It's morning!! It's a new day!!! Jo's back on track!!! This I swear!!!

Last night I got into the Halloween candy. Oooh, girls, it was an ugly thing. Chocolate washed down with a beer. But it was a Light Beer so it doesn't count, right?

Anyway, I was really bad last night. Rich handed out the candy while Watson and I stayed upstairs watching TV. Gotta tell you. My dog was SUCH A GOOD BOY!!! He used to get so excited and bark, etc. when the doorbell rang or he heard people outside but last night he was so good. Guess he's mellowed in his old age.

Well anyway, we stayed upstairs except for a few sneaks downstairs to steal some candy and dog biscuits. Would have been better for me to eat the dog biscuits!!! I was sooooo bad. This morning I got on the scale, queasy stomach and all, and nearly died.

So the leftover candy came into work today and is sitting in the cafeteria for OTHER PEOPLE to eat. I've had it. Starting today, November 1, I'm staying on program! I'm counting points and keeping my journal and drinking my water. No more candy (unless I can fit it into my points range), no more hanging at the VFW drinking beers. The only good thing I did last night was walk a mile on the treadmill before I started in with all the candy, etc. After that, all was lost. I'm so ticked off at myself. I'm trying to kick myself in the butt but it's not easy. Need your help with that. Repeat after me: BAD JO!!! BAD!!!! NOW STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!!!! BEHAVE YOURSELF, YOUNG LADY!!!!!!

Whew! Notice how I had to throw that "young lady" thing in there? Hey, can't be too hard on myself. Strict ... but kind. It's a good thing.

Well, I'm off to fill my water bottle and my coffee cup. Water and decaf, respectively. And I'm going to walk the long way to the cafeteria and avoid the "candy table" where everyone's leftover goodies are starting to gather. I DON'T NEED IT!!!! NO!!!!! (Wrist slap!)

I WILL DO THIS!!!!

Standing proud ... but whimpering a little inside,
Jo.

I'm just sending a quick note. If you don't feel like reading it, that's OK, I just really need to have a place to vent today.

Had to go to a funeral this afternoon, so told "the boss" that it startred at 1:00 and I had to leave at 12:00. That went well, I thought, even though I explained to him that I had never met the man who died.

Then I started getting problems ALL morning. I had to take a couple of them to him, because, with the chain of command, the people that needed to be reprimanded work directly for him, in an adjoining unit. I could do it myself, but he wants to know when there are competence issues involved and likes to be the heavy hand, anyway - great big man, loud voice.

By the fifth one today (please know that we are lucky to have 1 of these every six months), I was stressed out. When I took it to him, he started arguing with me and told me that it had nothing to do with our department. I've learned to stand up to him so told him that we have a philosophical difference on the issue and that I disagree with him. Anyway, finally at 12:15, he said "Go to you funeral and come back after to discuss this." Real nice.

So, I went to the funeral, cried all the way through it, and headed back to work. I was so upset, that I didn't eat, so at this point have not eaten all day. When I got back, there was an apology on my email, and he came and told me that he had lunch with his significant other and she gave him heck because I was right on the issue. Sheesh....men!!!!!

P.S. At the funeral, I saw 6 of my friends who had never met the deceased, either. Are you curious? Well, his daughter and son-in-law go to our church and are very good friends. I am still feeling bad because the death was very sudden, her dad is not very old and she is terribly upset. I feel so bad when my friends are hurting.

OK, I feel better now, especially when I have 7 minutes to go til home time. The boss just walked by the door with one of the counsellors that works here and popped his head in the door. With a big smile he told me that he had to go get his own personal consellor. Hmmmm....

Sweet Tooth (Peggy), looks like it's just the two of us here these days! Don't ever apologize for venting here. We all do it. And I'm glad things worked out with your office situation. There are too many bosses and people who think they know everything around most offices (I speak from experience) that would never admit to being wrong nor apologize for anything. Trust me. I know.

