Thanks, Wildfire!!! And anyone going through a bout with IBS also deserves a

I was diagnosed with this condition many, many years ago, but apparently it either ran its course and went away or it wasn't a correct diagnosis, as in my 30s it just disappeared, not by dint of anything I was doing or not doing, unless it was not eating meat for two decades.

Jenn, I forgot to say howdy!!!

To all, mentioned or unmentioned. My last week in the newsroom full time appears to be looming, as I am assuming the editor I'm replacing is planning to return. At the moment, I'm thinking of turning in a resignation myself if this happens, as I am tired of being the wandering gypsy working at home every weekend. We'll see, though. Whatever, I know I will make my 21-day challenge and reach next week in great dietary form.

Thanks, Amarantha! IBS can go into remission for months or even years. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones, maybe it was a misdiagnosis, maybe it was a food allergy of some kind.... ...just glad you don't suffer from it anymore!

Wow, you're thinking of resigning? Is it possible they will keep you on in the newsroom? Would you accept if they offered? Whatever happens, I wish you the best!

Hi All, just a quick little visit. I just wanted to let you all know that i finally did it I finally made it to 90lbs, that was the hardest 10lbs I have lost yet but the most satisfying. So I now have only 17 left to go and if it takes several more months that is just fine, my goal for Sept 1st is to still be losing, it just doesn't matter how much as long as it is coming off. Good luck to everyone with this challenge you can all do it. Bye for now I will try to check in again in a few days it is so hard when Im so busy, see you all soon.

Just came back on for a bit tonight to catch up on some of the posts and, as usual, I find so much good feeling going on that it "lights a candle" in my life.

Seems we all have something going on that's not great but for the most part we trudge on and appreciate the little things that make life worthwhile. And somehow come out a bit wiser/stronger from the "not so great". Might I say that's a part of our common thread - that we sort of "have it together"? Maybe not totally yet because I think I'm always a work in progress but we're all pretty well on the road.

No one would ever offend me by offering to pray for me. Many have, of all sorts of religious and not so affiliations. Some who have said so have surprised me as it was so unexpected. (And maybe some have not said it that I thought would.)

So double hugs to all in pain, physical, psychological, hormonal....those of us who need Fresh Start Cards can grab a few of those and the no guilt cards and jump back in with our successful losers ( so glad some of us are doing so well) and set forth once again on the next stage of the journey.

I feel so much stronger now that I've checked in again. "See" you in the morning.

Hooray for Dollar!!!! 90 pounds down and only 17 left to go!!!! That's a wonderful accomplishment, Dollar!!! You're on your way to the Maintenance Room!!!! cb:

Wildfire, I'm pretty sure the IBS won't come back, it's been a long time ... a food allergy is actually a fairly good bet ... also I had bullemia and all sorts of other eating problems ... hmmm, I still have eating problems, but I digest everything rather well now, so that's a plus? Anyway, hope you are feeling better ... be careful ...

I really am thinking of resigning, actually. There really isn't a job for me in the newsroom if the wandering editor returns and right now I don't feel like returning to my old position. Probably I will, but this may be the sign it's time to find a new career. Dunno.

Anagram: Glad you checked in, as I always find your balance and input so helpful. Yes, I think we are all poised and ready for the next stage of the journey, wherever it takes us.

I know, for one thing, is that I intend to meet up with Dollar in that Maintenance Room. Can you picture a thread with all of us maintaining our perfect weight, on and on until we are too old to type? How great that would be!

My new software program says my perfect weight is 127 pounds ... my goal has always been 135, though, so I'll decide when I reach that goal if I want to go for the computer's idea of perfect.

Rambling.

Had a thought that it might just be that I've been on reduced calories for 15 straight days and steadily losing fat (finally) that is causing my depression. I remember from losing the 100 that depression and a slowed metabolism occurred periodically ... which is why I've been eating the sugar, the donuts, whatever, until I get a few pounds down. I lack vege, must make more of an effort in that regard. Too bad I really don't like them!

