Hope you have a wonderful, joy-filled B-day, Lily...

Good Morning Everyone,

Hi Lyn, I LOVE your vacation photos. Looks like a great place.

Hi Joanne, hope things at work slow down soon.

Hi Linda (Meowee), hope those kitties behave today.

Hi Karen, my sister & I LOVE to shop in Goodwill.

Hi Sue, to post photos, click on "Go Advanced" button at bottom of message window. When you get to the next area, click on the paper clip at the top of the window & find your photo. Then click the upload button. Photo will be attached to your message.

Hi LindaD, I have heard that chocolate chip cookies are frequently contaminated with VERY icky stuff (you decide which stuff would be "ickiest"). Does that help?

Hi Bobbi, sorry about the apricot trees. Glad to hear you're staying dry.

Hi Cat, since I am eating lo-carb way, I hardly ever get hungry. It really fascinates me.

Hi Zoe, how is your "point counting" coming along?

Hi Gayle, glad to hear your city missed the hurricane.

Hi Theresa, CONGRATULATIONS on getting to Curves. I need to get myself over to my gym this morning. Too many hous in the car & on the boat yesterday. My body is "sorely" in need of exercise.

Hi Heidi, I don't think that the article about Medicare is good news. I think it's just one more way for Medicare and Insurance companies to NOT pay for our care. My bet is that it will encourage hospitals to engage in practices that will NOT be good for patients - e.g., tests for infections before getting treated in the ER & mandatory restraints after surgery.

Hi Phyllis, are you back to your WATP tape?

Hi Bobbi, ever since I saw "Sicko" - Michael Moore's movie about the health insurance and drug companies, I have been searching for an advocacy group that will work to make these companies behave in a responsible manner. So far I haven't found a group to join. I am SO angry at them I want to spit!

Hi Lyn, I'm with you. We are the only country without national health coverage - it's a disgrace!

Hi Cat, what an awful story. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.

Hi Zoe, what are you doing making soup? I thought you were off soup for life.

Hi Sue, since my dh died, my medical coverage is over 800/month! When he was alive, it was free. I've checked into getting different coverage, but was told with my medical conditions - high bp & diabetes, I wouldn't be able to get coverage if I switch.

Yesterday - Circle Line Cruise around Manhattan - was really wonderful. But too much driving (around 6 hours bc of having to pick up and drop off my Little Sister on my way to/from NYC) and too much sitting on hard folding chair on the boat - 3 hours. By the time I got home last night - around 10 pm, I could have cried from aches/pains/tiredness. See photo attached - the "redhead" in the right bottom of photo is my Little Sister.

I was supposed to go scrapping today, but I called my friend last night (on my way home from NYC) & told her I wasn't going to be able to make it. The old gray mare...

I REALLY need to get to the gym sometime today, just need to work up the energy to do that.

Check back later,

Lynn

Good Morning . . . looks like our wonderful weather is a thing of the past . . . overcast and very humid this morning (although not too hot as yet). Definitely rain in the forecast for today.

LILY . . . Hope you have an absolutely wonderful day. Remember, you are not getting any older, just better and better in every way . . .

LYNN . . . In all honesty, it doesn't look like anybody in that photograph is exactly having a joyous time.

Here's another good read from Prevention that I thought you might all enjoy . . . http://www.prevention.com/cda/articl...%20Tips%20Ever

Anyway all you Golden Girls -- hope you have a great day doing lots of fun things -- see you later --

Long week after vacation. Hot and humid too. Oh well.

Meowee - thanks for the article. Good advice. Stay cool this weekend.


Lynn - glad you liked the photos. I plan to spend more time at photography when I retire. Hope you make it to the gym. Take care of yourself!

Sue, Hope you're successful in your PT job searching. I agree totally about the horrible state of healthcare in the country. I would think that with your DH over 65 that your cost would go down under medicare. Maybe I just don't understand the whole system.

Theresa, Good luck on your new job possibility in the deli. Great job on keeping your food journal.

Zoe, I will be curious to see how your first week on WW points turns out. Keep on ridin that bike.

Hi to Cat, Hope those kindergarteners are treating you well.

