Morning GGs,
Just wanted to stop by & check on everyone. Still no word from KarenFL?! And Bobbi, I guess you’re still busy with your garden? How are those headaches? Zoe, you busy getting back into the work routine?

Freda, does this eating thing never get easier! Are we ALWAYS going to have to obsess about our food choices? Just curious, how long have you been “maintaining”? We don’t do a family reunion, & have lost touch with several of our more distant relatives. I feel a little sad about that. I’ve found a couple of them (older second, or maybe it’s third?, cousins) on Facebook, & I’m still debating about contacting them. Most of the rest of my family live in this area, so we do get together on holidays.

Donna, how’d that “domestic goddess” thing go for you? I’d forgotten about how those (supposedly)inanimate objects know when you have extra money! Seems like every year my car would break down the same week I got my tax refund check. Maybe it was just being considerate, & waiting til I had the money to fix it? And Lynn, my cars would sometimes do that to me - refuse to act up whenever a mechanic got anywhere near them! My sister & I developed this theory, that some people have a kind of “force field” surrounding them, that causes mechanical type things to just automatically function in their presence. Wish I had that!

Gayle, hope you’re getting to enjoy your day off today. You mentioned having a picnic (sounds like fun!), & I realized it’s been a very long time since we’ve done that. And we used to have them all the time! Now that you’ve put the idea in my head, I’m going to have to plan one.

Rosey, I’m looking forward to seeing pics of that reconstructed deck. And I agree, it’s always great to be able to reuse the materials you already have (or can salvage from somewhere - SO brings home discarded lumber & things from work). Hi! there Sherry. KarenMO, nice painting. I wasn’t even aware today is Flag Day!

Rie, 6 pounds lost!!! WTG! Yay! for you! Your footbath sounds nice. And just wait, pretty soon you’ll be wearing your flip flops all the time. I’m starting to!

Lynn, I'm having the same problem with the pics.

Guess I’d better get busy. Tues. is the last day for grocery store sales (at least around here). I usually wait til then so I can check out the ads for next week before shopping. I’ve got lists to make & stores to visit. And, I’m picking up my mom so we can shop together, & save on gas. Later!
NCNancy

Lynn, your DD did fantastic in the marathon. That is a difficult race. DH used to run them. She sounds like someone to be very proud of!

Rie, good job on going straight to the workout. My days are always better when I have a workout in the morning. I don’t envy your week. Board meetings and budget equal frustration in my book. WTG on the weigh in. It’s so cool to be under the license. I was too cheap to get a new one. I like knowing I’m lying the other way for once. Race stock cars??? Oh you are a thrill seeker. I love it!

Zoe, sounds like you had a fantastic vacation. I love the beach, especially on the Atlantic coast. Too bad I live on the west coast. Your description of your under fish belly skin was great. LOL. The thumbnail pic of you is awesome. It won’t enlarge when I click on it. I tried attaching my doggie pic on Sunday like that and it wouldn’t work so I used my website and linked it. It was sort of a relief to see others having trouble since I’m supposed to be a computer whiz…

Nancy, ROFL at the idea of your jasmine scented sandbox for the kitties. I can visualize you and the kitties fighting on who gets to use it. I ran out of time to paint the toenails before heading out of town. But I bought a gorgeous pink and on Thursday I will have pretty nails.

Freda, I can’t imagine 100 family members in one place (I have a small family). I’d probably forget some names. It sounds like it’s time for you to take over the get together. At least you’d have control over the food served. I think it sounds like you did well at the party.

Donna, absolutely loved the GremlinGods knowing when you have ten and make you spend twenty. Too funny. Have fun with your 15 minutes of domestic goddessing. I’d say that’s about 10 too long.

Rosey, bummer your gdd went home. At least you still have some of your building partiers.

OK Karen, how are you adding your pics so they’re visible??? I saw the size guidelines and used Photoshop to compress them and they didn’t work. Please do tell. I don’t mind using my website to link them but attaching would be easier.

Last night I got on the Amtrak train and headed to Sacramento. So here I sit in a Starbucks waiting for DD to arrive from Reno. Then we’re going to Six Flags for two days of rollercoasters. Yes, another GG thrill seeker. The red-eye train to Sacramento. It was not so bad. I did coach and a sleeper car would have been more conducive to sleep but I’d say I got 6 hours of decent enough sleep. I do the red-eye home at midnight Wednesday. I have 4 furlough days so I will nap on Thursday when I get home. I love napping with my huskies.