Avanti, all!

P.S. This software I downloaded is rather strange but interesting. It has these strange colorful displays comparing one's food intake to the food pyramid and the Mediterranian (sp?) Diet (sorry, can't spell that word) and it also has a "food podium" illustrating the breakdown of calories on a sort of ancient stone platform with cabalistic symbols on it ... I don't understand the concept but it's kind of neat to look at!

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that I see by the software that there are 36 days to Labor Day, which is the period I set up for the program to track my diet. So that's another 21-day challenge after this one and a few more days and I'm there ... at 158 pounds!!! Or less!!!

Hello all!

Here we go Monday, here we go......

Both DH and I went to bed b/4 9 last night-- He spoke to DD after hours of trying to connect by leaving messages w/ her mother.
Very hard to understand what she's going thru because she is "acting" very chipper yet is saying she is in a huge financial crisis. Unfortunately, we suspect she's getting bad advice from her mother ---- There a lots of unanswered questions --like--since your mother lives near your job and has 4 bedrooms, why not stay w/her until you are earning enough money for an apartment?
DD has left her husband for many reasons. We sent money then to get car transferred into her name, etc but now we are being asked for much more money to do the exact same things....
Her husband has not worked in at least 18 mos so she will see no support money--

We were exhausted mentally.... Its almost a relief to go to work and deal with things that do not have the "emotional charge".


Mike Brescia's Life Lesson hit the bullseye for me this am-- hope you enjoy it too.

Thought of the day :

"If you ever get a second chance at life, you've got to go
all the way."
- Lance Armstrong (5 time winner of the Tour de France)

*****BONUS******

Well, it's now official.

Lance Armstrong has won the Tour de France for a record
tying fifth time.

The most difficult, grueling sporting event in the world.

He survived 2,100 miles over two mountain ranges in 20
days, the stomach flu, dehydration, crashes & near crashes
as well as the weather to do the unthinkable. Three weeks
and over 83 hours of pushing himself past exhaustion.
I can't even imagine what that must take physically and
mentally to run that race.

To most people, it's just two words, "bike race," that
don't mean too much.

But in life you've got to grab inspiration wherever you can.

To me, his record setting performance is just one more
push to make this lifetime a masterpiece. One more
confirmation that with determination, anything can be
achieved. Absolutely anything.

Here's a guy who in 1996 was diagnosed with and advanced
form of testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen,
lungs and brain.

Because of it's spread, he was given only a 50-50
chance of survival.

But he had aggressive surgery and chemo treatments that
alone would've killed the average person, and was
pronounced cancer free in 1997. Then began the arduous
road back to health.

A few months ago, I was watching a 1997 video of him
training in after his surgery. He had no hair and you
could see the U-shaped scar on top of his head where they
went in to remove part of the cancer. He said training was
difficult... he would get wiped out after only an hour and
a half on the bike.

An hour and a half, and he got wiped out!

Most people are breathing heavy after 2 minutes.

After the treatment and surgery, he was no different than
anyone else... actually much worse off physically than
practically anyone alive.

But he had Lance Armstrong's mind...

...the mind that made him the best cyclist in the world.

You see, that is what separates the winners from the
losers in life.

Everyone who knows of Lance knows of him as a winner, but
in his first Tours he didn't do so well.

Here's how he did in his previous Tour races:

'93 - Did not finish
'94 - Did not finish
'95 - 36th
'96 - Did not finish
'97 - Did not enter
'98 - Did not enter
'99 - 1st
'00 - 1st
'01 - 1st
'02 - 1st
'03 - 1st

He didn't even finish 3 times. See? We're talking about
a grueling race!

But success in life is about how many times you pick
yourself up, not how many times you fail.

Since I was "this" close to using another quote today,
I'll include it. Here it is: "A winner much first know
what losing's like." Billionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes
said that. So he knew something about winning, I'd say.

