HAPPY...the LLR leggings I got are labeled Tall/Curvy. I know their OS-one size will NOT fit this all as they fit Samantha. The tall curvy are nice cause even if you are not tall but curvy shaped, it takes the tall out and uses it for your curvy shape. LOL Does that make sense? Anyway they are theeeee most comfortable leggings I have ever worn and oh so soft. Yeah I got cortisone shots in my ankle for about 4 years before they quit working. Hence the ankle surgery I went through. I wanted to tell you something that I have been trying to remember to tell you FOREVER. On the Keto sights, they said if you joints and aches and pains get unbareable, try a high dose of potassium and magnesium. Now I know to take that when I get leg/feet cramps at night, but here in the past couple of days my hips, bad leg/ankle have been aching awful. Sooooooooooo I took a mega dose of magnesium and potassium last night before bed. My Goodness, all was almost non-painful today. I am hitting it up one more night too, just to see if it helps even more. Glad the memorial service was so nice. It is really tough when we lose the good ones. Hugs my dear friend.

Afternoon all. Much too early in the day, but I’m hitting the wall already. Bleh.

Susie – Glad you survived the big meeting. What’s next? As Annie commented, there’s always something. Did you get back to your usual eating/exercise routine over the weekend? Hope you had some time to relax over the weekend. I’m sure at least some of what you had to do at home could wait…

Happy – Poor Nina, wonder what gave her such as scare. Hope she’s back to her usual self now. == I’m glad you’re not in knee pain at the moment, and I hope the cortisone shot lasts you a long time. == Re the cruise, it left from and returned to Miami. We flew in on the Saturday before it left and were able to spend time with my HS friend M. that day, who lives there. We boarded the ship on Sunday 4/23, and returned the following Sunday, 4/30. We spent 4 days in the Keys after that – 2 nights in Marathon and 2 in Key West. You asked why the drive from Key West to Miami took so long. There’s one main road through all the Keys, and a lot of it is only one lane each way, sometimes 2. I don’t think the speed limit is above 50 mph anywhere - if that - so it’s a pokey drive, and all the way to Key West from Miami is about 160 miles. Add to that some traffic delays in the Miami metro area and that’s why it was a lengthy trip. == Thanks for the sponge feedback. If I personally stay on top of keeping the sponge rinsed and squeezed out, it stays nice (Dawn or not), but otherwise it gets smelly quickly. But since I’m not the only one using it, this is a losing battle. I’ll likely switch to dishcloths. == Ugh, pinkeye! Hope it clears up soon. == Sounds like a nice memorial for your friend. I’m sure she’ll be missed by many. == Oy, I don’t envy you and your sister having to deal with your mom’s behavior! Have you resisted the temptation to tell her to be careful what she wishes for??!! Or has that already been attempted as a discouragement tactic?? Good luck and my sympathies to you! I won’t worry so much about my mom choosing to act like a hermit in her apartment instead of taking advantage of the beautiful grounds in her community to go for a short walk (or just sit on a bench for a breath of fresh air.) == I’ve heard of the brining method for chicken before, might do that before trying out Annie’s chicken parm recipe. ==

Ellen – Glad all your kids are on the mend. Must be tough when multiple kids are unwell. And you’re without your hubby too! I hope all the travel for his job pays off for him in the way of a promotion. …but a move – that sounds like it would be a challenge with the kids, friends, schools, etc. Are you currently in the Chicago metro area? (you don’t have to say if you don’t want to, or you can PM me). I’m in the NW suburbs of Chicago, about 15-20 minutes from O’Hare airport.