Yesterday before leaving, I’d ellipticalled and was literally sweating like a piggy. Before I’d exercised, DH and I checked the pool temp and it was 77 degrees. Too cold for me, I’d said. After exercising, I pulled off the pool cover, DH set up the diving board and I did a back dive in for the first time this year. Then I swam a quarter mile. I LOVE swimming. Last year I couldn’t do laps because I had bicep tendonitis. The year before I’d broke my wrist in so many places it took till this past December to recover. But yesterday… I swam and swam. It was a blast. And even better, I got to do back dives (couldn’t the last two years for the same reason). I love my diving board! Blizzard, my elder husky, is a pool nut. She howls and jumps all over the place when playing on the diving board. She has her bad hips and when I was playing (mostly for her because the air was a bit cold). Her front paws slipped in and her hips couldn’t stop the inevitable. It was like slow motion and she just sort of rolled into the pool. So she swam with us for a while and until I left last night, the house smelled like wet doggie. Eeks. But she’s pure white and is now very clean…

Since CA required the calories to be posted on menus, I made a good choice. I’m standing in line for a java chip frap and I’m reading the calories. I love having them there. I thought of getting a venti (as I always want more and more) and couldn’t rationalize the calories. I was ok with the grande calories. Truly having them posted made me make a better choice.

One more hour of Starbucks free wifi…
Marie

Good Morning girls,

Yesterday turned out to be a nicer day than I expected. Not really warm, but pleasant. Looks like today is going to be the same. Sun is shining and the birds are singing. I had to make a cake last night, for work today. It's PCT day and the nurses are cooking for them. No more plans. Got the laundry done yesterday and the house touched up.

Nancy, I don't know that I truly "maintain" all the time. I give myself a 5 lb. grace and I often reach that. THEN I really start dieting again. Or actually, eating better. I find that the times that I do gain are the times that I'm stressed and start eating in the evening again. But I'm short, and 5 lb. is a size up for me. Just set yourself a limit and go from there. I seldom ever weigh. I know how much I weigh from my clothes. I've gotten in touch with several distant cousins in facebook too. I've found it to be quite nice.

Rie, Wow! Wow!! 6 lb.? That is too cool. We were posting at the same time. I love your story! Such an inspiration! I hope I can be a worrior too.

Marie, Have fun at the park. I wish all the restaurants would have the calorie count on the menues. It would be so much easier to eat out.

Gayle, Enjoy that day off. I know how important they are. The picnic sounds fun. My DGD loves picnics, I shoudl plan one too.

Rosey, Great to have good neighbors that are there to help each other. I know you will enjoy that deck, and it's that time.

Bobbi, I know you are busy getting that garden ready for show. Or is that already done? Anyway, hope you are feeling better. I'm glad they FINALLY got around to taking x-rays. They should have done that a long time ago. It makes me angry to think that you have suffered this long without them finding out the cause. How can you treat something when you don't know what it is.

Karenflorida, where are you?

Karen, Pretty picture.

Donna, I have that artharitis too. Pain in the neck (or actually, a little lower). Motrin helps a lot, but doesn't always take away all the pain. when you get a hip joint replacement it usually helps. How old are you again? Just wondering how many years untill medicare. If it's still here. What will we do if it's not? I shudder to think. Medicare was started because insurance companies were refusing to cover old people. Us!

Lynn, cars and computers. Neither are things you can understand!