You see, so many people I work with are just so scared of
losing that they just won't get involved in life and risk
falling down... of looking foolish... of losing what little
they have.

But you must.

The good stuff is on the other side of failure. You just
can't get there without it.

It hurts, sure it does.

Those months I spent in the van hurt worse than I can go
into right now. And lots of risk went into getting out and
creating an actual life. And without failure there is no
success.

None.

I've been reading the press coverage of this year's Tour
extensively, and I read a quote of one of Lance's fans
saying that this is the most excited she's ever been in
her life.

And I thought about how sad that is.

Someone else's achievement, someone they've never met -
and it's the most thrilling event in their life.

Look, I don't care if it's the World Cup, the Super Bowl
or little green men landing on Earth, the most thrilling
moment in your life should be from something YOU achieve.

And there is inspiration all around every day. You just
have to open your eyes. It's constant and never ending.

Tell yourself that you are prepared to look stupid a dozen
times today. And when you accomplish the first one, find
out what you can learn from it. After your twelfth stupid
action, you should have learned twelve new lessons that
hopefully made you smarter and better prepared for tomorrow.

Are you getting this?

That's how you use failure... to learn.

Lance did.

He failed and failed and failed.

But because he used his failure to learn...

...he got smarter and smarter and smarter.

Without the failure, he wouldn't be so dominant today.

Without the cancer, he may not have gotten so mentally
strong so as to be so unbeatable.........

And don't mourn all the years you didn't do this.

Just get excited. Let go of the failures. Use them to
learn and let them go.

OK? OK!

---Mike Brescia- Life's Laser Lessons


Take care all!

Hey all!!!

Pretty much all moved in. Not unpacked yet though!!! Still have some cleaning supplies and a few odds back at the old place. We have to do a clean up and then we'll be officially out. I'm really disapointed that my inlaws didn't have their stuff out of the house by the time we moved in. So as you can imagine, I have no where to put our stuff let alone pack it. They are staying with friends and hope to finished packing and moving stuff around this week. I'm even moredissapointed that do to a misunderstaning, they are not paying us rent for the month that they lived there after we closed on the house. Hubby and I remember the agreement as being they would pay us while they live in the house. So here we are all month not saving, just trying to pay off bills and whatnot thinking they were going to pay us for living there. NOPE I'm glad we have savings..... And to top it all off we got our first mortgage bill 2 weeks ago and they hadn't even the courtesy to let us know it was there. It's do Aug. 1. Now all I have to figure out is how to pay it. If I mail it, it's going to be late, but they do have a number to call to 'inroll' in their automatic debit every month. We plan on getting a new account, so that's not really good either. Wonder if they will let us do a one time debit until we get situated.


Haven't been able to sneek a weigh, I can't find my scale. Maybe it's a good thing so I'll be more surprised.

Well, it's back to work. Tired already, got up at 4am to get here.

Great Monday morning! Frogger, hang on! By Thanksgiving you should be all settled, bills worked out, new job so no 4 a.m. rising time (aaagh!)

Amarantha, it does sound like it's time for you to rethink careers. Often wondered how you coped with all that travelling around and weekend working. That's ok if it's what you WANT to do but it sounds like lately it hasn't been.

And Kaylets, how awful! How much can one take at one time? One step in front of the other and do that inside our group hug that's coming your way.

Ah, Empress, I don't feel balanced this morning. I'm doing the one step in front of the other thing myself. I KNOW it's normal to have some depression from the nursing home thing and the immediate deterioration Mom's having. And I am grateful I have six other siblings all doing their part. But with the last eight months of DHs situation having drained me emotionally, I really am having some trouble coping. The kids and grandkids were a distraction over the weekend - this really started Saturday before they came but while they were here I put it off. I expressed the whole thing to DH this morning but I don't really want to add to his burdens as he's been coping well so far and avoiding any depression he might be feeling because of his lessening of strength, etc. So now I'm unloading on my friends here and at the same time "planning". I told him we need a day for some fun (our outings last week were to the hospital). He's supposed to be thinking up something for that - doesn't have to be much.