Back to work now...

Lyn

Happy Friday to all the Golden Girlies and an extra special “Happy Day” to you, Lily! (Thirty-nine again, eh? )
Well, we’re supposed to be having a VERY hot and humid weekend, which I am NOT looking forward to one bit. I have to feed my daughter’s two khats on Saturday and Sunday – she & her DH went to a wedding out somewhere in New Joisey. Her DH is *best man* for the second time now – this is his old college roommate who got married 3 years ago (Her DH was best man then, too) in a lavish ceremony on Martha’s Vineyard , with the wedding party and guests staying at a posh guest house on the ocean. After the bride & groom left for their European honeymoon and my DD & SIL went to check out, they were told that the total bill was something crazy like $3,220 – this “best buddy/former roommate” apparently checked out and told the proprietors that his *best man* was taking care of the bill. My daughter was FURIOUS, to say the least. Her DH is a teacher and she is a clinical social worker, they earn a modest income and have a home and child to support. Anyway, they paid the $300+ for their own room, and left the remainder of the charges for the *bride & groom* to work out when they got back. Who knows if they ever did? They were divorced a year later, and now he’s at the altar again – another lavish ceremony, and another posh hotel. My DD didn’t even want to go – which I can’t blame her for – but her DH and his other college buddies seem to view this particular guy as a loveable “Peck’s Bad Boy” and are very tolerant of his foolishness. So, they’re going, but DD insisted that they stay in a separate hotel from the rest of the wedding party, and their gift to the loving couple is less generous than they might otherwise have given. DD says they have to budget carefully, because they’ll undoubtedly be attending his THIRD wedding in another couple of years. What craziness! I guess you KNOW I would’ve been all through after the FIRST wedding fiasco!
Hiya Sue! Welcome back! You know, I’ve been hearing a lot about that movie, SICKO, and will probably end up seeing it, but I KNOW it’s just going to infuriate me more than the health care system ALREADY infuriates me! I don’t know if my blood pressure can stand it! It just makes no sense to me that people should work all their lives and end up having to choose between their health care costs and their (moderate) lifestyle. Okay, let me shut up, now.
Lynn, my “point counting” is so far, so good. Yeah. I made soup. I wanted to do something different with that leftover roast, and as it turned out, my “soup” is more like a vegetable STEW than soup. It’s pretty thick, what with the diced tomatoes, brown rice and black-eyed peas. It’s pretty tasty, actually, and I brought some for my lunch at work today. I left the pineapple bits (2 points) out of my bag-o-fiber brekkie just in the event that the soup/stew is a few more points than I’m guessing. BUT, I found cherries at the market yesterday (we thought the season had passed, because the last few times we were in the market, there weren’t any) so I had cherries with my fiber, and I have strawberries and a pear for my “dessert” at lunch. The strawberries are “0” points, and the pear is 1 point. It’s pretty interesting how many foods out there are actually “0” points – mostly vegetables and some fruits, of course, but I could actually go a day or more just on “0” points – if I had plenty of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, say, and green veggies like Brussels sprouts and green beans, maybe, to fill up on. I might do that every so often. I wouldn’t do it on a regular basis, but I don’t think it would do any harm – and might give me the push I need to get these pounds off a little more quickly, if I did it once a week or so.
Hiya Meowee-Linda! Thanks for that article – you always find interesting stuff.
T, Jo-annie, Phyl & Cat…

TTFN,
Z

Hi my GOLDEN GIRLS I am actually able to sit and read the last two pages -- a lot going on with the girls and I will say hi to Gayle, Theresa, Lynn, Heidi, Phyllis, Bobbi, Lyn, Linda, Cat, Zoe and Sue plus a big to Lily (its my baby boy's birthday today!!)

Interesting times here -- I just feel so helpless and sad when I read about the problems with the American Health Care system, like Linda said ours isn't perfect but by gosh its so nice to know if something is wrong we don't have to remortgage the house to have a colonoscopy. What happens to people in BC without work coverage is you pay about $600 a year for medical. I am a government worker so I don't pay for anything even my extended and dental is covered. Of course everyone *****es about the problems but from my past experience I know that when things are necessary no one fools around -- my husband's care cost the system up and over One Million $$$ and I never had to worry about anything. Ok off my Canadian soapbox and back to other things.

