I was up at 4AM this morning. I couldn't fall back to sleep so I got up and read a few chapters in the book I'm reading. Now I'm starting to feel tired, but I have some errands I have to run, so maybe I'll take a nap this afternoon.

I've been having a lot of pain in my right elbow. Tennis elbow, but I don't play tennis. I have a tendency to get a lot of tendonitis. I don't know why. My elbow only hurts during the night. It's fine all day, unless I lean on my elbow or push on it. Then during the night it hurts no matter which way I lay.

Mary, I think you have a very good eating plan, the way you have protein, carb and fat at each meal, and make sure time passes before you eat again. I think that's an important factor that I don't follow. I too seem to want something to eat in the evening, not long after dinner, and I think it's just habit because I'm not physically hungry. I ate too much yesterday and I'm disappointed with myself. I did very well for 2 days and wanted to have a longer streak. Sometimes I check my BS before I eat but if it's high, I eat anyway because it's mealtime. I know I should change that.

Gayle, we saw something on TV just yesterday that they're starting to realized that dietary cholesterol, such as eggs, do not raise your cholesterol in your blood or effect your heart. Good thing, because as much as I do try to eat healthy I love eggs and I can't see myself giving them up. For a while, I was using egg substitute and I was satisfied with that but then I started hearing bad things about them so I went back to nature, and ate the eggs as they come from the chicken. It's what God intended for us. Nothing artificial.

I can remember my mother giving me eggs when I was quite young. I used to gag on them, but she made me eat them. They would get cold and congealed but she told me the longer I put off eating them the worse they were going to taste. Why do parents do that? LOL Somewhere along the line I started to love eggs, prepared any style, and I never get tired of eating them. Every day.

I understand what you're saying about being tested looking for an excuse to skip exercise. One time I read that you should plan to exercise just for 10-15 min each day. Everyone can do that. The premise is that once you get started it makes you feel better and in most cases you will end up exercising longer. I try to do that, and most of the time, it works. If you still don't feel good after you start, at least you did that 15 min.

Good morning GG's,

Carol Sue ~ I like eggs, but like other things for breakfast too. I have kind of gotten to where I am hungry right off in the morning and don't feel like or have the patience to wait long enough to fix/cook something. So, I have been drinking a glucerna hunger smart shake. Lynn, who used to visit here said she eats a protein bar (one, she said that is low in carbs and has a low glycemic index number) and a cup of coffee for breakfast (she's diabetic too) and said that works for her. I was thinking maybe I could vary things a little by doing that sometimes.

Funny ~ when we were on our trip in December ~ the hotels we stayed at had a free breakfast every day. They always had scrambled eggs, along with other stuff. I ate the eggs every day during that time. I guess because the stuff was all ready and I didn't have to fix it myself ~ LOL. Nobody's gonna do that here except me

Actually, I think I would take the time to fix other stuff if I could eat anything I wanted to eat (pancakes and syrup, coffee cake, muffins ~ stuff like that ~ but those days are over. And if I drink that hunger smart shake right off, I don't get myself into trouble grabbing something that is not a good choice for me.

My parents did the same thing to me with creamed corn ~ to this day, I won't eat it. It is slimy to me. If it is mixed into soup or a recipe, that's ok, but not by itself. And oatmeal too, but I have gotten so I can eat that.

Carol Sue ~ hope your arm/elbow feels better and that you can get a nap sometime today.

Mary ~ glad your eating went well yesterday. You were probably disappointed that the cookie you like wasn't available, but maybe that was a good thing ~ then you didn't have to battle with yourself over rather to or not to have it.

I never got around to that second walk yesterday. Maybe it's a good thing. I feel now like maybe I shouldn't have done it at all. I think I pushed it ~ when my knee was already bothering a little bit after that extra long bike ride on Sunday. It began hurting really badly last night and still hurts this morning.

Today I go for the parathyroid scan (in preparation for that parathyroid surgery). I hope it will show what the dr needs it to. If it doesn't, she said I would have to go to the downtown hospital for a different test.

Guess I'd better get rolling.

Hope you have a good day.

ETA: My knee is feeling better now (thanks to meds). I am off for that scan. They inject me with radioactive stuff, then I have to wait 3 hours for the scan. They don't make you wait there (at least they didn't last time I had it), so I am gonna go over to the mall and look at eye glasses frames, and I can walk while I am there.

Gayle, I have an Ace knee brace that I wear when I'm exercising. If I don't wear it, I am in pain for a couple days afterwards. I wonder if something like that would help you?