And I am planning to go to the pool this morning no matter what. I need the time to myself and the relaxation the water brings. Not to mention the exercise and keeping my back and knees in working shape.

DH is the love of my life and has been my strong support all these many years but he has never learned to be a consoler despite my many efforts to teach him. (Yes, many.) So I must remind myself he would (and has) done so many things and get my rear in gear and trudge onward to daylight. Good friend called the other day and I must get back to her. Over 41 years she probably knows more of me and history than anyone and we have sustained each other through much even though our contact is mostly sporadic most times. So I'll get to K and we'll go over it all (she's having some unbelievable times too) and straighten each other out. So there's another blessing in my life.

So that should do it. I've really not eaten as well as I would have liked but not as badly as I might have imagined either. Just need to get all back together and get through this "normal" depression. I think sometimes just acknowledging and "naming' goes a long way to relieving and I'll hop back on later and let you know when I'm hopping about if I get there. Thanks for "listening".

Hello,
Quick stop in. Test tomorow. Aarrgg.

Just fit in to a pair of size 10 jeans that I have not even thought about putting on for a couple of years.

Talk to y'all on Thursday when I am done and back to normal.

I just got off work, and I am sitting here enjoying a large hazelnut coffee (actually my second b/c I had to read though all the post I had missed, while out on my binge). I`m sitting in sweats watching the rain beating off the window...I love it when it rains...call me crazy. I feel motivated and ready to conquer the world again, last week I was in some sort of slump, so I`m up and smiling and ready to be healthy once aGAIN.

Cerise: I`m glade you love Seattle. Make the best out of Elisabeth...I would love to have some one to motivate me And I am happy you are praying for us, I am not that religious personally, but I respect what others believe

Wildfire: IBS don`t sound so good...good luck with everything!

Kaylets: Changes are good for you keep on working girl

Eddie: have a great nap babe

Amarantha- good luck in the news room AND 21 day challenge. Hang in there girl and you will be 158lbs or less by labourday.

Dollar: 90lbs- amazing!

Anagram: I`m going to grab one of those fresh start cards, and keep on trudging by, thanks for your kind words.

Frogger- seems like everyone is moving right now. I`ll be off myself in a month, Good Luck! And don`t worry about your scales, surprise is a good thing sometimes.

Zadie K- Great joB On the size 10`s...I`ll keep dreaming it for myself!

For anyone I forgot to mention, all the best.
So girls lets make it to the next step, because we can.

Jenn.M.

Wow! So many posts I don't know where to get started!!!

Monday is weigh in day for me and I'm down 3.8 from last week. Happy camper I am - but I need clothes!!!!!! I think I can make it till Super Shoppin' Saturday - it's supposed to be 104 tomorrow so maybe I'll just forego clothes altogether! (birthday suit still fits!)
...wonder what my clients would think if they knew...?

First of all, Zadie, good luck on your exam tomorrow! We'll all be sitting there with you in spirit!! Go get 'em! (ooh, and congrats on the jeans too! very cool...)

Kaylets, thank goodness DH is ok! Last thing you need is more to deal with! And the dog, is he/she ok too?? My dad's beagle has seizures, only one a year, but it's so scary!

Anagram, I'm sorry to hear your mom had to make the move. Fingers crossed it is temporary and how comforting it must be that your sister works there too.

Arabella, about what was said at the party - I've heard similar 'round these parts and it makes me cringe every time. I don't know that I could've let that one go without a response. Evil red headed temper o' mine I guess....

