle, but when you're actually making that transition, it has to happen some time, right? I've been exercising pretty regularly, pushing myself to do more reps, and my legs have definition and seem to be getting smaller. (Not the thigh area, naturally, and <sarcasm>Thank You Very Much....body!!</sarcasm>) Plus, I feel stronger and have more endurance. Whehl, if it IS muscle, then weight loss should go better in the next few weeks, right?

PrairieQueen, funny you should mention a vintage shop on Etsy. Hubs just renewed his vendor's license so he could sell there. It's not set up yet, but maybe after the holidays. Personally, I'd like to just have the one auction and be done with it! :yes:

Mars, focusing on your top priorities right now, eating healthy, and staying serene sounds like a perfect plan! :hug:

Today's menu....

Break - skipped
Lunch - small pizza sub and half of medium fries from Penn Station (900 calories!)
Dinner - beef fajita with tablespoon guacamole
No snacks for me tonight :)

I don't have anything worth enough to have an auction. A yard sale is more my speed. Most of the Christmas stuff I have is too nice to throw away, but someone might want to buy it for a dollar of two. A lot of it I bought at flea markets, and now it's time for someone else to use it for a couple years.

SMF, you should start measuring since you are doing so much exercise. You could very well be losing inches but it's not showing on the scale. Are your clothes getting looser?

I'm in! Let's all have a yard sale...or auction...Oh wait...that requires preparation...hmmm. I'm with you, Carol. You can let loose of more things at a yard sale....even broken things and lids with no pots. Folks are so resourceful.

What an afternoon! Rushed trip to the ENT with DD after school--her ears are juicy and bleeding (I can't get her to stop using Q-tips) along with the sinus infection. An hour later, it was back to the dentist for me to redo an old filling. Didn't get to the gym afterwards...mostly slept...and Jaq and MFP are going to yell at me again 'cause I didn't feel like eating much. Took 4-5 hrs for the numbness to go away--doesn't usually take that long. Right as rain now. Yay drugs. It's going to be a looong night and a teeeeeedious looooooong meeting to look forward to first thing at work...hopefully I can use this schedule change to get to the gym earlier tomorrow.

Ugh! The washer is completely done. Black friday can't come soon enough. But Hey! My house is clean! (clean...not organized)

SMF Do her ears itch? Mine do, and I don't want to tell you what I use to scratch them. It's not a nice soft Q tip.

Jacqui, my over eating in the evening is a different story. Even if I ate a huge breakfast hunger has nothing to do with it. Once I have the first meal my appetite goes into overdrive. I eat little to no carbs at both breakfast and lunch, but the carbs come into play at dinner or afterwards. I am not asking for advice, so don't go into mother-hen mode. LOL

SMF My scales delays a day or 2 to reflect my transgressions, lol. Your scale sounds whacky. I gotta say mine is very consistent. I can't recall if we reviewed your scale w a fine-toothed comb....


re things in ears, I recall an ENT doc--a really good one-- saying if he had a nickel for every pt he saw with injury due to something stuck in the ear (by an adult), blah blah blah. Nothing smaller than your elbow should go in your ear. There is a single cell layer of skin protecting the bone of the ear canal. End of public service message...;)

I just got a call to schedule my Echo. It's on Monday at 7 AM and I have to be there at 6:45. I had an option for later in the day but I want to do it before coffee, and we can go out for breakfast afterwards. I might now feel like eating after I find out what my heart valves are doing, or not doing, in my case.

SMF, close but no cigar. I use the knitting needles to scratch my back. If my ear is itchy I have to scratch it, and Mars, my elbow just doesn't do it!

I prefer to eat when I'm hungry, but DH just left for McDonald's and wouldn't get anything unless I did too. It's not even lunch time yet. I will take the bun off the burger and add lots of lettuce, tomato and onion to it. I had a BOGO Qtr Pounder Coupon.

700 calories in a wrap? 8 lbs as a result? 6 lbs of dirt? LOL it's all too funny for words!

Mars, I have a turkey fryer but I'm afraid of burning the house down, so I never used it. Maybe for Christmas, and maybe my fire chief son-in-law will come over and supervise.

Carol Maybe you just need to try harder to get that elbow into your ear : pretzel: :rofl:
Good to get the echo done & early, too. Like you said, it will be good to know instead of speculate or worry.

I'm always concerned I will burn the house down. Every single time I go out, I check the burners. Even if I have to walk back inside from my car. I'm glad someone else will handle the cooking. Deep fried anything is good to my palate. That said, no one in my fam has any business eating it, self included.

SMF Is this your college DS first visit home? Your menu sounds nice...yum on the muffins. I forgot I love bok choy. How do you prepare it? I like it steamed, or braised. I buy the braised version at Chinese takeout)

Back to work!

Today's menu...

Break - Amy's bean/cheese burrito w/tbsp guacamole
Lunch - mini cilantro wontons
Dinner - grilled spicy wings (and I gave two of the eight to hubs), 2 light beers

I cleaned on and off all day, gave dog #1 a good bath, did two loads of laundry AND actually folded all of it and put away.

That's a lot of exercise PQ. You could have had another beer. :)

Im spreading my drinks out over the entire ho,day week.

I'm really trying to Get a lot of jobs done because (1) my house was on the verge of being a sh#t tip (as my hubs would say (2) if I'm busy I don't snack and (3) I have four peeps spending the night Friday (our Thanksgiving) and I need to "get it together" before they get here.:dizzy: Plus, I seem to be really picking up steam energy wise lately.