This is what it looks like.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/ACE-Knitte...7355-L/1989844

I hope all goes well with your parathyroid scan.

Today, we went shopping, and on the way home DH wanted McDonald's. I went in to get him some burgers to go, and our family doctor was in there having lunch! His office is across the street. I yelled at him for eating at McDonald's and he said he only takes a 15 min break for lunch so he had no other choice. I was kidding him, and he was laughing. He saw 2 other patients of his in there, too. I was a good girl. I came home and ate some leftover chicken from last night. I eat hamburgers from home or at some restaurants, but I don't eat fast food hamburgers.

Hi Ladies! I'm kinda lazy today. We did go to the gym and I walked a mile (little more actually), used hand bike 6 min and stationery bike 11 min. Dh tried the weights after walking a mile. He set it for 50# and had no problem but his side (where healed incisions are) ached a little. He may have done too much so next time he said he'd set it for only 25. Little hard for him to accept as he usually sets that machine for well over 200 but he's had to work up before esp after breaking his leg so he feels he can do it. And he did all this even though he didn't get much sleep last night. My man has always been a hard worker. Since we got home I haven't gotten much done except cleaned out the fridge and decluttered all the shoes that had collected at the back door. The fridge took me a long time because I was trying to organize it better and this new fridge is very hard to organize. I just can't find a way to position the shelves so I can get all our condiments in. I finally quit but some of the bottles are so tall that the only way they fit is to let them lift up the shelf above so I put one on one side and one on the other so the top shelf is at least level. And there are still tall bottles in the little fridge in the garage I have not been able to bring in! I have two complaints about my new fridge...1) is I can't organize it easily..the shelves are adjustable but not enough. 2)It is easier to clean than my old fridge however if water or juice or something gets under the front plastic of the shelves I can't get it out..it's kinda like a bubble under there and if I try to rub it it just moves around and changes size. In one place I think it is water, kind of dirty looking water, and in another place I think it is OJ. It may be possible to take the plastic pieces a part but IMHO I shouldn't have to. Except for these two things though I really like it.

Tonight we are just snacking and I have gotten my protein, fat and carb but a little heavier on the carbs than the last couple days. Not too badly though so far but the evening is still young. My BS has been a little higher today too...am was very high, otherwise almost normal but not quite. Carol Sue I always eat in the morning even if my bs is high. My reasoning is that you have to eat to start your metabolism. I just try not too eat very much carb and that's when I'm more likely to have eggs. This is when I'm on-plan of course. I've never believed eggs were bad for you unless you eat them in huge portions. Not a problem for me as I can never eat more than two at a time and usually only eat one. Even when I have two one is usually only the white because two whole eggs often taste too rich to me. Funny how I can eat lots of chocolate (definitely not in moderation) and yet eggs are too rich Never claimed to always make sense.....

Sorry to hear about your painful elbow. With me it's my shoulder, however it does hurt during the day...not constantly, just now and then. I have to be careful how I move that arm. Used to hurt a lot worse. But at night like your
elbow it does bother me more.

My parents never made me eat anything, or usually do anything. Like I had no chores, no bedtime etc. Occasionally my dad would insist I get off the couch and help my mom do dishes but not every day. Once I stayed outside with my bf too late and mom came out. I think she just said something about it being very late and went back inside. That was enough I went inside too. Once my dad forced me to go to church. I didn't mind going to church, actually enjoyed it, but didn't think it was fair that morning because mom and dad weren't going and I didn't like how he did it...pushing me off the porch into the snow. But there were really no spoken rules...I just knew what was accepted and what was not and I didn't want to do something against the rules and have it get back to my parents. I esp did not want to hurt my mom.
Sometimes I wished they had set more rules because then maybe I'd be more disciplined, or maybe not I don't know but I think I would have liked working along side her and having her teach me things. I learned some watching her but mostly on my own.

Carol that's funny about catching your doctor eating fast food! I do eat fast food every now and then but don't really care for it although strangely if I don't have it for a long time I will crave it. The other day we went to Wendy's for lunch and I had a baked potato (they let me squeeze one to be sure it was soft enough! I don't like it when I get one with hard pieces in it) and a small chili. I put most of the chili on the potato (a little at a time), added s/p and it was yummy.

Glynne - How did the scan go? Praying for you.