Well, you guys (if you're all still out there!!) I'm on Day Two of being back on track. Yesterday, I ate within my points range, journaled, drank water, exercised... Oh, it's such a burden being perfect. Speaking of exercise, you should have seen me!!! I got on the treadmill but instead of just setting a speed and incline, I decided to use one of the preset programs. Half an hour of changing speeds and inclines, etc. Holy Cow!!! When it got up to 4MPH at a 20% incline, I thought I was going to die! Then it said that segment would go for 5 minutes!!! Yikes!! So I was thumping along, trying to keep from flying off and Rich comes upstairs to find out what all the noise is. I didn't have the breath to tell him to stop chuckling and go away!

Well, I DID IT!!!! It finally slowed to 2MPH at a low incline for the cooldown period at the end and it almost felt too slow. (I usually walk at about 2.5 or 2.6 MPH.) I was sweating and breathing a little heavy but I felt WONDERFUL!!!! Thinking of doing it again tonight. How's that for weird?

OK, enough rambling. Boss is already in and I'm hoping that means he has to leave early today. TGIF!!! Weekend is going to be full of rewiring (Rich) and pulling down panelling (Jo). That is, after a stop at the local church's Christmas craft bazarre. And maybe a little other shopping. And then.... Well, you get the idea.

Hope you all have a great weekend.
Much love, Jo.

Sorry, this is just a quickie post to say hello to everyone! I have been so busy with chores to get done before we leave this Thursday morning! I have been unpacking all our clothes from our up north stay, doing laundry and getting all our clothes ready to pack for Kansas .. plus getting our clothes ready for the wedding. We finally got hubby's suit (a challenge in itself)! but I have to say he was very cooperative! It's having alterations so have to pick it up on Monday. I also have been getting my daughter's xmas gifts wrapped to take with us so I can avoid mailig them out at xmas time (which is not to far away) and we are going to be at the cabin for the 1st 2 weeks in December! So not much time to prepare for xmas - have most of my gifts taken care of - just need to get them wrapped! I had weigh-in on Thursday ... scale did not move! Still at 170 (14 1/2 lbs lost) ... next Thursday I AM going to be into the 160's come **** or high water! I AM! I AM! I AM!

Sorry this is such a "me me" post .. I will post again soon when I am not in such a hurry ... Have a great weekend everyone!

Love, CJ

HI everyone! It is finally November. It seemed like Oct just dragged this year. Not that I am wishing the time to go by, I was happy to get past Halloween. Now I can look forward to Thanksgiving. Nothing special is happening, just like it. Of course I am not ready for Christmas . I am crocheting dish towels for all of the ladies at work and hubby's work too. Instead of having buttons, velcro to ties, the tops will fold down and go through a hole and form a flower. At least people can use them.

Haven't been doing much. My schedule has changed and am trying to adjust to it. I work different shifts. Sometimes I work daytime and others I work at night. Actually when I work at night , it helps me with my eating. I will eat anywhere from 7 to 8 pm. After that I don't eat anything else. I don't get home until late so I don't snack then. I need to weigh myself. Maybe Monday moroning I can. I don't like to do it when other people are around.

I too saw that soup receipe in womans world. I think I am going to try it and see how it tastes. Will let you know. I will probably use the brussel sprouts. I like them.

Sharon: You have a great looking family.


Jo: Your kitchen will turn out great. Will you put the finished pictures on here for us to see?

KimV: So glad you have found a teacher for Hannah. I bet Hannah is sooooo cute when she does the itsy, bitys spider.

Well, good luck ladies on keeping OP> You are all doing great. Take care . Mary Kay

Hello out there - anyone home? OK .. just got out of a nice hot tub bath and am now going to relax some more and watch a movie with hubby. Just about got all my stuff for our trip ready to pack - now have bunch of errands to run tomorrow and Tuesday ... working really really hard this week to get rid of that 1/2 lb that is going to put me to 15 lbs down and get me into the 160's!!! We'll see come Thursday ..

OK, movie's on - see ya later .. hope you are all having a great weekend.

Love, CJ

Everyone have a Happy Halloween? Man that candy was hard to resist wasn't it? I admit to having a bit of it, but tried to control myself. Thanks for all the compliments about the pictures of the kids. I think they are a beautiful bunch myself, and was glad to share the pictures with all of you's.