Annie – Good that the chiro helped C and got him back on his route. Glad you like the movie “Hidden Figures”. Congrats on your silent auction bargains! I’ve heard of that leggings brand, but wouldn’t seek them out intentionally (bad shopper that I am). However, I’m a big fan of yoga pants. I was thinking of shopping for a new pair of sweats for wearing around the house, but have decided to just wear my yoga pants – so comfy. I better watch out though, too easy to want to wear them everywhere 24/7, LOL!! Do you wear leggings out and about or just around the house? I see some women wearing them around without a long shirt or tunic and let’s just say it’s not always flattering…. == Seeing as the chicken parm is good as leftovers, I might give that recipe a go. == Yay, glad you’re gonna have a patio garden this year. I’d like that, if only our patio got full sun!

Dee – I think I missed you in my last post. I hope you can get the MRI and that it helps the doctor figure out what’s going on. What makes the dye dangerous? What have you been doing to deal with the stress? Please take some steps to try to reduce it – meditate, do some mild exercise, etc. Take care!

Hellos to Shad and Ceejay!

==
I’ll get this posted and get back to work. Need to get my input prepared for our monthly report. Back later.

My weekend was alright. Friday I picked up our mail from the post office and went to the market to pick up some groceries. It was Cinco de Mayo so we went to our taqueria for some Mexican food.

Saturday I had my hair appointment. I sure don’t envy my stylist – they are moving out of a rental house to one of their own in three weeks. Not only must she try to pack while keeping an eye on an infant and a toddler, but she must also be ready to leave the house with kids and dogs in tow so the house can be shown to prospective renters. I’m tired just thinking of that!

On Saturday I did some laundry. Annie – I washed two small loads of laundry (and bf did a couple loads of his own) while we were in the house in Marathon on vacay, but I still had laundry to do back at home. Bf got someone to mow our lawn and he was happy to not have to do it himself.

On Sunday I did another load of laundry and did some puttering around the house. I got the Teva sandals packaged up to return to Zappos. I knew I wanted to return them well before we left on vacation, but I never got around to getting the shipping labels, etc. Bf replaced our (older) car’s windshield washer pump and the fuse for it, so it’s safe to drive in all weather. He also replaced the hydraulic thingies that hold the hood open. He checked the power steering fluid and it was low. Might need some new parts, but not a pump I hope. If it does, so be it.

Vacation was nice, but believe it or not, for me it was just a bit too long to be away from home. Highlights were: Seeing my friend M who’s lived in Miami for many years now; visiting the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico; enjoying the beach in the port of Grand Turk (which is known for its beautiful beaches; and the beautiful setting of the resort we stayed at in Marathon.

I enjoyed what the cruise offered for food and entertainment. We had a really great cruise director. Boy, did he earn his pay! We went to the singing/dancing shows in the theater and also saw a couple comedians. Live music, music trivia, deck parties, and a piano bar.

I’d say the key to maintaining my weight on vacation was very little between-meals snacking and eating dinners in the dining room. They serve small portions (probably what we should be eating, not the crazy portions you get in restaurants that are 2-3 times (or more!) larger than a reasonable size portion. Anyway, I didn’t feel bad at all getting dessert at every dinner because that, too, was a small portion. It also helped that bf was diligent about what he ate since he doesn’t want to regain the weight he’s lost on his “braces diet”. (He was the only one in our group that was not overweight BTW.) I found it very interesting that my two friends thought that getting their 10,000 steps a day (doubtful any were aerobic) would help offset their eating. As one of you commented, you can’t out-exercise bad eating.

The Keys were nice - I think I prefer the quieter ones - Key West is really touristy. But we took a trolley tour to see the sights and I found the history of it very interesting.

That’s about it for me.

Attached a couple photos - both were taken at the resort in Marathon (in the Keys). It was a beautiful place.

Oh, My so much to catch up on and I have a headache. My goofy allergies have gone haywire, I could tell yesterday I was going to have one today. I am keeping this short, hitting the gym this morning then running to a few appointments this afternoon. Hubby is going with to the Fittest Loser banquet tonight. I had ordered a Fit Bit from Amazon, but something messed up, was supposed to be here on Saturday and it was delayed. Hubby and the girls and I were in Bed Bath and Beyond and they had them on Sale better than the price I paid at amazon, so I bought it last night and cancelled the order from Amazon. So Long story short, I have a ne Fitbit!! lol

Running off to eat breakfast. have a great day ladies!