Mary, I used to have a lot of pain in my shoulder. I went for PT and felt a lot better. Then I was put on Cipro for an infection in my incision and that brought on severe tendonitis again in my shoulder. All the doctors told me it wasn't from the Cipro, even the pharmacist said that, but I always read the insert from my meds and it said right there in black and white that a side effect can be severe tendonitis! I think they were afraid I would sue. It took over a year for that shoulder pain to go away. Now I think a lot of my pain is from my psoriasis, as you can get psoriatic arthritis. Elbows are one of the worst places for psoriasis. I do a lot of self-diagnosis. LOL

How is Halo doing these days? Has your DS been around lately to pay him some attention? Is Halo a male or female? I always consider dogs to be male for some reason. After our dog passed away DH said we would never get a dog again. Now he said if he heard of a small dog who needed a home he would take it. Right now, I don't want another dog, I want my little Pupper back. I was not ready to lose him. He was a dog we adopted because his owner died, and so was the dog we had before him, so maybe another orphaned dog will find his way into our lives. Right now I am enjoying not having the responsibility.

My husband is backwards with eggs. He is ok eating scrambled eggs, but if he has a fried egg he will eat the yolk but not the white. I had a deviled egg this morning for the same reason you mentioned, to get my metabolism started. I don't know if that is really true or not, but it gives me a reason to eat! LOL

I ordered a basic Kindle from Amazon. I started out with an Android reader, but it didn't hold a charge very long so then I bought a basic Nook, because at the time, Kindle did not permit borrowing from the library. I am very satisfied with the Nook and it is just for reading. Then I bought a 10 inch Nook that I like to use for getting online because of the big screen. I don't buy e-books. Lately, I have noticed that Kindle has a lot more free books available than Nook. I have a Kindle cloud account on my PC and I have a lot of free books on there, many of them cookbooks, but you have to be on the PC to read them. I was going to get a Kindle Paperwhite when they went on sale, but I have read some bad reviews about them. Now I got an email from Amazon that all Kindles are on sale $20 off. I compared the reviews between the basic Kindle and the Paperwhite and decided for what I want, the Paperwhite is not worth the additional $40 for it. In any case, I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep it and can return it, no questions asked. I will still use my Nook to borrow e-books from the library because I can download them to either my Nook or my Android or both if I want. The Kindle will be used for free books that I want and intend to keep. Once I read a fiction novel I discard it, so it's not worth it to me to buy them.

Just popping in...wondering if any of you use a pedometer and how many steps a day do you aim for...the 10,000 a day seems high to me 5,000 is a reach!

Hi Deelou ~ good to hear from you. I used to use a pedometer ~ but found it to be frustrating. I had one, and the number of steps it recorded, made me feel like I was doing pretty good. Then that one stopped working, so I started using another one I had. There was a discrepancy. So, I wasn't sure how I was doing. Now I just walk by minutes. Thinking about it though, maybe I should use one ~ for on the days when I don't get to do an "official walk". At least I could see how many steps I had gotten and not end up feeling like I didn't do anything.

I have a Fitbit One. I like it, but it isn't 100% correct. I don't care, because I think it's close enough to give me an idea how I'm doing. Sometimes I only get 1,000 - 2,000 steps in. I have had several days that were at 5,000 or above and recently I had one that was 7,080. On that day I walked on my treadmill, went shopping, and we went to the casino and I walked all over the casino for a couple hours. I doubt if I will ever beat or even meet that number. I am very happy reaching 5,000 steps per day. One person online complained that when she was driving it was adding up steps. I think that's because you move your foot from the gas to the brake and the Fitbit perceives that as walking. I suggested she take it off when she's driving if that bothers her. It calculates how many flights of stairs you climb per day, but since I have knee trouble I have a hard time walking up stairs so half the time it doesn't even register. Sometimes I give it to my husband and he goes down and back up the stairs just so it will register a flight of stairs. LOL

Good Morning GGs! We are having spring here! I ran around without a jacket as usual but really didn't need it yesterday. Haven't been out yet today but the sun is already shining, can't believe it in Feb!! Yesterday I cleaned the spare bedroom (no longer really a "spare"), and daily cleaned the whole house before going shopping. Funny, I had my grocery list on my phone, but did realize until I got to the store that my phone didn't have much of a charge! So I was really racing around trying to get everything before it died. When it got down to the last few things I quickly wrote them on the back of a receipt I had in my purse, but actually didn't need to as I made it with the limited charge until I got through the second store. Technology can make us a bit crazy at times even though I love it! Last night we ate at Olive Garden. I just got one bowl of soup and shared salad, had one breadstick, didn't eat all of it but my weight did go up 1/2#.

