Had to take DS to urgent care yesterday. Last weekend he got bitten by something (mosquito, spider, who knows?). It didn't really swell, but the bite bump was big and red and icky. We've been doing warm wet compresses on it and on Tuesday it had a lot of discharge but then the surrounding area started to get a red mottled look and I was afraid it was infected. He had little or no discomfort and it didn't feel hot to the touch, but they did put him on Keflex and already the redness has subsided. A few years ago he had a bite that got infected and it was really, really, really bad (to the point that they were going to have to do surgical intervention to get rid of the infection). Thankfully we micromanaged it and got it under control!

Went out to dinner with DH and DS last night and then to DS's last concert of the year (her send off before going to China). She still has several weeks of rehearsals before they go, but the band sounded great! I did overeat at dinner. Showing up to one's favorite restaurant STARVING is not a good idea! I usually pick a really healthy low fat seafood dish and ended up with cheesy seafood enchiladas instead. Oops.

Lily, you're lucky you have room for that extended family of yours! Did SD arrive yet?

Allison, Yes, SD #3 and SD #4 are both living with us now. I am glad now that we have room for everyone. My kids get along great with the step-daughters. But, the 2 SD's fight like crazy with each other. Sibling rivalry. I try my best to keep it to a minimum. SD #3 is now out looking for a temporary job to last her til she goes to the coast guard. They moved her departure date to July 17th, so she'll be here about 7 weeks.

I just came in from weeding my garden (again) and this time I went around my potato patch and accidentally hoed up 2 potatoes. They are about 2" and will soon be ready to pull up. It is just so cool to be growing my own food.

Allison, glad to hear that your son's infection is clearing. That is sure scary.

Thank goodness from my handy converter on my home page! You and Lily are in the same temperature range Rabbit - though she's on the high end - 90F is 32C. We however, are at 7-10C! And it's going to be that cool in the evenings for the next week or so, but all the way to 16C in the daytime! And all with showers too - booo. DH dearly wants to plant seeds this weekend, but the soil is just too cold. On the up side, all my prennials are coming up nicely. I have a huge bed of irises, as well as delphiniums, and lot of other small stuff I don't know the names of (whoops).

Lily - it's not the 6 kids, it's the 5 girls! Your son must feel quite outnumbered. You'd better have those grandsons over a little more. I love how much you're enjoying your garden.

Yesterday was the last day of school here, so the library should be much quieter in the afternoons now. We'll still have the kids who can walk/ride bikes here, but not the ones who hang out after school waiting to be picked up by their parents. Our summer reading program starts June 11, and then we'll have lots of kids again. But I intend to enjoy a couple weeks of quiet!

SD #3 just now got home. She got a job. Yippee. She starts this Saturday. She is excited because it pays $8.60 an hr. and the most she has ever made was minimum wage. It's assembly line type work, she didn't care, she just wanted a temporary job. (She had been going through all the money she received from graduation very quickly. She had a new stereo and new tires put on her car, plus bought a cell phone).

Pat, yes the 5 girls. OMG. We're soon to be having 4 grandkids. I guess the idea of selling this big house in a few yrs. is out now. We constantly have a ton of family here and our family keeps growing. My son does pretty well with all the girls, he can hold his own. LOL. SD#4 and my DD will both be sophomores this next yr. and they plan to graduate together and go to the University of Arkansas at Ft. Smith that is only about 15 min's from here. So, they plan on living at home while they go to college.

Pat, it does sound like you better wait to plant seeds. I initially had my tomato and bell pepper plants to freeze due a late frost here. I had to replant those, but they are doing great now.

I'm gonna head back outside now and fill in holes that my lab's dug in the back yard. They love to dig. GRRRRRRRRRR.

Hi maintainer,

WOW Pat, alaska sounds COLD!!!

I'm shivering in my living room because it is cloudy and feels cold, and I have just checked my thermometer and it is 22.5 C in my living room! Guess i'll have to put on socks and a sweatshirt!

I managed to make good on my exercise deficit for this week ...biked to work and biked to yoga class this morning, so I have 3.25 hours now for this week. only a bit more and i have my goal of 3.5 hours per week. not in perfect form, and most of it snuck in between the daily stresses around here, but i got it in. Yhis sneaking in exercise by biking to places seems to work kind of well for my as the "plan B".

have great day all,
rabbit

Good morning maintainers!
Are we all gearing up for a long weekend? We aren't doing anything big, but it promises to be a diet challenge. My kids are having friends over tonight, so four extra kids. We're cooking out-hot dogs and s'mores. I'm going to stick to one s'more and grilled veggies. Tomorrow we're going to a minor league baseball game- oooh more junk to avoid. Sunday is race day so I'm going to my brother's for a party and then in the evening we're going to the drive-in to see Pirates. At least I can bring our own snacks. Hopefully I'll be reasonable this weekend. I hope you all enjoy yourselves.

Hi all,

I was so disappointed yesterday when I went shopping for plants that all the strawberries are already sold out for this year. This is after going to 5 different places. I had worked super hard on clearing a spot for to plant them. So, I ended up buying some cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, and cucumber plants to put in that spot. I just couldn't let my hard work have been for nothing. I did plant my watermelon yesterday.

I worked several hrs. yesterday filling in all the holes the labs had dug.

Last night when I got dressed to go out with DS and DH, I noticed my clothes were getting very loose again. I weighed this morning and am back down 2 lbs. to 142lbs. I know this is from the several hrs. daily of yard work that I've been doing. I have been staying OP with eating too. We dined out last night at a buffet. I was careful. Had a 4 oz. piece of steak, a baked potato and some brocolli. Dessert was a bowl of fresh cantaloupe and pineapple. It felt so good to be able to stay in control , even with eating out. DH told me last night that I am "skinny", gotta love that. LOL.