Folks we have a mightly rainy Tuesday going on out there. Started during the night and supposed to go on all day. I heard a song by Casting Crowns on KLOVE this morning, so fitting. Google it and listen to the words. It is today's favorite song. "Praise You in the Storm". Love, love, love this song.

So last night I marinated Chicken and Steak in Keto teriyaki sauce and broiled them. Fried radishes, fried cabbage and then cheddar rice for those not doing KETO. Dinner was fabulous. I may have ate too much even if it was keto food. My weight is at a stall. First week not losing anything, not even an ounce. Ok by me. 19 lbs down with 5 to my first goal of 169 and 9-10 for my second MAYBE final goal. We will see.

LAURA...you vacay sounds wonderful. I, like you, do not like being away from home that long. A week is about my max. I do wear leggings out and to work, many do. I absolutely wear long tops to cover my arse. Too much cottage cheese going on to show that business. lol.

Make it a great day all. Hugs.

Morning all. Sprinkling right now and forecast to stop and just be cloudy after that. What a blah day.

Ellen – Wow, a banquet for the biggest loser contest – fancy. Enjoy yourself.

Annie – Teriyaki sauce has a lot of sodium – maybe that’s the reason for the WL stall. At least for today…

Hellos to the rest of you.

Nothing much to report. I have a bit of a cold, which was not unexpected. I really didn’t sleep very well at all on vacay and was not surprised when I ended up with a couple days of a scratchy throat, followed by a couple days of a sore throat. Lack of sleep and my immunity goes way down… Over the weekend I felt alright and thought I might avoid the cold, but yesterday my eyes felt watery and I had nasal congestion and I felt crummy. Got a good night’s rest last night, feel a wee bit better today.

My new cell phone battery is supposed to be delivered today, so yay for that. The current one doesn’t hold a charge anymore, drives me nuts. I brought a battery backup thingy with me on vacay and thank goodness I did. I used the backup a lot.

Okay, back to playing catchup. Have a good day everyone.

Third time is a charm I've heard. Lost my post twice.
Think I will make this one short.
Friday I went to Branson and did some shopping. Saturday went to my 7 year old nieces birthday party.
Sunday went to church. Went to my sis's after church in Ash Grove and got out of the car in the drive way and saw a snake. did a dance.
Nephew and his wife will be getting back together this week. I'm losing my room mate. sigh.

Annie
I finally have the directions for the trip. We will be stopping in Indy for the night but not sure what hotel. Do you want me to text you? If so will you pm me your phone number?

Going to try and post this the go to the gym and come back and clen

Morning all,

Well DH now has pink eye in both eyes. Probably because he was touching his other eye with the cloth for the warm compress and it transferred the germies. We are going to have to cancel a bunch of activities for this week, including a dinner at a local farm (the last of those cooking classes I was taking with that chef). Dang, and I was really looking forward to that. I am just hoping that 1) I don't get it and 2) he is cleared up enough for his trip to North Dakota next week. They said this can last 1 to 3 weeks. He will flip out if he looks like a red eyed monster next Wednesday. Not much you can do. He's had eye drops for a couple of days now and it doesn't seem to be doing anything so I think it's a viral thing which has to run it's course.

I have a big headache today - not sure if it's the diet pills or just the gray weather. Just checked - cloudy today but no rain for the next 12 days. That's nice but also far too dry. I am not keen on the idea of wildfires. No sign of the bears yet but there have been reported sightings around.