Z, I know you are just getting used to being back to work. Talk to you soon,

Freda

Well, here I am, back at work (I had yesterday off, as well, to babysit for the twinnies because my dd had to go to a conference). I didn’t sleep at all well last night, the traffic was abominable getting into the office this morning, and I learned that a good friend and board member at our organization was rushed to the hospital on Sunday with an extremely high fever, and died before they could get it down. I’ve worked with this fellow for ten years, and he was a true gentleman in every sense of the word – a very successful attorney who retired from a multi-million dollar practice and has been very active in charity work both before and after retirement. He was in his late seventies, but barely looked 50, and was in seemingly excellent physical condition. Such a shock. I find myself very distracted, and having a hard time staying on task with all the work that has piled up in my absence. I’m inclined to just sit here, staring off into space. I’m glad I have my GG’s to talk to.
I am SO worried about Karen3!!!! Do you suppose she was called up to her daughter’s in NC, or to her son because of some emergency? Other than an emergency, I’m quite certain she would’ve mentioned being away for an extended period? Oh, I can barely stand the thought of losing her the way we lost our dear Isabella, knowing none of the whys or wherefores. I wonder if we could make contact with her son through his publisher?
Rie, your feather is indeed a cherished gift, and one that is serving exactly the purpose it was meant for – to give you encouragement, strength and stamina. I have long been interested in the spirituality of Native Peoples, as well as that of past civilizations. I’m not familiar with the sun dance, but do know of, and have witnessed a “ghost dance” which again, has participants dancing until they pass into a trance state, and eventually fall down unconscious. This is done, from what I understand, in mourning for the victims of white imperialism in the United States – those who perished on the Trail of Tears, and in other actions: Wounded Knee, etc. I don’t know a whole lot, but I do know that your friend S has highly honored you.
Marie – I guess we all think the grass is greener in the other fella’s yard, because I’ve often wished that I lived on the west coast. My son lived out in L.A. for some time, and I loved visiting him there, and loved the beaches of the Pacific. Of course, anyplace I might try moving to could only happen if I could get my entire family to move as well, so I guess I’ll probably be staying put. OH – as for the pictures – they usually work fine if you shrink them down with one of the free online photo shrinking sites. My guess is that there was a temporary glitch in the 3FC site. I’ll try sending some pictures when I get home tonight and see what happens.
Nancy – I don’t think I’m ever going to really settle back into my work routine – every time I have a few vacation days, I am loathe to get back. Seems like it gets worse every time. I absolutely cannot wait until I can retire!
Hope your appt. goes well, Lynn. Be sure to check in and let us know…
Flag day, Karen? Hmmmmm. How do you keep up with all of these things? I had no clue. AND I couldn’t open the attachment because my work computer websensed it. Now I need to call IT, because I’m supposed to have unlimited internet access. Every so often, the system seems to take for granted that I’m just like everybody else (Hah! Shows how well they know me, huh? ) and blocks me from some sites. The IT has to unblock me all over again. <sigh>
Domestic goddess, PT? Well, that would just about rule out our being PT’s, now, wouldn’t it? Goddess, I’ll accept – domestic? Not so much. I did do a few loads of wash when I got home from the beach. That certainly counts as chores. I refuse to do too much else, though (except cook) because dh is fully retired and has plenty of time on his hands. No WAY am I coming home from a full day of work and a long commute and starting to clean anything. That’s his bailiwick, now. Oh – and my ds’s wedding is on September the 3rd, but we’ll be at that lovely Berkshire house all weekend long through Labor Day. They’ll leave that Tuesday morning for a week in Costa Rica, and we’ll schlep home. We have a pretty crazy schedule between now and then, though – my ds’s birthday dinner (he’s turning 30) this Thursday; my dd2’s baby shower on the 26th; the bridal shower on July 17; my dd2’s baby being born by c-section on August 8; dd2’s and dh’s birthdays on August 31 and 27 respectively; and then the wedding over the Labor Day weekend followed by my sis’s birthday, my son-in-law’s birthday and then my dd3’s birthday in October. I won’t even get started on the holiday season. Yikes! What a year!
Gayle, I hope your dd opts for the beach picnic. The people in my family actually drive around, I think, with beach chairs and towels in their cars just in case an opportunity to go to the beach arises unexpectedly. We are definitely beach enthusiasts.
Freda, my ex-dh’s family used to have reunions every two years that brought relatives from far and wide. My family tends not to do much reaching out to each other – except for close family, of course: siblings, etc. I used to enjoy his family’s reunions, though. Too bad he still goes to them; otherwise, I would.
Well, that’s it for now…I’ll have to catch up with everyone else later. Have a great day, GG’s!!!

Z

FINALLY the wretched scale moved!!!!!!! I wouldn't call it a woosh because I got a 4 pound loss after nothing for almost 5 weeks, but it is such a relief. I'm half way to goal now
I haven't been around much because I didn't want my discouragement to spread poison around, but I was lurking though, and your successes helped see me through. Have a good day Ladies, I will catch up with everone later

Good morning GG's,

Yippee day off

It looks nice and sunny here so far. I'm gonna try to work on those continuing education things today ~ maybe will take my laptop out on the deck and work out there ~ two things at once. Work and enjoy all rolled into one.

Tea ~ yippee ~ so happy for you that your scale finally moved for you.

Zoe ~ so sorry for the loss of your friend ~ so sad. Glad you had a nice time at the beach with your family. Sounds like you have a busy few months ahead.

Freda ~ sounds like a nice day where you are.

Rie ~ that is such a neat story of your friend S and the feather he honored you with. Could you post a picture of it ~ it sounds lovely.

Marie ~ glad you got to go swimming. You be careful with all your various activities ~ hope no more broken bones for you.

Nancy ~ enjoy the time with your mom and hope you find some good deals while shopping.

Lynn ~ hope the dr finds that all is well with you. Congratulations to your daughter ~ what an accomplishment.