We went to the Karaoke club last night. A lady came up to our table when DS was singing. She said "OMG, he is absolutely gorgeous". I explained that is our son. She said "No way, you are too young to have had him. Is he adopted or did you have him when You were 10?" LOL, I explained that I was 26 when I had him. I think I love the compliments of looking younger just as much as I do the ones of being thin. I can definitely say that when I was obese, I was never once guessed younger than my age. It is just all so good.

rabbit , WTG on sneaking in the exercise.

Lisa, it sounds like you will have a house full and a busy weekend.. Have fun. My DH will be off work on Sunday and Monday. (Now that is very rare esp. on a holiday weekend.) We plan to take our boat to the lake and have fun. I'll be sure and have plenty of healthy foods packed.

Lily - you have quite a full house! Good job on the buffet, I can never resist buffet desserts.

I'm getting ready to go to Boston for a friend's wedding this weekend. I'm excited about seeing my friends I never get to see, but OTOH I really wanted to spend this weekend at home with my fiance, getting everything cleaned up in the house and learning our way around the garden. We have now been officially living in the house for two nights! Anyway food has been crazy since half our food has been in the house and half in the apartment and I didn't get to cook at all this week until last night (turkey sandwiches anyone?). It's not going to help being out of town this weekend. Oh well. I'm hoping after the move is completed we can get back into our routine with the gym.

I hope everyone (those of you in the US anyway) enjoys the long weekend!

My nerves are all a-jitter! The big to-do is tomorrow night and I'm quite nervous. I really dislike talking in front of crowds and were expecting close to 300! I think we have all the kinks worked out, but I'm sure I won't sleep well tonight. We have a rehearsal tonight, decorating in the morning and then the big event. I'll see if I can get some photos to post here next week.

have a great weekend everyone!!! I was looking forward to going wine tasting in Temecula on Sunday, but too many were going out of town for the long weekend, so it's being rescheduled to June. Guess that means Sunday will be my regular chore and errand day!

I have spent the day at the Dr.'s office with Lacy. She is getting worse and having a lot of trouble breathing, wheezing like crazy and can't stop vomiting. All her electrolytes were off. They switched her antibiotics and put her on a medrol dose pack. The Dr. here sent all her labwork to her pediatric gastroenterologist in OK. City and I'm awaiting a reply for when she can be seen there again for an EGD. This Dr. thinks that her hiatal hernia repair has been stretched out and that she needs surgery again. I'm very afraid she's gonna end up in the hospital again soon. She can't even keep any liquids down and the phenergan isn't helping.

Oh Lily, that's so scary! Poor sweet little girl. I sure hope she feels better soon without surgery. I know you're the worried mama but don't forget to take care of yourself too. Special prayers for Lacy and Lily.

Oh Lily, poor Lacy. I hope they can get it figured out without surgery. I'll send up a prayer for you both.

Thanks Lisa and Meg. I didn't hear back yet from the gastroenterologist and I probably won't until after the holiday weekend. If this continues, I'm supposed to take her to the ER so she can be admitted. She had open heart surgery when she was 8 and hiatal hernia repair when she was 9. She was much better those first few yrs. , but this last yr. she has started vomiting alot and she shouldn't be able to. She missed 22 days of school this yr. due to her tummy problems. I'm hoping that they can repair it again and she'll feel like a normal teenager , instead of being so sick all the time. I'm hoping that we can get this all resolved during the summer break. She is so tired of being sick all the time that she is more than willing to have the repair done again to make her feel better. She was born with a congenital defect where her aorta came off her heart wrong and was twisted (cork-screw) around her esophagus and trachea. This is why she has had so much trouble. It is truly sad and I worry so much when she is sick. Although she had horrible vomiting from birth, it wasn't discovered what the true problem was until she was 8 yrs. old. I've definitely had my share of misdiagnosises with her and the many Dr.'s that she has seen over the yrs. But, the specialist that she will now be going back to was excellent with her before and I have every faith that she can "fix" whatever the problem is again and have Lacy feeling good again.


OMG, do you all know how hard it is to try to talk a 15 yr. old into using a phenergan suppository? The phenergan tabs aren't staying down and she is fighting me tooth and nail on the suppository. I've explained that it will make her feel better and hopefully keep her from having to go to the ER.

Thanks so much for the prayers and the support. I really need it right now.

Sorry to double post, but I have a question. Yesterday the Ultrasound showed that Lacy already has fatty liver disease. The Dr. told me to keep her on a "very low-fat diet". He did not tell me how many fat grams daily to feed her. She just turned 15. I was wondering if anyone knows how many I should feed her? Now that school is out and most all of her meals will be at home, this should make this a lot easier for the next few months. She has to return on Tuesday for a lipid panel to check her Trigycerides, Cholesterol and such. I have previously done a "low-fat diet" and stuck to 20 grams daily of fat, but not really sure how much a growing teenager would need.

Lily, I think it depends on her total calories. A low fat diet is usually defined in terms of what percent of calories is coming from fat. I think low fat would be 20% or fewer of her calories from fat.

So if she's eating 2000 calories a day, 20% would be 400 calories = 44 grams or so. If she's eating more, then 20% would be more grams and less if she eats less in a day.

I've heard that the Ornish diet for heart disease is only 10% of your calories coming from fat but that it's almost impossible to stick with.

Do you have a guess what her daily calories are?