Laura - the sunset picture is gorgeous. Looks like a really peaceful and pretty area, especially if the beaches are not packed with people! As for vacation being too long, I know what you mean. Twice in our lives we had a 2 week vacation - usually tacked on to a conference I was attending - then DH would fly in and we'd tour the surrounding area. I found myself longing for my own bed, getting tired of looking at menus - who's a thought? 10 days is about good - gives you 2 days to get in, get settled and then wrap up to go home but still 8 days to really enjoy yourself. 7 days seems to go too quickly. Very interesting that they served smaller plates on the cruise - saves them money but also a better way for you to eat, especially if you have a large selection to pick from. Always nice to return and not have to deal with dropping 5 vacation pounds! I'll bet the one thing you were not eager to rush back to was your job

Annie- keto teriyaki sauce - that's interesting since teriyaki is pretty much soy sauce and brown sugar & pineapple juice. What did you substitute for the sweet stuff? Now I'm thinking I should use up the bottle of sauce I brought back with me from Chicago for supper tonight. We are open till 5 now at the shop so I don't get home until around 6 - not an optimum time to be starting dinner and DH would put something together for me except I don't want him touching anything more than he has to I hear you on the leggings sizes - I used to wear talls in panty hose to give a bit more room that I needed. Glad you like the leggings and can share with Sam. Thank you for the advice on the potassium and magnesium. I will look into that - our well water has alot of calcium and magnesium in it - another reason to drink more!

Hellos to the rest of the chicks. Time to jump in the shower. I really hate having to go into the shop early and work the extra half shift. Only doing it because the morning lady is my friend. And it's only for this month.

Anyway - have a good day peoples.

Hump Day said the Camel....

One Indiana Sign: You have graph paper...you must be plotting something. Nice lil morning chuckle on the way to work. So silly it is funny.

Song in the bathroom at work this morning...Left a good job in the city, looking for a xxx<---forget word, every night and day...rollin' rollin' rollin' on the river. There you go HAPPY.

Last night was hodge podge dinner as I had to leave at 6pm to go to workshop. I had KETO chili. C had leftover steak, chicken and rice. Sam had steak and eggs. Not sure what the boys had as they ate after I left. We all fixed our own chow. Groovy night, no real cooking.

Meeting was as usual great. We are only on page 32 of the first 164 pages of the big book study. It has been 4 weeks since starting. Lots of discussion and learning. This is my second big book study and I find even more value in it this time too. The workshop of 35 in the beginning as dwindled down to about 10. Perfect size. Life gets in the way sometimes. We read about spiritual experiences. "We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are INDISPENSABLE." This excerpt rang a bell with me. Helps me to understand those in the program that say they are atheist, agnostic or whatever.

Yesterday I looked up the benefits of drinking a cup of bone broth daily. It especially helps with leaky gut syndrome which C has. It also slightly coats the intestine with a gel like substance to help with your tract. Supposed to help with joints too. I am not into making it myself even tho it is easily done, this is where HAPPY comes in, you know with the chicken feet broth. Anyhoo going to Trader Joe's in the next few days to pick some up.

LAURA...probably the teriyaki sauce for sure even tho I made it low sodium. Anything out of the ordinary can make a stall. Artificial sweeteners are one. Weird. Today I got up feeling really fat, couldn't find anything I liked to wear to work and now I feel like my clothes don't even match. I must snap myself out of this immediately. I am a lot like you, when I don't get my sleep and exceptionally tired, my nose starts running, throat hurts and a bit of sneezing. Look out girl, that doesn't get any better with age. Hope you are kicking it in the heiny and feeling better.

HAPPY...you wear me out with all your gandering around town and volunteering. I don't have your energy to do that. Kudos to you. Boo hiss on DHs pink eye. Hurts like the dickens and is very contagious. My kids had it a couple of times when they were little. The had relief after a couple days but continued the drops until said time of script. Hugs to DH. Back away from DH. You certainly can have some of our rain. I am over it. The sun did finally come out for about an hour last night. When several of us pass each other in the hall we say "QUACK" instead of good morning. On the teriyaki sauce for sweetner we use Stevia. Yes, not the best but better than sugar as far as KETO goes. Me thinks the weather plays a huge part in headaches these days. I have had a recurring headache upon awakening till about 11 am for the past several weeks. Bleh. Just enough to make me even more cranky. lol. Finally took two extra strength tylenols. Hope you are feeling better sister love.