Karen MO ~ that is a neat picture you posted.

Donna ~ hope your hip and joints are feeling better.

Rosey ~ excited for your deck to get done ~ cool that you all were able to recycle and bring down the cost.

Bobbi ~ hope the headaches are getting better.

Mary ~ are your daughter and grandkids still there ~ hope you and your husband got to feeling better so you could enjoy their visit.

Hello to Sherry, Lyn, Karen FL and anyone else I’m forgetting ~ forgive me

Our famliy used to have family reunions ~ it was fun, but as people got older and different ones moved away, some were too far away to make it back. Over time ~ it just wasn't the same anymore. My grandma was kind of the one who was the head of it all ~ last time I was able to make it was the summer of '06. Grandma died a couple years later ~ I don't know if they have them anymore or not now that she is gone.

That was a good idea Zoe had about contacting Karen FL's son. I hope someone can find out something. Seems that back along, she kind of didn't post for quite a while, then eventually came back ~ hope she will come back again and that everything is ok.

Ok, dryer is buzzing ~ guess I'd better get going. Hope you all are having a wonderful day.

Take care

Hi Everyone - Well, I'm up 1 lb - my own darn fault so guess I can't whine about it, eh? Back on OP again. I wish I was more motivated. Seems that now the clothes are loose & I can move better, I'm not as much motivated. I need a kick you know where! Especially as I still have quite a ways to go. Big "[B]atta' girl [B]l" to Rie & Tea! Watched Boston nearly slaughter the Canucks last night. Game 7 in Vancouver on Wed. I won't be watching as I dragon boat paddle on Wed. I hate to admit it, but Boston has an amaqzing hockey team. I've been walking the dogs every day now & we love it. So glad the good wether is here! I love being with you all on this site! BFN

I tried to make the atta girl in bold but it didn't work...

Just a quick note -

Dr. was "impressed" with my weight loss and exercise schedule. This is the skinny one who kept telling me I needed to lose "more" throughout the time I lost my 30 lbs.

She reduced my meds again. Maybe some day I'll get off all of them - I can dream, can't I?

Lynn

Hello everyone! Finally got some time to myself so of course I head for this forum! It's been a busy week with our dd and the gc here. They have been very good except the little one has trouble with going to sleep. The bigger one (4) didn't like our toilets at first but he finally decided he would use his Lolo's (grandpa) but not mine. Mine is blue and that seems to bother him. He only uses white toilets. He's a little picky but very very sweet. It's been a fun week and every time they are here I realize again how wise God was to give women a limited number of child-bearing years.

Haven't had time to read all the posts but Rie I enjoyed the Indian story about the feather as I greatly believe in prayer and think it is important to pray for others too.

I haven't been counting anything just trying to watch my portions and how often I eat and estimating my carbs. At first I gained but now I'm dropping back down again and my bs was excellent today. The exercise I'm getting with the children is probably helping too. Yesterday we ate out and I ordered a hamburger. It was 1/2 lb! So I cut it in 1/2 and made sure I ate both of the tomato slices ( don't like them on my burger) and 1/2 the onions and lettuce on my burger. I only ate a few of the fries (not like fast food, the large dinner kind) and I shared a dessert. The dessert was probably way too much for my bs but it was very very good. I don't always care that much for restaurant desserts but this was to die for. I'm still dreaming about it! LOL But last night I ate very lightly and had no problem. Of course I was busy getting the children to sleep too. When I'm busy I don't think that much about food. So guess that's what I need...to keep more busy!

Our gd's 2nd birthday is in a few days and her gift (Curious George doll) arrived today from Amazon. I bought the gift wrap...which seems to be just a box with a ribbon around it and a little card. Nothing as fancy as I had imagined but it leaves me with only one small gift to wrap and less wrapping for her to struggle with.

The pesticide guy came today for the last visit in our contract. Some of you may remember my posting about this "service agreement" I foolishly signed up for a year ago. This time they forgot to email me and I was about to call them when he showed up. Then after his visit I called and left a message to cancel. I will have to check back and make sure they got it and indeed did cancel our account. I like their service, but it was only preventative and we don't need it. It actually caused us problems the first few times but they did make that right I guess as they set an outside mouse trap back in Dec and there were no more problems with them. I hope it continues to work after this visit too! I thought (too late) perhaps I should have waited and canceled after I made sure no mice showed up after their service as that is when it always happened.