On the WW front, I was mad that I had another gain last Monday, of 1.8 lbs. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I really was trying last week so all I can say it is either all the exercise I have been doing, I have started my Tae Bo tapes and doing them a couple of times a week in addition to my walking or my Leslie Sansone Walk Aerobics tapes, so maybe I am building muscle. OR maybe it was just my Florida/crab leg trip catching up with me and this is the rest of the weight coming at me. So here I thought that the 2.2 lb gain wasn't too bad for 2 weeks and here goes the 1.8 lb gain. So I guess maybe it might have been a 4 lb delayed gain. LOL Anyways I am not giving up, I have really tried hard this week and will see when I go to my WW meeting today. I will keep my fingers crossed that some of this weight gain comes off. All I can do is try my best and head back in the right direction.

Sylvia-Sorry meant to say Marcil, and I think this is your husband's name am I right? But somehow had KimV's hubby Chad on the brain. So glad that both your Mom and her brother are doing better now. I know you are under enough stress with worrying about your job too. That is so great that you have lost some weight, heck of a way to lose weight though, thru some stressful times.

Mary Kay-I see you are still the busy lady, how do you like working different shifts at the bowling alley? That is great with the night shift that you eat less. That is one benefit of that shift. That is a great Christmas gift, those towels that you are making. I have some of them made my Mother In Law and they come in really handy when I am in the kitchen.

Sandi-Hi there, hope all is going well for you with your job and your travels ect. Is Spence retired yet? I know that will be a real big change in your life, but a welcomed and wonderful one. Miss you! Post when you have a few and update us on what has been happening in your life.

Jello-Good for you getting back on track again. My gosh that is great how you are using your treadmill too. Isn't it a good feeling to use it for something other than a clothes rack like you said you used to do? I know that was a wonderful feeling when you stepped off of it. Keep up the great work! Good luck with your kitchen renovating. Hope it goes well.

sweet tooth-So sorry Peggy about the problems with the boss, but I am glad that he admitted to being wrong. Even though it was his wife who made him see the light-it takes a woman doesn't it? But the important thing is that he admitted he was wrong and that had to make you feel much better. Thank you so much for that wonderful story "The Daffodil Principle". I tell you that story really hit home for me and hopefully for the rest of The Thinsters too. I mean we all tend to keep putting things off "UNTIL" and if we all keep on doing that than we never get to do what we hope and dream to do. Good for you making that WW soup instead of all those goodies. I am proud of you. You ahd asked about what we do when we are tempted to eat. Well it depends, if it is something I REALLY want than I might just have a bit or two of like my husbands or one of my sons. I don't deny myself when I want something because other wise I tend to eat everything in sight and THAN I will finally get to what I really want and eat that too. So I feel like I might as well eat what I want in smaller quanities and skip the other calories.

Kim-Glad things are looking up a bit for you in life. Hannah's new speech teacher should work out great for her. She is so well qualified from what you said. We are here for you and I am glad you can talk to us and don't worry if you need to vent. But I too think that you shouldn't blaime youself for things with Chad. I know it is hard right now but hopefully when he gets on his meds things will be for the better. We are here for you Kim!((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))) )))))))))

Kolika-Sorry you have been sick, but that is great about your 4 lb weight loss. It is a hard way to go to lose though. How did Christian like your bosses church with all the games ect? I'll bet she looked so cute in her Cinderella costume. Don't worry about not remembering where that bridge is in Columbus. I am the same way, I forget alot too.

CJ-Hey girlie, pretty soon and you will be here. I can't wait till Thursday to see you again. I will get the Buttershots for us. Don't worry I know Ken said the other day when I had a shot that he was telling you, but believe me I only had that one shot and there is plenty left. LOL Thanks so much for posting that soup recipe for everyone. I will make it and have put it in my recipe folder on my email. I know you are a busy busy lady getting ready for your trip to your daughter's wedding, but am very happy that you will spend a few days with us.

Judy-Are you out there anywhere? I know you are being a busy lady going here and there and teaching your sister to enbroider ect. That is good that you are keeping active and getting out. Come on back and post and let us know how things are going for you.

Gail-Miss you girl and hope things are still going well for you. Thanks for the email and there is one back at you.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{GAIL}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} }}

Chrissy-Where are you? I know busy busy with your work and school now. I got a nice phone call from your Ellie the other day, it was so nice to get that phone call from my wonderful niece and godchild too. She missed me and just wanted to talk to her Aunt Sharon. Glad you enjoyed watching that video I sent from when we went camping this summer. Come on back and post with us, miss you.