Cerise, Wecome back! What a bonus about your mega-healthy sister in law! Glad you're all moved, settled and love Seattle.
Re: your question about praying - ditto what everyone else has said. Being non-Christian myself, I've never been offended by people's offers of prayer. Whether it's prayer or sending energy, or whatever you choose to call it.... it's all the same to me, and extremely powerful either way - it's about the intent, not the method. Come to think of it, I think that applies to religion in general doesn't it?

Wildfire, I hope the IBS episode has gotten better. I'll continue to for remission for you... Small correction for the mom - she's got 2 more chemo sessions, as of her last one, she's 1/2 way through ( ) so it's 2 down, 2 to go!
My guy you ask?? Eh, same ol' same ol'. We've got a great friendship and I'm positive, 100% sure, that's all it's ever going to be. That's ok, things *have* evolved to a point where I think that's what I'd be most happy with.

Amarantha, yes dear , it does appear that the opportunity has presented itself for you to do some job changing. I hope you find something that is more fun than work, allows you to retire early, and permits the completion of an onsite day spa (I'll be over shortly thereafter!).

Jenn, welcome back! I was wondering where you went to! Please take full advantage of the shoulder and lap belts on the Weight Loss Wagon - we don't want you to fall off again!
I hope you don't mind that I'm living vicariously through you right now - you're wearing sweats????? It's 102 degrees here right now.... I'm praying for it to be cold enough for sweats! But then again, in a few months I'll probably be griping about snow....

Dollar, my hero!!! 90 pounds! I hit 45.6 this morning - 1/2 of what you've lost! You are an inspiration....

Frogger, glad you're all moved. Bummer on the "renters", sometimes it doesn't pay to do business with family I tell ya... You should call the mortgage company, they're normally willing to do anything to get their money! Besides, with it only being the first payment I'm sure it's normal for there to have to be adjustments. Congratulations again on the new home - you'll find it's like having a child made of lumber and drywall. Everything is suddenly "for the house". It's fun though!

Just a couple more days of being a responsible office manager. Thursday morning I'm driving to Bo-Beena's for some completely irresponsible fun, rest, visiting and relaxation! (and much needed clothes shopping!)

Toodles for now!
Terri

Good Monday, Chickadees!

Quick postie today - I'm actually online to look for work, but stopped by here for a "bit of Dutch courage".

Phewf. We discovered that we live about 3 blocks away from a demonic place called "The Cheesecake Factory". Oh, GOOOOOD. Ramon and I had a lovely lunch there (they also cook nummy other foods) and split a fresh banana cream cheesecake. Girls,.......I'm speechless. Fortunately it's kind of a pricey place so we won't be going often. But the CHEESECAKE, darlings!!! Oh, dear Lord.

Love to all of you and thank you for your wonderful "welcome back."

OK, on to submit my resume to all of those unsuspecting Seattle bosses!

Good luck, Zadie!

Punkin, I'm thinking about that online day spa right now!!!

Cerise, I love Seattle, you are lucky ... better stay away from the Cheesecake Factory, though!

Jenn: We had rain here, too! Not that usual where I live, except in July (the monsoon). Glad you are out of your slump!

Anagram: I think you are coping beautifully after all you've been through. How wonderful that you have such a faithful friend to help sustain you, as well as a DH who is willing to plan for a day of just fun. The nursing home thing is VERY hard, but it does get better and is just another chapter in our families' lives. Hang in and just think about being in a lovely spa ...

Has anyone remembered to tip the towel boy lately?

Avanti!

Braindead! Gotta sleep!

Hello all!

Punkin-Thanks for asking- yes, the dog is fine. You'd never know anything had happened. Is your dad's dog on medication or...??

Empress- an On line Spa sounds perfect for your talents. Your imagination would be well suited. Sign me up!~

Cerise- Be careful! I understand the Factory will mail the cheesecakes too!

Ooops, look at the time--
I've done it again...
**********
Today's thought of the day is:

"If you can DREAM it, you can DO it." -- Walt Disney

Question of the day is:
"Do you prefer to be around men or women?"
-- The Book of Questions
********


Take care all!