CEEG... I will PM you my phone number after this post. Do you know the dates of travel yet? I would like to get it on my calendar. Believe it or not my June and July weekends are filling up very fast. As a heads up, do not stay on the East or West side of Indy. Pretty harsh. Downtown is nice if one can afford it. South side or North side of Indy is pretty nice. Or the outerskirts of Indy. GreenFIELD to the east of Indy. Plainfield to the west of Indy. GreenWOOD to the south of Indy, also anything on Southport Road on the south side of Indy are all nice. All are within a 10-20 minute drive from my house. Doable. Shoot whereever you stay I will show up. Maybe we can do dinner and chat. Or just meet for coffee. I am game.

ELLEN...love that you are posting again and keeping us up on the family. Hugs.

SHADDIE...busy and recovering plus I hope getting some rest. Very important in chemo recovery. Treat yourself great. Hugs

Hi SUSIE...hope your week has slowed down just a bit so you can get back to YOU.

Hello to all the lurkers and friends.

Hugs all the way around.

Morning all. I'll try to make this a quick post as I spent time on a long call with the admin this morning. Her new kidney is doing well, but she’s had a host of complications that have had her in the hospital for much of the time. She’s now been home 2+ weeks and is starting to feel better after being through the wringer, so to speak. It was good to hear from her, but it’ll be quite a while before she’s released to return to work.

Ceejay – What’s with the snakes in your area??!! Be careful! == Glad to hear your nephew is getting back together with his wife. I hope things go well for them, for their kids' sake. But I’m sure you’ll miss having your roommate around the house! == So great you’ll be in the Indy area and will hopefully have the opportunity to meet up with Annie!

Happy - Poor DH with both eyes affected. Yuck. I hope it clears quickly for him and it doesn’t mess up his trip next week. == Yes, the resort we stayed at in Marathon was called Tranquility Bay and it was a very serene place. == I hope your long day covering two shifts at the shop went well.

Annie – Bone broth, huh? So Trader Joe’s sells it ready-made? I’ll be interested in hearing if it makes a difference to you and C. == BTW, the admin and I talked about me not getting enough sleep on vacay and then getting sick and she recommended Sambucol, which is a product that's black elderberry syrup. Supposed to be good for boosting your immunity and helping fight colds – apparently it’s the antioxidants that are so good for you. You’re much more “up” on these types of remedies - have you ever tried it? I might give it a go, though I do feel like normally my immune system is fine and I knew I was in trouble when I didn't get my usual amount of sleep. But it would be good to take this stuff in that situation.

Hellos to the rest of you! Shad – how are you feeling?? Hope you’ve kicked the last of those post-chemo side-effects to the curb.

==
Nothing much to report. We thought we’d resolved the ant thing, but they have returned. Bf bought more traps. Sigh. We’ve been here 17 years and had no ants, now we get ants???!!! Aaargh.

I have my new cell phone battery now and we’ll see how long I can go without a charge – so far so good.

That’s about all the news, if you can call it that. I feel alright, so I’ll get down in the basement and do a BE workout tonight.

Oh, and I’ll inflate my commuter bike tires after work and cross my fingers that tomorrow's weather is good for a morning ride to the train station.

Good morning chicks! Late post for me today. Hubby is home this week and it kinda throws off our morning routine. :ROFL: Yesterday was a nice day off, DS and DD1 went into school at the same time so DS drove DD1 to school (they usually start an hour apart). I had a leisurely morning, then went to the gym. I made a quick grilled cheese for lunch, then got cleaned up and ready for the Fittest Loser banquet. I had appointments for DD1 and myself in the afternoon. I barely made it—a bit of background—DS had been in a fender bender in our van, just before Easter. Car is older (2002) so we are living with the damage, but yesterday I found that we have either a loose hose or the radiator is damaged! I had not planned extra time for the drive from the high school to the orthodontist and the car almost OVERHEATED! I managed to stop and get some antifreeze and then made it to my appointment, but then drove right to the mechanic. DH picked me up and we went right to the banquet and DS picked up DD1 and took her home!