I have been struggling the last two weeks with not eating right and not being able to exercise. I am ingesting a good 400 - 600 calories a day and my only exercise is walking. I want to change that next week. I have to admit I watched a show last night -- it airs here in Canada called X-Weighted and some of the stories are inspirational. Last night was the first time I have ever cried during an episode. Premise is someone calls for help -- and the show stays with them for 6 months. Trainer and nutritionist gives tips plus a personal coach. The girl last night was my height and weight - she carried it different but the numbers were rather close. She was a single mom - 32 with a 15 year old daughter with severe cerebral palsy. By the end of the 6 months she had shed 50 pounds and her goal was to bike 50KM with her daughter in tow -- I really was literally in tears watching them do the ride and how happy this young lady is now. It wasn't just the weight it was her attitude that was changed so much for the better. One friend quit on her and the friend admitted not because of the weight loss - she was jealous of her motivation. I won't be jealous just inspired!!!!!

Well off to a fabulous concert tonight -- they had to move from a theatre to a ballroom so we have to get there early to ensure we get a seat. Our city is under a civic strike and the theatre is city run -- anyway its all good and the ballroom is so marvelous it will feel much more intimate and we can get closer to the band. Its Robert Cray -- he usually plays with Eric Clapton but he is a spectacular musician on his own.

Happy Birthday Lily! May this coming year be the best in your life!

All of you who were in harms way from Mother Nature and are not harmed, whew! Regardless of where you live, there's always some easy weather disaster waiting to happen. So glad everyone is alive, safe & dry.

Gayle! The better job is coming. We have to believe it! I'm still expecting wonderful things for you!

When I saw the conversation about Medicare I had to comment. It's very easy to find fault with a huge overburdened system like our medical system but there are things going on behind the scenes that the consumer never sees. I have worked as a case manager with major insurance companies where my job was to approve the procedure, the admission to the hospital, the medication, the ultimate expense. In my last position I worked directly with Medicare cases and it was an eye opener. Are we all aware that up until now, if a sloppy surgeon leaves his instruments inside your abdomen causing a raging life threatening infection, Medicare has always paid that bill? Further, when Grandma checks into the hospital with a broken leg and winds up in ICU with another raging infection because the nurse was 'too busy' to wash her hands, again Medicare (& major insurance companies) foot the bill without question. Time after time I was told that we had to approve a continued hospital stay that was prolonged by hospital neglect/poor practice because it was in the best interest of the client. It's high time the tax payer didn't have to pay for the those medical events that make a lawyer drool. By not paying, Medicare also makes it clear to the hospital that the patient is not liable either. In these cases if it happens to you or someone you love, you need a lawyer and that bill will go away if it is a valid case.

Insurance & Medicare are not the entities driving up medical costs. Look to your drug companies & docs/hospitals who are more interested in a profit margin than their oaths to heal you. There's only two countries on this planet that allow direct to consumer marketing of prescription drugs so we can rush in & tell our doctors our latest self diagnosis & demand the new pills. That would be the US & one other.... forgot which, NZ?) If we cured cancer & heart disease we'd shut down the majority of the medical bleeding. Don't want to kill a flying jenny now do they? It's a business that intends to make money. They don't care about people.

Finally, then I'll jump off this box.... Moore neglected to show what true healthcare for the residents of Cuba are like. What you saw was the posh healthcare that was only avaliable to the cash paying tourists. The true residents may or may not get a clean bed, will be sharing a filthy room with a dozen or so strangers and the hospital may or may not have any meds/technology to help the poor soul out.

Medicare will be much more burdened before it gets better because of the boomers all getting old enough to use it. Like Social Security, it's not enough but I have to let you know that they have always leaned towards the benefit of the client.

Whew. Enough of that!