Last night, more excitement..dh has got to quit this, I don't need so much excitement at my age!! He was trimming a shrub and cut his finger, he cleaned it and bandaged it and then waited for me to come home (about 1 1/2 hrs), then then I helped him clean it and I bandaged it again, but told him he needed to go in, but he wouldn't go. We went out to eat and finally when we got home it was bleeding again and hurting and he decided to go in. He got five stitches. I changed the dressing this morning and it's still kinda dark and swollen but no worse than it was. He's on antibiotics (started at ER) and just left to get the prescription filled. Poor guy, if it's not one thing it's another. His mouth still hurts and he's pureeing his meat and veggies, otherwise eating very soft foods. He is able to eat the soft shrimp and pasta at Olive Garden. On the good side, his abdominal wound looked smaller and more like it's coming together this am, sure hope it will be healed soon.

Deelou - Our son has a fitbit and he really likes it except sometimes he has trouble with not staying hooked. I don't know how it fastens but it comes apart. He aims for 10,000 steps but then he is younger. Like Glynne, I never trusted my old pedometers...sometimes they'd say around 5000 and then another day I'd do the same workout and they'd say very little, so I threw them out. Most were free anyway. I guess if I had one now I'd aim for only about 5000, and see whether I can make that first. Mostly I just try to move as much as I can each day. We didn't get to the gym today. Who are the pretty gals in your post, Deelou, granddaughters? Now I notice the very large pics are changing...could this be just my computer?
ETA: I see now that there are more people in the picture...at first I didn't realize and just happened to scroll across and quickly looked at it thinking the picture was different!! Silly me!

Wannabe - Halo is female, and very temperamental. Sometimes I wonder if she is hormonal. Her master has been spending a little more time at home I think but not much. During the day she tolerates us, but I think she can sense when it's almost time for him to get home and watches for him out the window. He comes home and then goes out in the garage to work on his hobby, and since he has to have the door open, she can't be out there, so she stays in here and complains to us until he comes in then lays by him as soon as he settles into watch a movie or something. She really is the perfect old folks dog as she is not usually rowdy, sleeps a lot and is totally devoted to whomever she sees as her master unless you let her loose in an unfenced yard. Once she's free, she forgets all about you until SHE'S ready to come home. I think if we were alone with her she wouldn't whine so much, but she knows he's hers and she wants him here all the time and he can't be of course. He says it's because they sleep in the same room and she thinks of him as her pack leader. She doesn't care where she's at as long as he's with her. I guess if she were our dog we might let her sleep in our room unless we can't stand her smell. Since we put her back on her favorite food (Iams) she is very stinky again despite the macrobiotics and fish oil the vet prescribed. I'm going to try her on the Wellness brand when she's out of Iams. She said that might help, but she too said mostly it's because of her breed. There is another thing that might prevent her from being a good "old folks" dog is that she is very strong. I cannot control her with a leash (even with choke collar) when she wants to go ahead. She has almost made me fall a few times. So if we ever have our own dog, I think we would go for a smaller, short haired less odorous dog that has Halo's good characteristics if we can find one.

Well need to get to work. You all have a good day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! For me, that always signifies that February is half over and spring can't be far behind.

Mary, our dogs always liked to be with DH when he was in the garage. He had a tie-out chain to hook them up so they couldn't get too far from the open garage door.

After we had to put our dog down, DH said No more dogs. Now he recently said if he heard of a small dog that needed a home, he would take it. I am not ready for another dog, and I might never be. It's nice that we can go somewhere and not have to hurry home because of the dog. We haven't stayed overnight anywhere for a long time. The last time we put our dog in the kennel for a few days he had a stressful time and DH wouldn't do it again.

I am so sorry to hear that Joe had that incident with his finger. Good thing you got him to get it looked at. I'm glad his abdominal incision is finally getting better. I think it takes longer for things to heal as we get older.

I never think to put a shopping list on my phone. As I notice something is getting low, I write it on a piece of paper on the counter, then just stick that note in my pocket as I go out the door. I hate when I don't take a list because I usually forget at least one thing. This time it was my coffee creamer, and I'm almost out. I could use milk, or sometimes I drink it black, but I've been using this sugar-free caramel one and I really like it.