Carolyn-How are you doing? How is the WW program going for you lately? You are doing so well and hope you post with us and let us know how-weither good or bad, we are here for you.

Come on back everyone that is missing in action and post with us. WE MISS YOU GUYS!

Take care and I will talk to you later, love ya, Sharon

I'm on my way to weigh-in. I was over points twice this past week. One time wasjust about triple the allotted points , the other was over by 1 point. I'll be happy if I haven't gained any weight. Any loss would be welcome.

...wish me luck.

Good luck to you Peggy on weigh-in! I'm being really strict with myself this week cuz I want to be in the 160's soooooooo bad! 1/2 lb away from it .. Let us know how you do.

Sharon: It's Monday and do you know what that means? 3 more days before we leave here to come to your house! Yea! Then, off to Dawn's (really excited to get there!) See ya soon! Good luck on weigh-in today! Let me know!

Ok, off to more errand running ... had to stop and eat something.

Later....
Love, CJ

Hi Everyone,

Just got back from WI. It wasn't great, but it was good enough. Lost another 1.25 pounds this week. Whew! What a sigh of relief that is. Need to lose another 1/4 pound to reach the halfway point in my weight loss. I'm counting on that for next week.

Over the weekend I looked back in my food diary. I noticed that I have not had a complete week of being OP since I went on holidays on Sept. 18. I'm sure that has contributed to not losing the weight that I want. I vowed that this week is to be completely OP. I may even start an exercise program (so far procrastination has been to blame). I have no excuses this week...no times that I need to eat out, no buffet dinners to attend. Therefore, I have planned my eating to be OP all week.

CJ - I know you can make the 160 mark. I'm pullin' for ya girl. It would be soooo nice to go away with that milestone behind you. Good luck this week.

Sharon - Hope your visit with CJ is super. It sounds like such fun for you.

MK - You are so energetic to make all those tea towels. I have been trying to wrack my brain to think of something that I feel like making this year and nothing seems to pop up. Sooooo, I went out and finished all my Christmas shopping on the weekend, rather than making things this year. Wrapped it all yesterday, put in boxes for mailing and now I can sit with my feet up. (hehehe). I've improved on the Christmas thingy, though. I used to get in a panic when it wasn't finished and wrapped by the beginning of July...

Hope everyone has a great week. I'm staying OP, I'm staying OP, I'm staying OP...

Well hello everyone. I'd best stick a smile in now because I'm afraid I may vent a bit and the smiles will not be prolific Firstly:

Sylvia, glad things are getting a little better for you. What stress,
you poor thing.

Jello - your kitchen renovations sound like fun! We've finally finished painting our house, now we have to do the yard, urgh...

KimV - so sorry to hear about your and Chad's troubles. Financially my bf and I are pretty stuffed too, just bought our house in August after being on one income while I was on maternity leave, and we both have a personal loans and a credit card with lots of $ owing and then, weekend before last, our car blows up. Needs a new engine. Yeh, right.

CJ - Good luck on getting into the 160's!

Sassy - I agree with the others, what an attractive family you have girl! And yay on Tracy for graduating, so cool

sweet tooth - good work on the weight loss!

Okay so my vent. I'm in the office by myself today, and in four weeks I'll be here by myself EVERY day. Yes, they are not replacing my boss and my other colleague is moving interstate and so finished work last Friday. In the 'medium term', they are closing my office, ie. Sam get another job so we can close it down. Not happy.

Weight-wise not going very well, but only because I eat like a pig! Finding time to exercise can be a bit difficult too, what with working a 4 days in the office plus my casual job (which is partly exercise, but still) and looking after Charlotte.

Speaking of Charlotte, we have a word (she is 6.5 months old now). And it is...... Dada. Urgh! I mean it's sweet and lovely to hear her say anything we understand, but although he loves her, I work my butt off and he hardly does anything for her (or the house, or me), and he gets the first word? Sheesh. We started baby swim classes on Sat and she loved it Looked so cute too. She still doesn't roll or crawl, but sits very well and can support her weight standing for a little while (with us still holding on, she's not that good yet!)