Starting the Muay Thai Boxing with my daughter & husband in a couple of weeks. I did an intro class & other than a fair amount of bruising it was a wild workout! My daughter has dropped over 40 pounds this year using that boxing & some running/wt lifting.... I'd like to follow her example. Kind soul, she's sending her fat clothes to mom to wear, how thoughtful!

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Marylynn

Joanne! Have a wonderful time! Robert Cray is VERY very good! That guy can do the blues!

Sorry everyone, I didn't know I was opening up a box of worms. Lets get on to humor. After all, that's the best medicine. See following jokes if I can find them.

Bobbi

I'm with you, Bobbi...jokes are more fun..We'd best stay away from politics and religion, right? Although discussing the medical system is not exatly politics, I suppose. Actually I learn quite a bit from these discussions. I work for a healthcare Co. myself and yes, of course they are out to make a profit, but the people who work here are very dedicated to finding new diagnostic products for diabetes, breast cancer etc...the whole issue is not black and white and thank you Marylyn for reminding us of that.

I'm off for home now...very very warm out there.

Great weekend everyone!

Lyn

Hey JOANNE . . . did I read this right . . . are you only eating 400 to 600 calories a day? Are you doing a medically supervised fast? If not, you are scaring me.

Hi again to everybody else . . . I agree . . . bring on the jokes . . . here's a couple of really silly ones . . .

Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny? I used to have an hourglass figure -- but then the sands of time shifted on me.

Ok, someone said a joke was needed...


10 top signs you joined a cheap HMO

10. Annual breast exam conducted at Hooters.
9. Directions to your doctor’s office include, “take a left when you enter the trailer park.”
8. Tongue depressors taste faintly of Popsicles.
7. Only proctologist in the plan is “Gus” from Roto-Rooter.
6. Only item listed under Preventive Care feature of coverage is “an apple a day”.
5. Your “primary care physician” is wearing the pants you gave to Goodwill last month.
4. “Patient responsible for 200% of out-of-network charges” is not a typo.
3. The only expense covered 100% is embalming.
2. With your last HMO, your heart pills didn’t come in different colors with little “M”’s on them.
1. You ask for Viagra. You get a Popsicle stick and duct tape.

I have just been ghosting in because this week's weigh in was a gain of 1.8 pounds. I could argue that I was on vacation last week. But the truth is that I had not been logging my food in. Plus my habit of using more than my allotted extra 35 weekly points in WW has finally caught up with me. I'm a little bummed!!!!!

But I haven't given up! I've been on my better behavior since Thursday. I'm believing that I'll move my ticker in the right direction next Thursday.

Everyone have a GREAT Evening.

----Trish

Awww. here is one more joke.. Hope one of them made even one little smile.


I KNOW THE ANSWER SIR!

While visiting England, George Bush is invited to tea with the Queen. He asks her what her leadership philosophy is. She says that it is to surround herself with intelligent people.
Bush asks how she knows if they’re intelligent.

“I do so by asking them the right questions,” says the Queen. “Allow me to demonstrate.”

Bush watches as the Queen phones Tony Blair and says, “Mr. Prime Minister, please answer this question:
""your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?”
Tony Blair responds, “It’s me, ma’am.”

“Correct. Thank you and good-bye, sir,” says the Queen. She hangs up and says, “Did you get that, Mr. Bush?”


Bush nods: “Yes ma’am. Thanks a lot. I’ll definitely be using that!”


Bush, upon returning to Washington, decides he’d better put the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the test. Bush summons Jesse Helms to the White House and says, “Senator Helms, I wonder if you can answer a question for me.”


“Why, of course, sir. What’s on your mind?”

Bush poses the question:
“Uhh, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?”

Helms hems and haws and finally asks, “Can I think about it and get back to you?”

Bush agrees, and Helms leaves. He immediately calls a meeting of other senior Republican senators, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer.

Finally, in desperation, Helms calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem.
“Now look here, son, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?”


Powell answers immediately, “It’s me, of course.”

Much relieved, Helms rushes back to the White House, finds George Bush, and exclaims, “I know the answer, sir! I know who it is! It’s Colin Powell!”
And Bush replies in disgust,
“Wrong, you dumb a**, it’s Tony Blair!”

Theresa,

Thanks

Trish