Glynne - I am better but can still feel like I still have a UTI, but have a couple more pills to take. DH is better too but not yet quite back to normal either. His head and face are still really dry and itchy, but Aveeno helps. That is the only thing that has ever helped his skin. We think this hive break-out might just be part of the whole dermatitis-type reaction he gets to cool weather. The doc told him before it is not so much an allergy to cold as it is to changes of temperature..like just a cool breeze coming through. Funny it only affected his head this time though.

Jess - loved the flower arrangement...found it very calming, soothing.

Zoe - I'm sorry about your friend. These things can really be a shock sometimes I know. I just found out that a friend (not close but I cared for her) died several months ago. We didn't see each other often and then we were away all winter so I hadn't heard. I knew she wasn't well and I just kept thinking about her and wondered how she was, no one seemed to know so I googled her name and came up with her obituary! She was in her 70s too.

Teagranny - I think a 4lb loss is great!! Happy for you!

Freda - I like how you do your "maintaining" and think it is really smart to allow yourself that 5 lbs. I know personally if I feel like I have to "diet" the rest of my life I couldn't bear it but I also know I'll always have to watch it. So I hope to do like you are doing when/if I ever get to that point. I tend to flucuate about 3-5 lbs all the time anyway.

Someone mentioned Macrodantin for UTI's. I am/used to be familar with it and now I'm thinking it is a sulfa type drug, is that correct? If it is I probably can't take it as I am allergic to Sulfa.

Oh my Donna ~ thank you for sharing about Karen. Thank you for taking the time to find out. Thoughts and prayers to her and her family.

Hey GGs,
Donna, thank you so much for the info about KarenFL. I've been really worried. Still am, but at least now I know more what I'm worried about. I'll be checking with you for more information.

Mary, I'm so glad you & DH are feeling a little better, & enjoying visiting with your DD & GKs. And what a nice bonus that all the extra activity is helping your weight loss & bs!

I wrote the rest of this before I found out about KarenFL, & it almost seems too frivolous to post now. But I think you all will understand.

Well, I’ve figured out my guilty pleasure - donuts! And I’m blaming Wal-Mart! They keep putting them on the bakery mark-down shelves! Big glazed donuts with gobs of pastel- tinted icing on top! They know I can’t resist a bargain (or a donut apparently)! I’ve been buying these boxes of donuts (usually a doz., sometimes only 6 - donuts, not boxes! LOL), for a couple of months now. Then each day until they run out, I’ll have one donut with a couple of turkey sausages, or a scrambled egg, for breakfast (SO eats 2, & his DD usually has 1). Sometimes I freeze some of them to save for the next week. When I wake up in the morning & remember there’s a donut waiting for me, it just makes me sooo happy. As I will be tomorrow - I stopped at Wal-Mart this afternoon! So far this hasn’t affected my weight loss. Did I mention I’m still losing about a pound a week (but I expect that to stop soon)? I’m careful though, I only eat one a day, & only for breakfast.

Marie, I hope you & your DD have a ball on those roller coasters! You really are a thrill seeker. Me, I’m more of a merry-go-round type. I have absolutely no “sense of adventure”, as I’m always reminding SO. Oh, DSD (guess I’ll try to remember to call her that) was telling me about her boyfriend’s family’s business (he lives in MN - they met in college), & it turns out they make harnesses for dogs for skijoring (is that how you spell it?). Just thought that was a funny coincidence (until you mentioned it, I’d never even heard of it).

Rie, that was quite an uplifting story about your friend. And what a wonderful inspiration for you. How could anyone ever give up with support like that!

Freda, I still can’t figure out where my weight is going to stabilize. I like the size I’m at, but, maybe I will lose more. My mom & SO both worry that I’m losing too much (I can tell from little comments they make), but I really feel like I’m letting my body decide (I think?!).

Zoe, I’m so sorry about your friend. Such sad news to come back to. I’m sure catching up on your work was hard enough without dealing with that too. And then such a busy summer you have coming up. How will you even have time to breathe?!

Donna, thanks for the “blooming” card. Lovely.

Yay! Maureen. Four pounds lost is great progress! Finally a reward for all your efforts. Sherry, you just keep on hangin’ in there, & I’m sure the scale will soon start moving down for you too.

Gayle, hope your day off was a good one. I did find some good deals (besides the donuts). I bought some marked -down veggie burgers, mainly for DSD since she’s a vegetarian. We ended up having some of them for dinner - grilled with onions & served on a bun. We all (even SO) really liked them (& they‘re only 130 cal.), so I’m really glad I bought 3 boxes of them.

Time to go & figure out my snack for tonight. Would you believe SO & DSD have already each eaten a donut?! I said to wait til in the morning, but they begged! I’m saving mine for breakfast!!! Night everyone.
NCNancy