Am trying to convince myself to go to the gym at lunch. The class is BodyAttack. I did PUMP yesterday (weights class) and now my thighs and biceps are sore Bf is going to pump my tyres for me at some point on my bike as I want to start riding. Need to get in shape. I've a wedding on Sat and nothing fits, ahhh. Want to be feeling beter by Christmas...

I'll stop whingeing now!! Apologies...
Sam
176 (9months pg)/150/130

Hi all. I'm back. Weighed in on Sat. AM with a 0.6 lb loss. Not bad for only being back on program for 2 days. Unfortunately, I undid all the good work over the rest of the weekend. Why do I always do that!?!?!

On to the good news... 11 of us from the VFW went down to Philadelphia (Adams Mark Hotel - Beautiful!!) for the M.S. Society award banquet and luncheon. What a great event! Lots of very very inspiring people in wheel chairs and with canes and walkers. Hardly a dry eye in the house through most of the speeches, etc. We won 2 awards including the top honors for fund-raising. Very nice.

In the lobby before the luncheon started, Jo had an "incident". The master of ceremonies was a man named Larry Kane who is the anchorman for the Phila. NBC news station every night. Local celebrity. Well, I was trying to side-step a man in a wheelchair and "bumped into" Larry Kane. Hard. Darned near killed the man!! Then, of course, I realized who he was and started stuttering and stammering and "Wow, you're Larry Kane...!" etc. (as if he didn't know who he was) Poor man. I think I frightened him into thinking I was a lunatic. But he was very gracious anyway. (Although our table was up near the front and he kept looking at me strangely throughout the ceremonies.)

On the food front, the luncheon wasn't bad. Just turkey sandwiches on croisants and a little pasta salad, fruit salad and water and coffee. OK, I did indulge in a LITTLE piece of carrot cake too. Yum. The problems came later when we all went back to the VFW to "celebrate" our trophies and plaque. Ooh, too many beers and too many munchies.

Wasn't that me who said I'd be good?? Well, then it must have been my evil twin last night. Yikes! Got on the scale this morning and ... well, I guess I don't have to tell you what happened. Well, I'm back again trying to undo all the damage.

Spent a good part of Saturday tearing down old panelling in the kitchen while Rich moved the phone lines, electric lines and thermostat to another wall so we could tear down the one between the kitchen and dining room. Good Lord, you should see the color that kitchen used to be!!! What would you call that color!?!?! Cross between green, yellow, brown and who knows what else! What were the people who used to live there thinking!?!?! Guess that's why they put up the panelling ... which by the way wasn't the world's greatest color either. Anyway, spent Sunday shopping instead of working on the house. Got some Christmas presents anyway.

Well, I've rambled on long enough. Have to get some work done now. We've been having trouble with our home computer so I haven't been able to get on line at home. Hopefully, "my computer guy" will get it fixed soon.

Hope you all have a good one!
Much love, Jo.

Had to cancel my trip to OKC this week. One of my friends hurt her back and another hurt her foot! Oh well, some other time, I guess. I was really looking forward to going.

Did I tell you that I bought a car? Can't remember if I told you or not. Anyway, it's a '98 Nissan Altima, beautiful car! Everyone keeps telling me to just get in it and start driving! I have never gone anywhere over 100 miles by myself in my whole life. The thought just scares me half to death! My sister wants me to come to Arkansas to see her (about a 5 hr. drive) and my son, Dean wants me to drive to Houston (about 10 hrs.) what a scary thought!

I'm avoiding the scale again. Haven't weighed myself in weeks! Seems like I want to eat all the time! I've been doing a lot of crocheting, not moving around very much, house is really dusty and cluttered. Boredom perhaps? Or just lazy?

I'm getting estimates from local contractors on re-doing my living room. Cal and I were planning on getting it done but when he got sick everything came to a sudden stop. I want to gut the whole room, and insulate, and replace the windows, new ceiling and walls, crown moldings and base boards, new drapes and carpet. Whether I get it all done or not will depend on how high the estimates are! Maybe a little at a time. Will just have to wait and see.