We woke up to a dusting of snow that is supposed to accumulate up to 2 inches today. Also, the temperature is supposed to keep dropping. It's 25 now, but tomorrow the high will be 9 degrees. You were lucky to have a spring-like day, Mary.

My Kindle is supposed to come today. That will give me something to do, playing around with it, while I stay in the house and keep warm!

Good morning! It is very quiet here this am. I got up with the dog at 5 am, went back to bed, dh got up with her at 8 am and stayed up, but now I am up and he is back in bed. Neither of us slept very well. We had planned to go to our gds game today (going on right now), but dh hurts and we are somewhat concerned that with the rush of kids his hand might get bumped. Our gs also had a dance competition this am and the awards will be given out soon. Sure keeps the parents hopping from one place to another! I remember those days.

Yesterday I got dh's doctor's appts set up...one next week to check his finger wound and in two weeks to have the stitches out. I could do it but prefer the doctor do it as dh will trust him more. Actually I have never removed stitches but I have often removed staples and it's easy.

Wannabe - The Tie-out chain sounds like a good idea. I was looking at them online after your post. Dh uses a pole (in ground) with Halo when he is working outside only and puts the leash holder over it and Halo is very good on that. Even though she is strong, so far she has not pulled the post out of the ground. I think she might if she saw another dog. The leash length extends when she pulls on it so she can actually go pretty far and still be safe. He has also used it inside the garage but can't remember what he attaches it to in there. Ds just doesn't take the time to do it but wish he would.

I hope you like your Kindle...it's fun to have a new toy to play with! I have the original Kindle but don't use it much now. My new phone is so large it serves as a reader at the gym which is where I used my Kindle and at home while watching TV I use my iPad. Still have the new tablets (2) we got with our new phone...don't know why but perhaps we will need them someday and they were only $100 for both. I really don't even need my iPad anymore because I can do everything with my phone. It's a larger screen of course (have the large one..the 2nd version) but my phone does everything and it's pretty large too. Strange how we used to have none of these things and now suddenly we have more than we need!

Its a little cloudy still this am but the sun or at least some brightness is breaking through now. I think we are to have another nice day. Feel so sorry for those of you who have such harsh winter weather. Our weather this winter is unusually mild but we compared to back east our winters really aren't bad at all. Usually it's just the dark, cold wetness of up here that bothers people. We've been up here 38 years in April and there were many fall-winters, even springs, where we didn't see the sun for days on end, but things definitely seem to be changing all over.

Going to get busy now...hope you all are having a good Sat. Oh, Glynne - how did the scan go? any results yet?

Good evening GG's,

It was a nice sunny day. Nice weather in the 70's.

We might do another bike ride tomorrow. I hope we don't get lost and if it was a little less miles, that would be ok too.

Been in kind of a funky mood today. Probably because I keep messing up with my eating. So, I feel yucky physically, and angry with myself emotionally. It makes me mad that I do such stupid things. I know the risks of not eating right ~ because of my diabetes and other health stuff. Why oh why do I play around with my health like that. And what am I doing wrong ~ I pray about it ~ and I still mess up. I wish God could “fix” me ~ make me stop these bad habits. Feeling so discouraged with myself.

Ok, that is enough of that. Tomorrow is another day ~ another day to try and get it right.

Mary ~ hope Joe's finger heals ok. Sorry you both did not rest very well last night and had to miss your grandchildrens things.

Carol Sue ~ did your new Kindle arrive? Sorry that you are having snow and cold weather. Guess it could be worse ~ like the Boston area that can't seem to catch a break and snow just keeps piling up.

Deelou ~ nice picture of your family.

Hope you all had a nice valentine's day, and have a good rest of the weekend.

I was trying to make that a profile picture and have no idea how it looks to you all! It is all the girls in our family, my two daughters, two granddaughters and my wonderful DIL. Taken when we all got together over New Years for celebrating our 50 with family, When I click on the page it comes up HUGE and all the posts are tiny ...sometimes they will not enlarge, but did just now so I can post.

I've heard that fitbit will go down in cost by next year, I may get one then....I read often, or did befor the problem.....and will today to catch up. I tried to delete but it will not let me followed the directions and tried 10 times or so!

😌

Deelou ~ I think your picture is part of your signature and that is why it is showing up so big. You need to go to the edit signature under the User CP thing to fix it. The profile picture is a different thing, I think it shows only on your public profile area. If you were trying to show the family picture in a post, you would need to go to the place where you create a post to where it says manage attachments, then upload it and it will be part of the post. Hope that helps.