Banquet was nice, got 2 free drinks and appetizers, but tables were not set up very well, so hubby and I skipped appetizers and grabbed dinner afterwards. It was nice to hear about the 4 official Fittest loser contestants and their stories. All made major changed in weight and overall health. As for the At Work teams it was nice to see and talk to our “competition” My team did not come close to winning anything, but I did it for my own personal journey. So, having lost 20# since the beginning of the challenge is an Amazing prize!

Plan for the rest of today: finish out work (made a few sales so whoo hoo), meet up with Trainer/Friend, making my last Hello Fresh box for dinner and running DD1 for an event at school (she’s in Color Guard).

I will try to log in later for personals!

Afternoon,
Getting ready for the trip starting Friday. Trying to get clothes washed, dried, and packed. I'm tired.
Tomorrow is another organ lesson and I've found what is called a two tier keyboard on Craigslist for only 60 dollars. Going to see about that tomorrow but I need to ask my sis if it's possible for us to go look at it Friday after she gets home.

---------
Annie
We will be in Indy this coming Friday, May 12. Think I've been digging to deep into what other people think as spirituality. I think of it as religion but I'm now coming to know better.

Happy
How is the DH's pink eye's? How is your headache?

Laura
That was a nice long talk with your admin. Think the snakes/ants have surfaced due to the ground being saturated.

Hi Shad, Ellen and Dee.

Ceeg...i tried to send a pm. Says you have elected not to receive private messages. How can i get you my phone number???

Good rainy morning all! Tis a wonderful day. No headache this morning. No sun and dreary but kind of light out. Weird.

Last night was errands after work. Sam and I picked Jacob up at a buddy's house, dropped them at Chris's house (his night). All the old neighbors were outside and every one of them snubbed Sam. I waved and waved until they waved back. haha. Seriously considered sticking my tongue out but remembered the better side of me. Use the program Annie, use the program. Sometimes it is hard to remember but getting easier. Trying to think BEFORE acting. Whew that is tough on a blonde.

After that we went to take movies back to Family Video. Waited in the car while Sam went in Kroger to do pull ups for C. She and I had dinner at Cracker Barrell. I had the 4 item veggie plate. Sam had a broccoli/chicken/cheddar dish. Looked good. Home again by 6:15. Folded towels out of dryer. Washed Sassy's bedding, folded. Did a load of Cs work clothes and went to bed. 9 pm. Didn't get to sleep til about 10, which is late for me. lol. Then woke up at 1:30 and had to go to the couch. Alarm went off at 4:30 and I snoozed it for 9 minutes. Here I am at work getting ready to start this day.

Prayers for a friend's husband, Bill. Cancer of the jaw. Surgery to remove part of jaw bone then replaced with part of a bone from leg. Got an infection had to have another surgery. Today surgery to put a feeding tube in his belly. Poor guy, good grief.

CEEG...also sent my number in messenger. Let me know if you got it.

LAURA....glad to hear the admin is doing better. Complications with a transplant are very common. Hope she continues to heal with no other issues. Might look up black elderberry. I did start taking zinc just before our vacation. Here's to hoping it helps. So much illness going around. I am going to stick with the Zinc as colds, sinus and lungs seem to be my issues.

Hello to all...

Hugs

Annie
I got your phone number through FB. I will text you when we get to Indy.

------------------------------
We had rain before I went to bed and sometime during the night I heard it thundering. I sleep well in this house. Don't know why and since I don't have the responsibility of work that makes it even better.
I'm still not packed and need to leave here by 12 to get to my lesson at 1 p.m. I'm going to ask my teach if she will be will to go with me to look at the organ.
It's looking like rain again. Ugh I also hate driving in the rain.
Okay. Sorry this is short but I need to get busy.