Still haven't heard anything from my daughter. I know she is still here in town. One of her friends stays in contact with me and tells me when she sees her. This woman is not my daughter. Oh, she looks the same but the daughter who was my best friend, my heart, is no more. Every material thing she owns is stored in my garage, she has no job, her car was re-possessed,
her daughter is safe with Dean in Houston, she never tries to contact them, and she never comes around here or calls on the phone. My heart breaks for her but no-one can help her until she wants to help herself. I know she is severely depressed and using drugs. I wish she would seek the help that she so desperately needs. I can't do it for her.

My grandaughter, Allura, will be 12 yrs. old this month. The new grandaughter, Kaitlyn, will be one yr. old next month! What happened to my babies? They're growing up way too fast!

I guess I've rambled on long enough this morning. I need to get myself moving. Need to go to the grocery store for a few things. Wish I could learn how to buy only the items I need instead of ending up with a shopping cart of unnessary things that just add more calories to this fat old body of mine!

Love to all.
Hugs, Judy

Hi everyone. I decided last night to take another step on the weight loss journey. Yes, that's right, it's the beginning of an exercise program. I got the treadmill out of mothballs a few weeks ago, and it has been sitting in the family room (now covered in drywall dust from the kitchen reno), unused. Last night, the urge finally hit. I dug out my power walking tapes and decided to go for it.

About five minutes into the tape, the little puppy came running with his leash. I put the leash on him, thinking it would satisfy the need for a walk. He jumped on the treadmill with me and ran along. I don't know if any of you have tried a treadmill carrying a leash, working with those arm things, and sharing with a dog, but this exercise thing is NOT going to be easy.

And yes, I have been completely OP since last Thursday. My plan is to stay completely OP, no slips, for the entire week between WIs. That will be until next Monday.

We finally received a call from our daughter. She returned from New York this past week. She said that what she saw and experienced was far worse than anything she had been expecting to encounter. She has been counselling the policemen, firemen and volunteers that have been working at the WTC. She said that when she left, they were expecting to hit a pocket any day now where they anticipate they will find 400 - 500 bodies. Several bodies were being pulled from the rubble everyday, but they are trying to prepare themselves emotionally for finding a large group. Keep them in your prayers.

Sam - So sorry to hear about the work problems and the overwork at home. I can remember the times when the children were small and we often wondered where we would get another ounce of energy from. All of us who have been through it know what you are going through, and feel for you. When you were talking about shutting down your office, is there a possibility of lay-off for you? I'm hoping that things work out for you.

Jo - The weight loss is super. I'm sending you some motivation (--> --> --> motivation <-- <-- <--) to stay OP for the rest of the week. Good Luck. I can empathize with you and the disaster in the kitchen. It just isn't somewhere that you like to hang around these days, is it. We have finished repairing the drywall in our kitchen and I will need to paint and wallpaper this coming weekend. I'm having estimates on replacing the railings, the counter tops and the flooring this week, so we are hoping that we will have all those installed before Christmas. Good luck on your reno and let us know how it is coming.

Judy - It is good to hear you back chatting with the group. You have so many things you are doing. My goodness. I dragged our some crocheting this week and spent a couple of hours making snowflakes. I usually make about 120 every year and include them in my Christmas cards. I have all my Christmas shopping and wrapping done, so thougt I might make snowflakes to keep me busy this month. I also have 3 university courses that need to be finished before Christmas, so I have been burning the midnight oil lately to keep everything in balance. Trying not to become stressed, because that is when my metabolism shuts down and I start gaining weight again. I am seriously trying to control it, so that I don't undo what I have accomplished so far.

It sounds like you will soon be joining Jo and me in the reno process. We are truly in a mess at the moment. I don't wish that on anyone, but if you persevere, the results are outstanding. Yours sounds like it will be a major undertaking, but end up to be wonderful.

Sorry to hear about your daughter. I know that it is traumatic having that happen to your best friend. Unfortunately we want to continue to fix all the hurts that our children encounter, no matter what their ages, but sometimes we need to let go and let them make their own bad choices. I will keep you and your daughter in my prayers. Take Care.

Well, I guess I better go now. I rambled just about long enough. I came in early this morning to play on the puter, but it seems it has moved into work time. Have a great week. Take Care.

STOP!!! Do not post any more on this thread ... please go to #66


Love, CJ