Sorry I didn't get on yesterday! :dunno: Yesterday, I decided to completely rearrange my kitchen, even switching where I keep the food and dishes in the cabinets. Just as I was working on that, the auction house called. I thought they were putting out all new Black Friday type items and we were going to put out things next week, but they wanted us to put out 5 tables of Christmas stuff this week! So I dropped everything I was doing right in the middle of it, and went to work on auction stuff. I had not sorted through all our "to get rid of" Christmas decorations and had to do that. Then I had to go and set up the tables and a tree with ornaments. It took hours! Then I got to come back home to the chaos of my kitchen being completely torn up. I finally got my kitchen cleaned and rearranged, and now my dining room looks like a hurricane hit it with all the extra clutter I cleared out of the kitchen! That will be my project today. Thank goodness I don't have to cook all day! We are going to my brother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving and all I have to bring are mashed potatoes. :carrot:

SMF, no, I won't be yelling at you, lol! I was so busy yesterday, I skipped lunch myself. :o And my scale is giving me heck for it! :lol: Besides, I totally get not wanting to eat after having dental work! :yes: I hope you DD's ears heal quickly, and have a great visit with your college DD!

Carol Sue, my guess is bobby pins. My sister used to always scratch her itchy ears with bobby pins. :eek: I hope your echo goes well! :goodluck:

Mars, my Thanksgiving dinner menu will be very standard Thanksgiving comfort food: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes (I don't like yams, which will also be there), noodles, gravy, usually some kind of veggie casserole, deviled eggs, roll or cream bread and butter, and pie and cake, with iced tea and then hot tea to drink. Nothing fancy but everything wonderfully yummy! :hungry:

PrairieQueen, sounds like a productive day! :cp: I bet your Thanksgiving is going to be amazing with all your garden foods! :T

Rennie, where are you? :hug:

My scale is letting me have it! For some reason, I weighed 170.5 yesterday morning, up a lb from the day before, and this morning I weigh 173! I ate hotdogs and black beans the night before last, and sometimes that meal causes me to hold a little water, but a lb's worth? And then yesterday, I skipped lunch, didn't drink a whole lot because I stayed so busy, had bbq meatballs for dinner (there's sugar in the sauce, so that didn't help), had salted pumpkin seeds (I have a love-hate relationship with those things!), and because I was probably dehydrated, I drank a bottle of water during the night, and boy oh boy, am I paying for it! I had hoped to get to 169-flat by Thanksgiving morning, but I've gone the wrong direction! I'll have to make sure I drink a LOT of water today, and try to shed a little bit of this before tomorrow's BIG Carb day. :yes:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Week 28: High 173, Low 171
11/15--173
11/16--172.5
11/17--172
11/18--172
11/19--172
11/20--171
11/21--171

Week 29:
11/22--170
11/23--169.5
11/24--170.5
11/25--173
11/26--:thanks2:
11/27--
11/28--

Jacqui I am exhausted reading about your day!!!! You know you will back down into the 160s before you now it--your body knows the way. Sounds like a wonderful feast!

I'm happy to report I am back in the 160s by a hair, 169.5. I can't wait to get the darned peanuts out of the house!

I think the advice for people with itchy ears is to use a medication for it rather than scratch. I used to work with a doc who was really passionate about this subject. My 2 cents is that if you are using something in your ear, don't multi-tak, just focus on that. I've seen a few ear drum perforations from the multi tasking/thing in ear issue. That's to file in the 'It's always something' category I guess!

It sounds like we are having relaxing Tx Days---how great is that!

Today my weight is back down to 199. SeeSaw. I am trying to be really careful today and drink lots of water. I would love to see 198 tomorrow morning, first time in a while.

My pumpkin pies are in the oven. I almost forgot to put the sugar in! Yikes! DH would have been so mad. Usually when I'm baking, I get all the ingredients out before I start, then put each one away as I use it. Didn't do that today. Just shows I need to get back to that habit. One time my mother made home made bread and forgot to put the salt in it. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a different, but it did.

I will settle everyone's curiousity and say that it's the cap from a Bic pen. You know it has that little extention that is supposed to clip the pen to a man's pocket. Well, it does great on scratching my ear. I will add that it's itchy on the outer part, not clean in where the drum is, but in the past the DR has seen scratch marks in there. He never offers me anything to medicate. He wants to do things like MRI's etc. He is really big on testing, and that's why I always thought he got a kick back. One time a NP at his office gave me ear drops and they helped, but after they ran out the itchiness came back. I think it has something to do with my psoriasis.

Congrats on Onederland Carol!

Good thing you remembered the sugar...Sounds likeyour DH would detect it's absence. I bet Jacqui would like it even w/out sugar :) I;ll bet your kitchen smells divine!

Congrats on the drops ladies! I hope everyone's ready for their feasts and has a nice time with family and friends. We're having ours Friday, so I'll precook some things tomorrow. There will just be six of us but that's the way I like it....no drama either.

Jacqui I'm exhausted from just imagining getting all if those jobs done!. It takes me forever to go through things.....I can never seem to make up my mind on what to do with the items....keep, sell, give away, trash. I'm sure you know the drill.

Today's menu....

Break - Amy's bean/cheese burrito w/tbsp guacamole and Coke Life
Lunch - mini chicken/cilantro wontons
Dinner - cheesy potato/ham casserole in the slow cooker, sweet corn
No snacks tonight! Gotta get under 150 by Christmas (or at least New Year's)